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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 11. ZONING REGULATIONS OF 2016 |
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SubTilte 11-C. GENERAL RULES |
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Chapter 11-C7. VEHICLE PARKING |
Section 11-C715. LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS FOR SURFACE PARKING
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715.1 Surface parking lots with ten (10) or more parking spaces shall conform to the landscaping, tree canopy cover, and lighting requirements of this section:
715.2 A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the total area devoted to parking, including aisles and driveways shall be covered by landscaped areas planted with trees and shrubs.
715.3 The landscaping shall be maintained in a healthy, growing condition. Dead or dying plant material shall be replaced.
715.4 The landscaping shall be designed and maintained to accept storm water runoff from the surrounding parking area.
715.5 All end islands of parking rows longer than nine (9) parking spaces, and all areas otherwise not used for ingress and egress, aisles, and parking spaces shall be landscaped.
715.6 The following shall not count towards the landscape area requirements of this section:
(a) Landscape areas of less than one (1) foot in any horizontal dimension;
(b) Landscaping around the perimeter of the parking area greater than a distance of six feet (6 ft.) from the parking pavement area;
(c) Moveable planters;
(d) Any landscape area with a soil depth of less than one (1) foot; or
(e) Permeable surface area used for parking or access to parking, or otherwise incapable of being landscaped.
715.7 The parking area shall be provided with the equivalent of one (1) canopy tree per five (5) parking spaces subject to the following requirements:
(a) Trees of the species listed in the District Department of Transportation Green Infrastructure Standards shall be planted with the following conditions:
(1) For every tree planted from the list of small trees, a tree from the list of medium or large tress, or a substitute approved by the Urban Forestry Administration (UFA), shall be planted;
(2) Species not on the list in Green Infrastructure Standards may be planted if determined by the UFA to be equivalent to species from the list; and
(3) The Zoning Administrator may accept any written communication from the UFA as approval of a tree species;
(b) Trees shall be planted in areas that are included in the landscaped areas required by Subtitle C §§ 715.4 and 715.5; and
(c) New trees, or existing trees that are retained, shall count toward the tree requirement based on the following:
(1) Preservation of existing trees and vegetation shall be given special consideration, contingent upon adequate tree preservation techniques being applied to ensure a high survival rate;
(2) All newly planted trees shall have a minimum diameter of two and one-half inches (2.5 in.) in diameter;
(3) All trees shall be planted or retained in a space that provides a minimum of five hundred (500) cubic feet of soil volume per tree;
(4) Trees shall be planted a minimum of four feet (4 ft.) from any protective barrier, such as curbs or wheel stops with no horizontal dimension less than four feet (4 ft.) and a minimum depth of three feet (3 ft.); and
(5) If tree planting areas are located adjacent to vehicle overhangs, trees shall be planted within one foot (1 ft.) of lines extending from the stripes between parking spaces.
715.8 Any lighting used to illuminate a parking area or its accessory buildings shall be arranged so that all direct light rays are confined to the surface of the parking area.
715.9 The Board of Zoning Adjustment may grant, as a special exception, a full or partial reduction in the landscape standards for parking lots required by this section if, in addition to meeting the general requirements of Subtitle X, the applicant demonstrates that complying with the landscape standards is impractical because of size of lot, or other conditions relating to the lot or surrounding area that would tend to make full compliance unduly restrictive, prohibitively costly, or unreasonable.