The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About91-14 ORDINANCE NO. 91-14 ~N ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF DANVILLE, ADDING SECTION a2.a6 TO THE DANVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING NEW DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE TOWN IN THE DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT OF LANDSCAPING. SECTION ONE. Title This Ordinance shall be known as the "Landscape Ordinance". SECTION TWO. Purpose This Ordinance is intended to promote careful and efficient use of water for all purposes and uses related to outdoor landscaping and irrigation. SECTION THREE. Addition of Section 32.36 Section 32.36 is hereby added to the Danville Municipal Code, to read as follows: "32.36 Landscape Requirementst'. A. Applicability These requirements will be administered as part of the regular plan review process, prior to issuance of any building permits. The requirements are applicable to all landscaping for new construction involving the following types of land uses: o single Family Residential o Multiple Family Residential o Commercial o office o Public While not mandatory, these requirements shall also be used as guidelines for replacing or rehabilitating existing landscaping and irrigation in connection with the uses identified above. The requirements do not apply to sites using reclaimed water. 1. Plan Submittal Required For all uses except single family residential, landscape plans shall be submitted to the Town of Danville for review as to conformance with these requirements. Landscape plans shall be submitted to the Town of Danville for review and approval prior to the issuance of any building permit for the project. 2. Self Certification for Single Family Residential Upon installation of a new water service or initial purchase of a newly constructed home, the builder, owner or purchaser shall be provided a copy of these guidelines and shall acknowledge in writing their intent to install all new landscaping in a manner consistent with the requirements of this ordinance. In the case of a tract or subdivision, responsibility for notification shall rest with the seller of the homes and self- certification shall occur in accordance with disclosure requirements. Where construction of a single residence is involved the Town will advise the builder or permittee of requirements at issuance of building permit. Responsibility for notification shall rest with the seller of the home and self-certification shall occur in accordance with disclosure requirements. B. Ornamental Features Any man-made ornamental features such as pools, ponds, streams, lakes, and fountains which exceed a capacity of 500 gallons shall be supplied, operated, and maintained with alternative sources of water if they are available. For purposes of this chapter, swimming pools are not considered to be ornamental features. Ornamental features shall be constructed using recirculating pumps to reuse water and reduce the use of additional new water. All ponds shall be lined to eliminate the infiltration of water into the ground. C. Plant Selection A minimum of 80% of landscaping in non-turf areas shall be well suited to the climate of the region and require minimal water once established. Up to 20% may be non-drought tolerant variety as long as plants are grouped together and can be irrigated separately. All irrigated landscaping shall be designed and installed in a manner which will be compatible with significant native landscaping which is existing on the site. Special care shall be taken in the case of existing Oak trees, or any trees protected under the Town of Danville Tree Preservation ordinance (ordinance No.138). D. Turf Area Limitations Turf area shall be limited to 25% of the total site area excluding buildings and hardscape. Turf area may be increased to 35% of the total site area excluding buildings and hardscape when drought tolerant turfgrass is used in lieu of Kentucky Bluegrass. Turf should not be used on slopes in excess of a 4 to i ratio. When total turf area exceeds 20,000 square feet, drought tolerant turfgrass such as Tall Fescue shall be used in lieu of Kentucky Bluegrass. Turf area limitations exclude public parks, golf courses, cemeteries and school recreation areas. E. Soil Conditioning and Mulching 1. A minimum of six (6) cubic yards of nitrifled soil conditioner per 1000 square feet shall be incorporated into the top six inches of soil. 2. A minimum of 2 inches of mulch shall be added in non-turf areas to the soil surface after planting. Non-porous material shall not be placed under the mulch. 3. Grading shall be minimized to avoid disturbance. Top soil shall be stockpiled and shall be reapplied during final grading. F. Irrigation These irrigation requirements apply to all non-single family residential landscapes and to those single family residences where automatic and semi-automatic irrigation systems will be installed. 1. sprinkler heads with a precipitation rate of .85" per hour or less shall be used on slopes exceeding .15% or on slopes exceeding 10% within 10 feet of hardscape to minimize runoff. 2. Valves and circuits shall be separated based on water use. 3. Drip or bubbler irrigation systems are required for trees. Bubblers shall be used that do not exceed 1.5 gallons per minute per device. 4. Sprinkler heads must have matched precipitation rates within each control valve circuit. 5. Check valves are required where elevation differences may cause low head drainage. 6. Sprinkler head spacing shall be designed for head to head coverage. The system should be designed for minimum runoff and overspray onto non-irrigated areas. 7. All automatic irrigation systems shall be equipped with a controller capable of dual or multiple programming. Controllers must have multiple cycle start capacity and a £1~xibl~ calendar Drogram. 8. All irrigation systems shall be equipped with rain shut-off devices. 5 G. Additional Requirements These additional requirements apply to all landscaping for new construction except single family residences. 1. No turf shall be allowed: a. In median strips. b. In areas less than eight (8) feet wide. c. Within four (4) feet of face of curb for any street. 2. Sprinklers Sprinklers and sprays shall not be used in areas less than eight (8) feet wide. 3. Soil Conditioning and Mulching Soil tests showing soil type, soil depth, uniformity and PH shall be required and submitted with landscape plans. Soil will be amended according to report recommendations. 4. Irrigation Landscape plans submitted for review by the Town shall incorporate a water budget that includes: a. Estimated annual water use (in gallons). b. Irrigated area (in square feet). c. A monthly irrigation schedule for the plant establishment period and the following year. This irrigation schedule will include the following information for each valve. o plant type o precipitation rate o flow rate in gallons per minute o run times in minutes per day o number of watering days per week (Turfgrass should be irrigated a maximum of once every three days). The following schedule shows how many inches of water turfgrass needs monthly, based upon climatic data for Inland and Coastal areas. Inches/Month Inches/Month Date Inland Coastal Date Inland Coastal January 0 0 July 7.0 4.5 February 0 0 August 6.5 4.5 March 1.5 1.0 September 5.0 4.0 April 3.0 3.0 October 2.0 1.5 May 5.5 3.0 November 0.5 0 June 6.5 5.0 December 0 0 4 t H. Non-Compliance Willful non-compliance with the requirements of this chapter following plan approval, self-certification or initial landscape installation may be grounds for service limitations such as water flow restrictors to be imposed by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. SECTION FOUR. Codification Only Section Three hereof shall be codified in the Danville Municipal Code. The foregoing ordinance was introduced at a meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Danville held July 16, 1991, and was adopted and ordered published at a meeting of the Council held on 8/6/91 , by the following vote: ~YES~ GREENBERG, LANE, RITCHEY, SCHLENDORF, SHIMANSKY NOES ~ NONE ONE Mayor ~TTEST: ~PPROVED /~S TO FORM: