Adopt Ordinance #21-06 Consolidating all Landscape Requirements into a Single Section and Amending Landscape Standards in the Employment Districts

The purpose of this case is to consider Ordinance #21-06, which amends landscaping requirements in the Employment Districts, as well as moves all landscaping standards from individual zoning districts into a single City Code Section entitled Landscaping.

The notion of amending the Employment District landscaping standards arose as a result of the Delta ModTech project. In the Employment Districts, buildings tend to be larger and have a lot of areas dedicated for parking, maneuvering, and storage. The impervious areas, coupled with the stormwater management improvements (ponding), leave much less pervious area available to accommodate plantings (trees and shrubs). Compliance with planting requirements was either physically challenging and/or was resulting in overly dense plantings that would be problematic in the future. Thus, the Environmental Policy Board (EPB) directed Staff to initiate the process to amend the Employment District landscape standards.

Historically, the zoning districts were drafted to be a 'one stop shop' for all requirements in an individual district. This seemed logical prior to the advent of online resources. Even though the same landscaping standards applied to all Employment Districts (E-1, E-2, and E-3), the standards were repeated in each individual district. However, rarely, if ever anymore, do we rely on hard copies of the standards for individual zoning districts (generally accessed now online) and thus, by consolidating all landscaping standards into a single Section, a lot of repetition within City Code can be eliminated.

The Public Hearing Notice for the April 8, 2021 Planning Commission meeting, was advertised in the Anoka County Union-Herald, the City's Official Newsletter. Notification is not required for this current step. 

Staff initially assessed planting requirements from surrounding communities and found that their planting requirements were either more stringent (required more plantings) or significantly less than Ramsey's. Ultimately, the EPB recommended utilizing the Canopy Cover Formula, which is the basis for landscaping requirements in the multi-family districts and is based on available planting area (e.g. pervious areas). Additionally, the EPB also recommended excluding stormwater ponds from the pervious calculation since plantings are not permitted within them. So, rather than basing the number of trees and shrubs on the square footage of the building footprint or the lineal footage of the site perimeter, it would be based on the Canopy Cover Formula and assigned square footage of individual tree/shrub species. While this will result in fewer plantings on a site, it should still produce an attractive landscape that is healthier and more functional.

In addition to the aforementioned revisions, the Ordinance also 'cleans up' certain aspects of the landscaping requirements. The bufferyard standards in the R-2 Residential and R-3 Residential Districts have been eliminated, since the density transitioning standards between different types of densities also apply and are more restrictive. Also, bufferyard standards were added to commercial/industrial districts that currently are missing this requirement. The majority of the Ordinance is simply rearranging existing landscaping requirements from individual districts into a single section of City Code.

By creating a separate City Code Section for landscaping, it provided an opportunity to establish Intent, Goals and Objectives without repeating them over and over throughout each individual zoning district. The EPB wanted to see these developed to assist with future plan review and guiding recommendations. This will be beneficial if there are ever challenges to meeting minimum planting requirements, as a Landscape Plan can be cross checked with the Intent, Goals, and Objectives to ensure it is achieving them.

The Planning Commission conducted a Public Hearing on the proposed Ordinance at their April 8, 2021 meeting.  There was one verbal comment received, which supported the proposed amendments. Additionally, the City Council reviewed this case in Work Session prior to this current case.  The City Council introduced the Ordinance on May 25, 2021 and it is now eligible for adoption.

Based on City Council comments both from the Work Session as well as from when the Ordinance was introduced, Staff has made some slight modifications.  Rather than entirely repealing all references to landscaping within each district, the bulk of the language is proposed to be repealed; however, a sentence was added to each Zoning District stating "Landscaping in accordance with Sec. 117-364". 

Alternatives

Alternative 1: Adopt Ordinance #21-06 amending the landscape standards for the Employment Districts and consolidating all landscaping standards into a single Section in City Code. Compliance with the landscape standards in the Employment Districts is becoming challenging based on the typical building footprint, amount of impervious area, and stormwater management (ponds), which all restrict planting locations. The proposed amendments would reduce the number of required plantings, but should still result in well landscaped projects. Furthermore, consolidating all landscaping standards into one Section will eliminate a lot of repetitive language in the zoning districts.

Alternative 2: Do not adopt Ordinance #21-06. This would retain the current landscape standards for the Employment Districts, which are based on the square footage of building footprint or lineal footage of the site perimeter, whichever results in more plantings. Recent projects have had challenges meeting the planting standards based on limited pervious areas where plantings can be installed.

This case is being handled as part of Staff's regular duties.

The Planning Commission and the Environmental Policy Board both recommend adopting Ordinance #21-06.

Motion to waive the Charter requirement to read the ordinance aloud and adopt Ordinance #21-06 to consolidate all landscaping requirements into a single section and to amend the landscape standards in the Employment Districts.

Roll Call Vote:

Councilmember Musgrove
Councilmember Heineman
Councilmember Specht
Councilmember Woestehoff
Councilmember Riley
Councilmember Howell
Mayor Kuzma