21.08.350 Parking area landscaping standards

21.08.350 Parking area landscaping standards.

A. Purpose. The parking area landscaping standards in this section explain the zones, location, and amount of landscaping required for parking lots, service yards, parking structures, and outdoor display areas.

1. For properties containing a surface parking lot, service area, or outdoor display area, a landscaping strip must be installed as required by the following Table 21.08.02:

Table 21.08.02. Required Parking Lot Frontage, Service Area and Outdoor Display Area Landscaping
Zone(s)	Location of Parking Lot, Service Area or Outdoor Display Area	Type of Parking Lot, Service Area or Outdoor Display Area	Landscape Strip Required
Surface Parking Lot: All zones except: Light Industrial (LI), Business and Technical Park (BTP), or Commercial-Residential (CR)	Between building and right-of-way.	Single aisle, double-loaded parking lot between building and any right-of-way.	A
	Between building and right-of-way.	Multi-aisle parking lot between building and any right-of-way.	B
Surface Parking Lot: Business and Technical Park (BTP) or Light Industrial (LI)	Anywhere on site, unless completely surrounded by buildings and not viewable from the right-of-way.	All parking lots.	A
Surface Parking Lot: Commercial-Residential (CR)	Between building and right-of-way.	All parking lots.	B
Service or storage yards in any zone	Anywhere on site.	All service or storage yards.	SERV
Outdoor display areas in PRC zone	Anywhere on site.	All outdoor display areas.	OUTDOOR

2. The requirements for the type of landscape strip required in Table 21.08.02 are detailed in the following Table 21.08.03:

Table 21.08.03. Parking Lot Frontage, Service Yard,
and Outdoor Storage Area Landscape Strips
Type	Location	Minimum width	Minimum number of trees per linear feet of frontage	Minimum number of shrubs or fence requirements
A	Between property line abutting the right-of-way and parking lot.	10 ft	1 small tree per 15 linear ft, or 1 medium tree per 22 linear ft. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).	2 per 20 sf
B	Between property line abutting the right-of-way and parking lot.	15 ft	1 small tree per 15 linear ft, or 1 medium tree per 22 linear ft. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).	2 per 20 sf
SERV (Service Yard)	Any area between service yard and right-of-way.	Entire area between service yard and ROW	One row of trees 10 ft on center	Solid vision-obscuring fence or hedge minimum 4 feet (mature) height and max 6 feet. Locate at edge of service yard.
OUTDOOR (Outdoor Display Area)	Anywhere on site.	5 ft along any side; 10 ft along entire street frontage if applicable	One row of trees Min 6 ft tall at planting 15 ft on center	Vision-obscuring fence max 6 ft high at edge of outdoor display area.

3. Trees may be located in abutting street right-of-way if they comply with Citywide Design Guidelines and are approved by public works.

4. Walls. An optional continuous masonry wall three feet in height above the ground directly below it may be added to a frontage landscape strip. The wall must be placed abutting the parking lot edge. The wall must include decorative masonry patterns, brick, stone, or cast stone and decorative bands of masonry such as soldier course of brick or multicolored stone. The wall may include wrought iron or wood details such as lattice work that extend an additional two feet in height above the wall.

1. Landscaping within the interior of a surface parking lot area is intended to reduce the visual blight that large, unbroken areas of pavement create, increase stormwater absorption, and reduce the urban heat island effect. For surface parking lot interior landscaping types, the following standards shall apply to all zones except the Highway 99 Mixed Use zone (HMU):

a. Interior landscaping areas shall be at least 25 square feet in area and at least three feet wide.

b. No parking stall shall be located more than 45 feet from a landscaped area.

c. All interior landscaping must be located between parking stalls or at the end of striped parking columns.

d. Interior landscaped islands or peninsulas must be surrounded on at least three sides by parking lot surface.

e. Where feasible, bioswales or stormwater low impact development (LID) techniques may be installed in the planting islands, peninsulas, or areas.

2. Parking Lot Interior Landscaping. The amount of landscaping per parking space must be installed and maintained within the interior of a surface parking lot per the following Table 21.08.04. The following Table 21.08.04 applies to all non-single-family residential uses in residential zones, and to all uses in multifamily residential, commercial, and industrial zones with the exception of the Highway 99 Mixed Use zone:

Table 21.08.04. Parking Lot Interior Landscaping Requirements
Parking spaces proposed	Interior Landscaping Required (square feet)
Parking spaces proposed	Interior landscaping per space	If providing more than minimum required parking (unless located in the rear yard and not abutting a right-of-way – then smaller values in column to the left apply)
Less than 10	0	8
11 – 48	28	32
49 – 100	32	38
101 and more	38	44

3. Highway 99 Mixed Use Zone Parking Lot Interior Landscaping. The amount of landscaping per parking space must be installed and maintained within the interior of a surface parking lot for Highway 99 Mixed Use zoned properties per the following Table 21.08.05:

Table 21.08.05. Highway 99 Mixed Use Zone
Parking Lot Interior Landscaping Requirements
Parking spaces proposed	Interior Landscaping Required per Space (square feet)
Parking spaces proposed	Interior landscaping per space	If providing more than minimum required parking (unless located in the rear yard and not abutting a right-of-way – then smaller values in column to the left apply)
Less than 10	0	8
10 – 30	20	25
31 or more	25	32

4. Trees for Parking Lot Interior Landscaping. The number of trees required within the parking lot (excluding any frontage or buffer strip tree requirements) must be calculated per the following Table 21.08.06:

Table 21.08.06. Parking Lot Interior Landscaping Tree Requirements
Zone	Number of Trees
All zones except: Highway 99 Mixed Use and Commercial-Residential Zone	1 Large Tree per 7 Parking Spaces, or 1 Medium Tree per 4 Parking Spaces, or 1 Small Tree per 3 Parking Spaces. At Least 50% Shall Be Medium or Large Trees. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).
Highway 99 Mixed Use (HMU) Zone	1 Large Tree per 6 Parking Spaces, or 1 Medium Tree per 3 Parking Spaces, or 1 Small Tree per 2 Parking Spaces. At Least 50% Shall Be Medium or Large Trees. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).
Commercial-Residential Zone (CR)	1 Tree per 6 Parking Spaces At Least 50% Shall Be Medium or Large Trees

a. When an applicant proposes to expand an existing parking lot, the amount of interior landscaping per parking space must be based on the total amount of parking provided after expansion.

Example:

Existing parking spaces:	10 spaces
	+
Additional parking spaces proposed:	15 spaces
Total size of expanded parking lot =	25 spaces
Interior landscaping per space (not HMU) =	28 sf

b. The amount of interior landscaping required shall be multiplied by the number of new spaces proposed. The result is the number of square feet of landscaping to be provided only in the new, expanded parking lot area. Interior landscaping within the existing parking lot shall not count toward the interior landscaping required by the proposed parking.

Example:

Additional parking spaces proposed:	15 spaces
	X
Interior landscaping per space (not HMU) =	28 sf
Interior landscaping required in new parking area =	420 sf

1. Landscaping must be installed and maintained at ground level on all sides of a parking structure as stated in the following Table 21.08.07:

Table 21.08.07. Parking Structure Parking Strip Types
Parking structure’s zone	Minimum width abutting ROW	Minimum width abutting private street, access easement, or driveway	Minimum width abutting other sides of parking structure	Minimum number of trees	Groundcover
Parking Structure in Any Zone Except for ACC or CC Zone	25 feet	15 feet	10 feet	1 large tree per 30 linear feet, or 1 medium per 22 linear feet, or 1 small per 15 linear feet of landscaped area. May be clustered or evenly spaced. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).	3 feet max mature height shrubs. Remainder planted with vegetative groundcover.
Parking Structure in ACC Zone	10 feet	15 feet	10 feet	1 small, medium, or large tree per 150 square feet of landscaped area. May be clustered or evenly spaced. A combination of sizes is allowed per LMC 21.08.300(C)(2).	3 feet max mature height shrubs. Remainder planted with vegetative groundcover.
Parking Garage in a CC Zone	Parking structures fully screened in accordance with the City Center Design Guidelines are not required to provide landscape strip buffers abutting ROW or streets, easements, or driveways. If a parking structure does not meet these standards the parking structure shall comply with requirements for parking structures in the ACC zone.

(Ord. 3415 §§ 33 – 35, 2022; Ord. 3326 § 2, 2019)