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Updated January 2025 – Gem Lake Consolidated Land Use Ordinance No. 131 146 SECTION 26. LANDSCAPING 1. Purpose. The purpose of this Section is to clearly express the City of Gem Lake’s intent for all properties in the City to be landscaped and to have the landscaping maintained with care. Properties shall be landscaped to improve the environmental performance of all properties in the City as well as to meet the aesthetic needs of the general public. 1. Landscaping Goals. All landscaping must be designed to protect, preserve, and promote the aesthetic appeal and overall value of the property. The quantity and quality of the landscape design should be compatible with the described use for each parcel in a zoning area and the intended use of the property. The preservation of desirable vegetation is a goal which should be addressed prior to any new construction, land filling, land changes or expansion of existing use areas. 2. Landscape standards. The landscape standards set forth in the Ordinance will promote harmonious development in the City, increase the desirability of residences, encourage investment or occupation in the City, optimize use and value of land and improvements, increase the stability and value of property, and add to the conditions affecting the peace, health and welfare of the City. Landscaping standards are essential to ensure compatible relationships between land uses within a community. All uses allowed as either permitted or conditional uses within the City’s various zoning areas shall conform to the following general provisions and performance standards. 3. Landscaping Maintenance. It is also important that all landscaped areas shall be properly maintained. Minimum maintenance standards for all landscaped areas are described in Section 18 of this Ordinance. 2. Definitions. The definitions used in this section are now listed in Appendix A of The Consolidated Land Use Ordinance. 3. Landscaping Requirements for New Construction in Residential Districts. 1. Where to Install Landscaping. All front yards, boulevards and side yards of a residential structure in any zoning area in the City shall have sod or landscaping with mulch cover properly installed. This installation shall occur within sixty (60) days after the home is constructed upon the lot, but no later than two hundred forty (240) days after first grading, excavating, or otherwise disturbing the land in furtherance of construction. If home construction is completed after the end of growing season, such landscaping shall be installed within sixty (60) days of the start of the next growing season. In rear yards, grass or mulch cover is still required, but the requirement may be met by seeding or other measures reasonably expected to provide a grassy area in lieu of installing sod. Silt fences and other methods to prevent soil erosion, as described in the Zoning Ordinance, shall be installed and maintained on any remaining portions of the lot that are not sodded or properly landscaped until a stable ground cover is established. All areas disturbed by grading which surround the principal building and accessory buildings which are not driveways, sidewalks or patios shall be landscaped with grass, shrubs, trees or other ornamental landscape materials. 2. Trees to be Planted. Three (3) new trees per acre shall be installed concurrently with sodding and seeding of the required yards. At least one (1) overstory tree and either one (1) ornamental tree or coniferous/evergreen tree is required for each lot. Each acre may have two (2) overstory trees as long as they are not of identical species. Existing significant trees that are retained on each lot may be used as a credit in lieu of planting new trees, but each acre must have at least two (2) trees. 3. Landscaping Required After Land Filling or Reclamation. If land filling or land reclamation is done in a residential area, the requirements of Section 16.15 for landscaping following construction shall be followed, using the date of permit expiration in place of the date of construction completion . 4. Landscaping Requirements for New Construction in Non-Residential Districts. 1. Where landscaping is necessary. For all non-residential districts, at least twenty five percent (25%) of the land area shall be landscaped with grass, approved ground cover, shrubbery and trees. All front yards, boulevards and side yards around a structure in all non-residential districts in the City shall have sod or landscaping with mulch cover properly installed. This installation shall occur within sixty (60) days after the structure is constructed upon the lot, but no later than two hundred forty (240) days after first grading, excavating, or otherwise disturbing the land in furtherance of construction. If construction is completed after the end of growing season, such landscaping shall be installed within sixty (60) days of the start of the next growing season. All areas around the structure must