§ 7D3-9. Prescriptive compliance option.

This section contains prescriptive requirements which may be used as a compliance option to this chapter for qualifying homeowner provided and homeowner hired landscape projects as described in Section 7D3-3. In order to use the prescriptive compliance option all qualifying landscape projects must comply with the following standards. At the time of final inspection the applicant must provide the property owner with a certificate of completion, certificate of installation, irrigation schedule and schedule of irrigation and landscape maintenance.

A.

Submit a landscape documentation package including:

1.

Date.

2.

Project location.

3.

Project applicant.

4.

Total landscape area and total turf area, in square feet.

5.

Project type (e.g., new, rehabilitate, homeowner installed, homeowner hired).

6.

Water supply types (e.g., well, potable, recycled, graywater) identify the water purveyor and square feet of landscape watered by graywater, harvested rainwater, or recycled water.

7.

Contact information for project applicant and property owner.

8.

Applicant signature and date with the statement, "I agree to comply with the requirements of the prescriptive compliance option for chapter 7D3 of the Sonoma County Code".

B.

Submit soil improvement documentation;

1.

Incorporate compost at a rate of at least four (4) cubic yards per one thousand (1,000) square feet to a depth of six inches (6") into landscape area, indicate total compost estimated and if available, compost type and supplier or;

2.

Demonstrate compliance with soil report recommendations.

C.

Plant material shall comply with all of the following;

1.

Install climate adapted plants that require occasional, little or no summer water (average 0.3 WUCOLS plant factor) for seventy-five percent (75%) of the plant area excluding edibles and areas using recycled water, harvested rainwater, or graywater;

2.

A minimum three-inch layer of mulch shall be applied on all exposed soil surfaces of planting areas except in areas of turf, creeping or rooting groundcovers, or direct seeding applications where mulch is contra-indicated.

D.

Turf shall comply with all of the following;

1.

Turf shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the landscape area to a maximum of six hundred (600) square feet.

2.

Turf shall not be planted on turf areas which exceed a slope of one foot (1') vertical elevation change for every four feet (4') of horizontal length;

3.

Turf is prohibited in parkways less than one-foot wide, unless the parkway is adjacent to a parking strip and used to enter and exit vehicles. Any turf in parkways must be irrigated by subsurface irrigation or other technology that creates no overspray or runoff.

E.

Irrigation systems shall comply with the following;

1.

Automatic irrigation controllers are required and must use evapotranspiration or soil moisture sensor data and utilize a rain sensor.

2.

Irrigation controllers shall be of a type which does not lose programming data in the event the primary power source is interrupted.

3.

Pressure regulators shall be installed on the irrigation system to ensure the dynamic pressure of the system is within the manufacturers recommended pressure range.

4.

Manual shut-off valves (such as a gate valve, butterfly valve, or ball valve) shall be installed as close as possible to the point of connection for the water supply.

5.

All irrigation emission devices must meet the requirements set in the ANSI standard. ASABE/ICC 802-2014. "Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler and Emitter Standard," all sprinkler heads installed in the landscape must document a distribution uniformity low quarter of 0.65 or higher using the protocol defined in ASABE/ICC 802-2914.

6.

Areas less than ten feet (10') in width in any direction shall be irrigated by subsurface irrigation or other technology that creates no overspray or runoff.

( Ord. No. 6138, § I(Exh. A) , 12-8-2015)