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<br /> <br /> <br /> Created: 2025-05-22 16:40:53 [EST] <br />(Supp. No. 36) <br /> <br />Page 134 of 198 <br />(5) Credit for large trees. The city council may, at their discretion, give credit for trees exceeding the <br />minimum planning size requirements. The city may reduce the required number of plantings by up to <br />ten percent when trees in excess of the minimum size requirements are provided. <br />(6) Equivalent planting materials. The following substitutions may be made for the minimum landscape <br />requirements: <br />a. An equivalent of up to 50 percent of the required number of overstory trees may be substituted <br />with the use of ornamental or understory trees. In such case, not less than three ornamental or <br />understory trees shall be provided for each one required overstory tree substituted. <br />b. An equivalent of up to 50 percent of the required number of ornamental or understory trees may <br />be substituted with the use of shrubs. In such case, not less than 20 shrubs shall be provided for <br />each one required ornamental or understory tree substituted. <br />(r) Site Restoration: All property disturbed by mining, excavation or fill, or by other uses that disturb the <br />vegetative cover of the property, and that shall lie fallow or undisturbed thereafter, shall be restored as soon <br />as practicable. As a minimum, such restoration shall include: <br />(1) A minimum of four to six inches of topsoil shall be applied to all areas to be seeded. Topsoil shall be of <br />the type that naturally exists on the site, and is to be generally free of debris, rock, roots, noxious <br />weeds, or any substance potentially toxic to plant growth. The surface area where topsoil is to be <br />added shall be loosened to a depth of two inches, and the topsoil shall be mixed within this depth to <br />ensure binding. <br />(2) The seedbed shall be tilled to a minimum depth of four inches and fertilizer applied in accordance with <br />the recommendations of the University of Minnesota Extension Service. <br />(3) Minnesota Department of Transportation Standard Prairie Grass Seed Mix, suitable for the site, shall be <br />applied at a uniform rate as recommended by the producer through drilling, broadcast spreading, or <br />hydroseeding. A good quality straw mulch shall be applied at a rate not less than 4,000 pounds per acre <br />on all slopes of four to one or greater, then anchored using disks or netting. <br />(4) A mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees, at an average density not less than ten per acre, shall be <br />planted at areas of the property owner's choice. These trees may be grouped into stands for the <br />purposes of erosion control, buffering, or wildlife habitat. No more than 20 percent of the trees <br />planted to meet this requirement shall be of the same species. <br />(5) Vegetative Buffering. When required, vegetative buffering shall interrupt the view of the objects being <br />buffered from public road rights-of-way and adjacent property. No more than 15 lineal feet of the <br />object being buffered shall be visible from public road rights-of-way and adjacent properties without a <br />vegetative interruption extending from the base of the object to a minimum height of six feet. <br />Coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs may be used to fulfill this requirement. <br />(s) Plantings, except for site restoration activities in the rural development area, must be of the size indicated in <br />this subsection, and meet the American Standard for Nursery Stock published by the American Association of <br />Nurserymen. Bare root plants may be allowed if specifically approved as part of the site development plan, <br />otherwise all plants must be balled and burlaped, or container grown. <br />(1) Overstory deciduous trees: 2.5-inch caliper. <br />(2) Coniferous trees: six feet in height. <br />(3) Shrubs: <br />a. Deciduous shrubs: three-gallon pot. <br />b. Coniferous shrubs: five-gallon pot.