Label
Landscaping & Screening-Irrigation
Zoning & Planning Committee
Title
Amending Toledo Municipal Code (TMC), Part Eleven, Subsection 1108.0406 Landscaping & Screening-Irrigation, adding language to accommodate native/drought resistant plants in lieu of artificial irrigation; and declaring an emergency.
Body
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
The Zoning Code currently requires all projects over 1/2 an acre in size to provide a subsurface irrigation system. Subsurface irrigation systems are not always the best fit for plantings, especially those native to the area which - after establishment - often do not require artificial irrigation. Subsurface irrigation systems can also be prohibitively expensive to install for small business owners. The proposed text amendment will permit flexibility in how developments irrigate their landscaping, native plantings or not, while simultaneously requiring an adequate amount of irrigation be available.
Staff reviewed the zoning codes of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Bloomington (IN), and found a variety of strategies for requiring an appropriate amount of artificial irrigation. Of note, Detroit and Ann Arbor both require landscaping to be within a certain distance of water outlets (hose bibbs) unless a subsurface irrigation system is used. Ann Arbor takes this a step further by allowing landscaping further from water outlets (hose bibbs) in areas where Xeriscaping plants are used. While Ann Arbor's code defines Xeriscaping as "A combination of landscaping features and techniques that in aggregate reduce the demand for, and consumption of, water", it does not specify the threshold a planting / landscape area must meet in order to be considered Xeriscaping. When staff reached out to the Ann Arbor Department of Planning Services for further clarification, their Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Planning Coordinator - who reviews landscaping reviews for the City of Ann Arbor - responded that they had not reviewed any...
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