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A. All planting areas shall be a minimum of five feet in width, except where a greater width is required for the health and survival of the plants, or is required by other specific provisions of this chapter.

B. Plantings shall meet the city requirements for sight clearance at intersections and shall not conflict with pedestrian or traffic safety.

C. All required planting areas shall extend to the curb line, street edge, or edge of sidewalk.

D. Permanent curbs or structural barriers/dividers shall enclose planting areas in vehicle use areas.

E. In parking lots, trees may be planted no closer than four feet from pavement edges where vehicles overhang planted areas.

F. Narrow parking lot islands or peninsulas shall not be planted in sod because of potential problems with maintenance. Location of larger parking spaces adjacent to islands is suggested to reduce damage to plant materials.

G. Planting areas within existing and proposed water and sewer or pedestrian easements and rights-of-way shall be primarily Type III or Type IV plantings. Trees shall not be planted within eight feet of a water or sewer pipeline unless approved by the zoning administrator. Shrubs shall be at least four feet from hydrants.

H. Topsoil for Grass and Ground Cover.

1. Topsoil shall be natural, sandy, fertile, friable, and possess characteristics of the representative productive soils in the vicinity. It shall not be excessively acid or alkaline nor contain toxic substances which may be harmful to plant growth.

2. Topsoil shall be without admixture of subsoil. It shall be reasonably free from clay lumps, stones, stumps, debris, roots or similar substances two inches or more in diameter, or other objects which might be a hindrance to the plant growth.

3. Topsoil shall meet the following specifications:

Size:

3/8

No. 20

No. 60

No. 270

Sieve:

ASTM

ASTM

ASTM

ASTM

Percent Passing:

100

77 – 100

0 – 23

0 – 10

4. Grass shall be installed on a minimum of six inches of topsoil, sixty-five to seventy-five percent compacted. Ground cover shall be installed in a minimum of four inches of topsoil, sixty-five to seventy-five percent compacted.

5. In roadway landscape strips, the soil shall be amended by tilling the top twelve inches and blending in six inches of three-way topsoil and then capping that with a minimum of six inches of three-way topsoil. Landscape strips shall be free of construction debris including but not limited to construction materials and roadbed materials.

I. Soil specifications to enhance the hydrologic benefits of disturbed soils on sites that have been graded and cleared of vegetation shall include:

1. A minimum organic content of ten percent by dry weight for all planting beds and other landscaped areas;

2. Organic matter content in turf areas that requires maintenance or supports foot traffic shall be five percent;

3. Organic matter content pH shall be between 5.5 and 7.0;

4. Planting bed shall be mulched with two to three inches of organic material;

5. The soil shall be scarified or tilled soil to an eight-inch depth (or to a depth needed to achieve a total depth of twelve inches of uncompacted soil after the amendment is added). Soil within the dripline of existing trees to be retained shall not be tilled or scarified within three feet of the dripline. The soil amendment shall be incorporated no deeper than three to four inches to reduce damage to roots.

J. All fertilizer applications to turf or trees and shrubs shall follow Washington State University, National Arborist Association or other accepted agronomic or horticultural standards. (Ord. 005/2019 § 10 (Exh. B))