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Planning Case No. 452-96 • New Apostolic Church; 3025 County Road H September 18, 1996 Page 6 (6) Required fencing and screening sufficient to adequately shield the activity from the abutting properties. The applicant is proposing to use landscaping rather than fencing to provide the required screening between this property and adjacent properties. If a greenbelt planting strip is used, the Code states it shall be not less than 8 feet in height. The landscaping plan shows a mixture of evergreen and deciduous along the north and east property lines, with a double row of trees in the center section of the north property line. The row along the east side has three 4-foot deciduous trees at either end. On the north side, two Austrian pine has been removed, and the number of Mugho Pine has been reduced. Two Black Hills Spruce have been added instead of two Amur Maples in the center section. On the east end, three Black Hills Spruce have been replaced by Austrian Pine and the White Cedar(Arborvitae) remains. The White Cedar are specified at 3 feet high. The Black Hills Spruce and'Austrian Pine are specified at 6 feet. Staff is recommending that the Black Hills Spruce and Austrian Pine be specified at 6-7 • feet, and the White Cedar(Arborvitae) be replaced by Black Hills Spruce. (The City Forester has recommended that the White Cedar be replaced by Black Hills Spruce because White Cedars do not thrive when planted in single rows alone. They are susceptible to wind and snow damage, and to being eaten by deer, which have been a problem for property owners in this neighborhood.) We also recommend that Austrian Pines not be substituted for Black Hills Spruce along the east end of the north buffer area because they have a much more open branch structure than the Black Hills Spruce. It is our recommendation, if the Planning Commission recommends approval, that 6-7 Black Hills Spiuce-be-shown along the north side of the project abutting the first two banks of parking, to create a continuous screen. The Code does not specify the width of the required green belt planting strip, so it falls to the Planning Commission and City Council to determine if the proposed width is sufficient to provide adequate screening. Working from west to east, the green belt planting strip goes from 15 feet in width to 23 feet and then to 10 feet along the north property line, and is 10 feet in width along the east property line. The width of the planting strip has been increased on the west end of the north side, and has decreased in the center section of the north side and along the east property line. As noted earlier, the wide landscaped area along the north side has been reduced from 1269 square feet to 984 square feet (285 square feet less) and the 26" oak will not be kept. The reason for this change is that two parking stalls have been added to the middle bank of parking. •