18.57.040 Specific Requirements | Moses Lake Municipal Code

18.57.040 Specific Requirements:

A. Buffers. When adjacent to the uses listed, the subject property shall provide the type and width of landscaping listed in the table below along the entire property line between the subject property and the adjacent use, except for vehicular and pedestrian access points. If a building is located in the buffer area, the landscaping displaced by the building shall be located elsewhere on the site. Types of landscaping are as described in Section 18.57.050.

SUBJECT PROPERTY USE
ADJACENT USE	1 and 2 Family Subdivision	Multi-family	Manufactured Home Park	Commercial/Institutional	Industrial	Public Park
Freeway or Highway	Type I 20 feet wide	Type I 20 feet wide	Type I 20 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide
Street Frontage	Type IV 5 feet wide 12 pts/25'	Type IV 5 feet wide 12 pts/25'	Type IV 5 feet wide 18 pts/25'	Type IV 10 feet wide 18 pts/25'	Type IV 20 feet wide 18 pts/25'	Type IV5 feet wide 12 pts/25'
1 and 2 Family or vacant land zoned R-1 or R-2		Type II 5 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type I 15 feet wide
Multi-family or vacant land zoned R-3	Type II 10 feet wide	Type III 5 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type I 15 feet wide
Manufactured Home Park	Type II 10 feet wide	Type III 5 feet wide		Type II 10 feet wide	Type I 15 feet wide
Commercial/Institutional or vacant land zoned C-1 or C-2	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 5 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide		Type II 10 feet wide
Industrial or vacant land zoned I-L	Type II 10 feet wide	Type I 5 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide	Type II 10 feet wide
Public Park

B. Parking Areas. Parking areas shall be landscaped to provide shade and visual relief while maintaining clear lines of sight.

1. Landscaping shall be provided within and/or around all surface parking lots containing ten (10) or more parking stalls, except that no parking lot landscaping shall be required within industrial zones. At a minimum, landscaping shall consist of ground cover and shade trees with a minimum mature canopy spread of fifteen feet (15'). See Section 18.57.055 for required landscape points for parking lots.

2. The minimum area per planter shall be one hundred (100) square feet.

3. Landscaped areas shall be distributed around and/or throughout the parking lot so that the maximum distance between the trunk of shade tree and any parking stall shall be no more than fifty feet (50'). Shade trees used to meet this requirement are not required to be those specifically included in the parking lot landscaping.

4. Parking lots. two (2) points per required parking space + one (1) point for each parking space provided in addition to required spaces.

5. Permanent curbs or structural barriers shall be provided to protect the landscape plantings from vehicle overhang.

6. Trees shall be planted at least four feet (4') from the outside edge of the planting area.

7. No plant material greater than twelve inches (12") in height shall be located within two feet (2') of the edge of a landscaped area adjacent to a parking stall.

8. Required parking lot planter areas shall be in addition to any required front, side, and rear yard buffer requirements.

9. The requirements of this section shall not apply to parking garages or parking decks, or display areas for automotive and equipment sales and rentals.

1. Front Yard. The required front yard and exterior side yard of all one (1) and two (2) family residential uses shall be landscaped within one (1) year of occupancy and maintained. For the purposes of this section, landscaping shall be defined as the addition of decorative rock, bark, groundcover, lawn, trees, plants, shrubs, and other natural and decorative features. At least fifty percent (50%) of the front and exterior side yard area shall be landscaped. Driveways and parking areas may be located in the remaining area that is not required to be landscaped.

2. Multi-family Structures. Multi-family residential uses shall also landscape the required open space areas so that they are usable for outdoor recreation.

3. Manufactured Home Parks. All areas within the boundaries of the manufactured home park shall be landscaped. All lawns, trees, landscaping, occupied and unoccupied manufactured home spaces, recreation areas, and open space areas shall be continually maintained. A permanent irrigation system shall be installed and maintained for planted common areas.

4. Planter strips. Street frontage planter strips between the curb and sidewalk shall be landscaped with Type IV landscaping consisting of a minimum of twelve (12) points per twenty-five feet (25') of frontage. Timing of landscape installation shall be as follows:

a. For new subdivisions, planter strip landscaping shall be installed or bonded for before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued for the house on the lot abutting the planter strip.

b. For new planter strips built in existing developed areas, planter strip landscaping shall be installed within one year of completion of the planter strip.

c. For areas with existing planter strips, planter strip landscaping shall be installed within one (1) year of the adoption of this ordinance.

D. Building Facade Landscaping. To ensure that wall facades are visually interesting when viewed from surrounding streets and buildings, blank building facades more than twenty feet (20') in height or fifty feet (50') in width or length shall be landscaped with Type III landscaping to provide visual relief and soften the effect of the new building on the surrounding area.

1. Blank facades are defined as those which do not add to the character of the streetscape and do not contain transparent windows or sufficient ornamental features, decorations, artwork, articulation, high quality building materials (such as brick), or other architectural features.

2. Exceptions. Buildings in industrial zones are not required to screen blank facades. In all other zones, blank facades that are within twenty feet (20') of another building or which are otherwise not visible to the general public are not required to be screened. (Ord. 2785, 10/13/15; Ord. 2647, 4/10/12; Ord. 2534, 11/10/09; Ord. 2144, 12/9/03; Ord. 1857, 6/8/99)