A. 
Purpose. The City of Lockport recognizes the value of trees and landscaping and that the preservation and enhancement of these resources is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of City residents. Landscaping is considered an integral part of site design, offering shade and habitat, impeding soil erosion, providing water absorption and retention to inhibit excess runoff and flooding, enhancing air quality, offering a natural barrier to noise and enhancing property values and providing scenic beauty. Landscaping emphasis shall be placed on providing features that enhance the overall aesthetics of development and the character of the City of Lockport.
B. 
Intent. The standards located within this article are intended to:
(1) 
Establish minimum standards and criteria for landscaping for multifamily and nonresidential development in the City, including parking areas.
(2) 
Dissuade the unnecessary clearing and disturbing of land to preserve the natural and existing growth of flora.
(3) 
Ensure the replacement of removed flora, or to establish new flora, that is indigenous to the Western New York region.
(4) 
Reduce the effects of wind and air turbulence, noise and the glare of automobile lights.
(5) 
Prevent soil erosion and provide shade.
(6) 
Reduce the level of carbon dioxide and return pure oxygen to the atmosphere.
(7) 
Provide unpaved areas for the absorption of stormwater runoff and prevent soil erosion and avoid the blighted appearance of parking areas.
(8) 
Conserve and stabilize property values, preserve a healthy environment, and facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive, and harmonious community environment.
(9) 
Relieve the blighted appearance of parking areas.
All nonresidential, mixed-use, and multifamily development that is otherwise subject to site plan review shall meet the requirements of this article.
A. 
Whenever landscaping is required to be provided, a landscape plan shall be submitted and approved as a part of the site plan review process.
B. 
The Planning Board may require that the landscape plan shall be prepared and stamped by a New York State Licensed Landscape Architect, authorized to practice landscape architecture in accordance with New York State Law.
C. 
Plan requirements. The landscape plan(s) shall include:
(1) 
A legend, plant list, key, a scale drawn to a minimum of one inch to 40 feet, north arrow;
(2) 
Existing and proposed site grading;
(3) 
Existing and proposed structures and uses;
(4) 
Parking areas, drives, and access aisles;
(5) 
Refuse disposal areas/dumpsters;
(6) 
Outdoor storage areas;
(7) 
Drainage patterns;
(8) 
Provisions for visual and noise screening;
(9) 
Street tree branching for any shade trees placed within street ROWs, parking lots, or within 15 feet of a publicly maintained roadway, parking area or walkway;
(10) 
The name of the project, the address of the property, the owner and the developer of the property; and
(11) 
The plan preparer's appropriate professional stamp and signature.
D. 
Proposed planting summary. The landscape plan shall delineate the location and description of all existing and proposed trees, shrubs and plantings. To insure proper protection of plantings and planted areas, landscape materials to be used on the site shall be identified in a planting schedule to be included on the landscape plan with the following information:
(1) 
Type;
(2) 
Common and botanical names;
(3) 
Size;
(4) 
Quantity; and
(5) 
Pit or bed treatment.
E. 
The landscape plan shall include all existing plant materials that are to be removed from the site and such other information as may be required to aid in site plan review.
F. 
Landscape plans should include a variety of trees, shrubs, and ornamental planting (annuals and perennials) as part of the site design. The mixing of trees and shrubs helps to avoid a uniform, unnatural appearance, and to protect against extreme loss due to disease or infestation.
G. 
Upon approval of the landscape plan by the City, the property owner agrees to install and perpetually maintain the approved landscape design and materials for the duration of the approved use.
A. 
Plant and landscape materials shall be compatible with soil conditions on-site and the regional climate. Native plant species are encouraged.
B. 
All grasses, trees, and plant material shall be in accordance with those appropriate for the City of Lockport's Plant Hardiness Zone (Zone 6a) as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, including any amendments thereto.
C. 
Under no circumstance shall any site include plant material that is considered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to be a prohibited and regulated invasive species.
A. 
Minimum areas of open space and landscaping. The provision of open space and landscaped areas shall conform to the following:
(1) 
Areas of open space shall be provided at the rate required by the district in which the lot is located (see Part 2, District and Use Regulations).
(2) 
Areas of open space in the right-of-way may count toward the provision of landscaping and open space on the property to the extent permitted by the reviewing body.
B. 
The arrangement and spatial location of landscaped areas shall be designed as an integral part of the site development and disbursed throughout the site, and not just located around the perimeter.
C. 
Existing vegetation and trees (of all sizes and stages of maturity) shall be maintained, wherever possible.
D. 
Plastic or other artificial plantings or vegetation are not permitted.
E. 
Landscape plantings should be designed to stage blooms and have color throughout the growing season.
F. 
Indigenous species shall be utilized to the greatest extent possible.
G. 
Provisions for snow removal and snow storage must not adversely impact landscaped areas. Any area damaged as the result of snow removal or storage activities must be fully restored in accordance with the approved landscaping plan within the next planting season.
H. 
Upon site plan review approval, ornamental lighting and street furnishings may be incorporated within approved landscaped areas.
A. 
Grass areas shall be planted in a species well adapted to localized growing conditions in Niagara County, New York. Grass areas may be sodded, plugged, sprigged, hydro-mulched, or seeded except that solid sod shall be used in swales or other areas subject to erosion.
B. 
In areas where other than solid sod or grass seed is used, over-seeding shall be sown for immediate effect and protection until coverage is otherwise achieved.
C. 
Replacement or over-seeding mixes should match or compliment the original installation.
D. 
Grass areas shall also provide continuous, uniform, and consistent coverage.
A. 
A mix of landscape plantings shall be installed around all building foundations.
B. 
Plant material shall be placed intermittently against long expanses of buildings walls, fences, and other barriers to soften the effect and to help break-up walls with little to no architectural detail.
C. 
Ornamental plant material, such as flowering trees and shrubs, perennials, and ground covers are encouraged.
D. 
Plantings should decrease in size and increase in detail, color, and variety near entryways into buildings.
A. 
Dumpster screening. All dumpsters shall be screened from public view in accordance with the following:
(1) 
Dumpster screening shall include a combination of landscaping and/or fencing or similar enclosures.
(2) 
Dumpsters shall be secured and kept closed when not in use.
(3) 
Dumpster enclosures must be equal to or taller than the dumpster being screened.
B. 
Exceptions. Where dumpster screening may be infeasible due to site constraints, the requirements may be waived or modified through site plan review. In such cases, the waiver or modification of requirements should still ensure the greatest level of compliance with the spirit and intent of this section.
C. 
Mechanical equipment. Mechanical equipment located at ground level must be effectively screened with vegetation, low berms, or others measures that are equal to or taller than the equipment being screened.
A. 
Screening.
(1) 
Parking shall not be located within 10 feet of any residential district or use, except where a solid screening wall or fence at least six feet in height is placed on the lot line with vehicle stops or a bumper to ensure the integrity of the fence, in which case no setback shall be required. Parking lot stops shall consist of durable material, such as concrete, masonry, metal or rubber. Wooden stops are prohibited.
(2) 
Where parking is located 10 feet from a residential district or use, the perimeter shall be landscaped with ground cover, low shrubs or flowering plants, and shade trees shall be planted at intervals of not more than 25 feet.
(3) 
Parking areas must also be screened along lot lines bordering institutional or residential uses. Such screening shall consist of a landscaped area at least six feet wide, densely planted with a mixture of trees and shrubs to create an effective visual barrier. All trees shall be a minimum of 1.5-inch caliper (trunk diameter) when planted.
B. 
Landscaping (see Figure 33.1).
(1) 
Landscaping within parking areas shall provide visual and climatic relief from broad expanses of pavement and shall be designed to define logical areas for pedestrian and vehicular circulation and to channel such movement on and off the site.
(2) 
Parking lots containing 10 or more spaces shall be planted with at least one tree per eight spaces, no smaller than 1.5-inch caliper (trunk diameter at four-foot height). Each tree should be located within a landscaped island or median. Large and medium shade trees (no less than eight feet in height at maturity) are recommended.
(3) 
Due to heat and drought stress and vision clearances, ornamental and evergreen trees are not recommended in parking areas.
(4) 
Landscaped islands should be utilized in parking areas to separate parking stalls into groupings of not more than 20 spaces between islands.
(5) 
Parking lots should be broken up into "rooms" of no more than 40 spaces, separated by landscaped islands or pedestrian accessways or sidewalks.
(6) 
The dimensions of all islands and medians proposed should be a minimum of eight feet wide at the shortest side to protect plant materials and ensure proper growth. Landscaped islands should be protected with concrete curbing.
(7) 
Each median or island should include at least one tree. Low shrubs and ground covers will be required in the remainder of the landscaped area. Effective use of earth berms and existing topography is also encouraged as a component of the landscaping plan.
(8) 
In instances where healthy plant material exists on a site prior to its development, the above-mentioned standards may be modified to allow credit for such plant material, provided it is determined through site plan review that such an adjustment is in keeping with and will preserve the intent of these standards.
FIGURE 33.1 PARKING LOT LANDSCAPING
A. 
Requirements. Where any nonresidential use abuts a residential use or district, including off-street parking areas, a landscaped buffer of at least five feet in width shall be provided. Such buffer shall include one or any combination of the following screening as approved in site plan review:
(1) 
A landscaped earthen berm a minimum of two feet high plus plantings a minimum of two feet high (a total of four feet high).
(2) 
A decorative concrete or masonry wall.
(3) 
A wood, wrought iron, tubular steel, or similar fence compatible with the character of the area in which the fence is to be placed. Fences or walls used to meet screening requirements shall display a finished face toward adjacent streets and properties.
(4) 
A compact hedge or other live vegetative barrier.
B. 
Exceptions. Where buffering between nonresidential and residential uses is infeasible due to site constraints, the requirements may be waived or modified through site plan review. In such cases, the waiver or modification of requirements should still ensure the greatest level of compliance with the spirit and intent of this section.
A. 
All landscaped areas shall be maintained according to the approved landscape plan, or as amended by an approved site plan revision.
B. 
The property owner, or his designated agent, shall be responsible for the proper care and maintenance and replacement, if necessary, of all landscape materials in a healthy and growing condition.
C. 
Maintenance shall include, but not be limited to; watering, weeding, mowing (including trimming at the base of fencing), fertilizing, mulching, proper pruning, and removal and replacement of dead or diseased trees and shrubs on a regular basis.
D. 
All landscaping and plant material that is missing, dead, decaying, or injured as of September 30 shall be replaced by June 30 of the following year at the property owner's expense. The replacement shall be of the same species and size unless otherwise approved as part of site plan review.
E. 
Irrigation systems shall be designed to minimize spray on buildings, neighboring properties, roads or sidewalks; maintained in proper operating condition and conserve water to the greatest extent feasible through proper watering techniques.
F. 
Improper maintenance shall be determined through periodic inspection by the CEO. The CEO may require a review and status report of plantings by a professional landscaper, arborist, or engineer. All reasonable costs for review and determination shall be at the property owner's expense.