17.147.050 Recreation area and facility standards.
Each residential development of 10 units or more shall satisfy its recreation area and facility requirements by installing the types of recreational facilities that are most likely to be suited to and used by the age bracket of persons likely to reside in that development.
(1) Where more than 20,000 square feet of recreation area is required, the total acreage of required recreation area may be divided into areas of not less than 9,600 square feet.
(2) Recreation areas shall be landscaped and shall be provided with sufficient natural or manmade screening or buffer areas to minimize any negative impacts upon adjacent residences. At a minimum, all recreation areas shall have continuous landscaped buffers around their perimeters at least 10 feet wide. These buffers may be included within the required open space calculations for new residential developments. The plant material selected within these buffer areas shall be such that they will provide a continuous vegetative border, including appropriate tree plantings as required by the planning director. All new vegetative material shall be guaranteed for a period of at least one year after installation and approved by the planning director. This landscaping requirement may be waived, modified, or reduced by the planning director when there are safety concerns.
(3) Each recreation area shall be centrally located and easily accessible so that it can be conveniently and safely reached and used by those persons in the surrounding neighborhoods it is designed to serve. Therefore, no recreation area shall be located more than 2,000 feet from the dwelling unit it is intended to serve. This distance shall be measured along the walkways and streets within the development, using the shortest route possible.
(4) Each recreation area shall be constructed on land that is relatively flat, dry, and capable of serving the purpose intended by these standards. However, this is not to say that steeply sloped areas and/or floodplains may not be used in the development of these recreation areas. Steeply sloped lands (in excess of 20 percent) may be appropriate for natural recreation areas, if they are properly treated and developed. Floodplains are entirely appropriate to be used for baseball, softball, or football fields. However, permanent structures shall be kept to a minimum in floodplains. (Ord. 1098 § 2, 2001; Ord. 948, 1996; Ord. 929 Ch. 10(M)(5), 1995).