Title
An Ordinance to Amend Sections 5:602 and 5:603 of Chapters 62 (Landscaping and Screening) of Title V of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor to Revise Interior Landscaping and Conflicting Land Use Buffer Requirements (CPC Recommendation: 6 Yeas, 2 Nays)
Memorandum
On December 6, 2011, the Planning Commission recommended approval of several amendments to the landscaping and screening ordinance. The proposed amendments are intended to address the following:
Vehicular Use Area Landscaping and Screening - The intent of the proposed modifications to Section 5:602 is to exempt administrative amendments to approved site plans from being subject to two recent requirements: 1) providing landscaped islands for every 15 parking spaces and 2) providing bioretention areas in 50% of the interior landscaping areas.
An administrative amendment is an efficient way to accommodate minor upgrades to a site plan without requiring Planning Commission or City Council approval. However, the recent amendments to Chapter 62 have discouraged administrative amendments because they now may require cost-prohibitive changes to existing parking lots and impact mature vegetation in existing landscape islands.
Conflicting Land Use Buffers - When recent amendments were made to Chapter 62, they included a new provision to require properties in R3 (Townhouse Dwelling) and R4 (Multiple-Family Dwelling) districts to provide a conflicting land use buffer along the side and rear property lines when the parcel abuts properties principally used or zoned residential. The intent of the recent amendments was to provide a landscaping buffer when new residential projects on large tracts of land were proposed next to established residential neighborhoods.
This amendment would remove the R4C zoning district from adhering to the recent conflicting land use buffer requirement. R4C sites are typically located on small lots in older neighborhoods near downtown. Most R4C lots are too small to accommoda...
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