19.19.08 Maintenance of Privately Owned Open Space

This section shall apply to all privately owned open space, including open space owned by property owners, homeowners, businesses, homeowners association, owners associations, community associations, and business associations. 1. General Maintenance. All privately-owned open space shall be maintained regularly, by the property owner or owners association as appropriate, to maintain a clean, weed-free, and healthy appearance. “Maintain” or “maintained” shall have the same definition as that in Section 19.19.09, as amended. 2. Turf and Plantings. a. Turf shall be maintained at a maximum height of 3-4 inches. b. Turf and plantings shall be fully established and kept free of broadleaf weeds and other invasive species. 3. Irrigation. a. Irrigation shall comply with all City watering restrictions and guidelines, and shall begin no earlier than April 15th and shall end no later than October 15th of every year. b. Irrigation systems shall be maintained to operate efficiently, with leaks and malfunctions repaired promptly. c. Components and nozzles shall be utilized to keep a uniform distribution of spray per irrigation zone. d. Water shall be limited to irrigable areas and shall not cross onto hardscape such as sidewalks and streets. e. Water-saving devices, including smart timers and rain sensors, shall be utilized to ensure efficient use of water, and to prevent watering during precipitation. 4. Amenities. a. Amenities shall be maintained in clean, safe, working order. Rust shall be removed annually. b. Broken or malfunctioning amenities shall be repaired or replaced promptly. c. Proper maintenance schedules as recommended by the manufacturer or industry for each amenity shall be followed. 19.19.09 Dedication and Maintenance of Public Parks, Trails, Open Space, and Landscaping. 1. Definitions. As used in this policy, the following terms and definitions shall apply: a. “City standards” mean, as applicable, the Standard Technical Specifications and Drawings Manual, the Parks, Trails, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan, or other City ordinance or regulation as applicable. b. “Consideration” means: impact fee credits; permitted exceptions in Title 19 such as reduced setbacks, lot sizes, and percentage of open space; increased density; rezoning; and/or any other development benefit lawfully conferred on a developer. c. “Development approval” means a favorable decision on any application relating to the use of property—including amendments—such as the following: preliminary plat; final plat; site plan; district area plan; community plan; development agreement; village plan; rezoning/zoning; code amendment; general plan amendment; building permit; or occupancy permit. d. “Maintenance,” “maintain,” or “maintained” means all necessary, reasonable, and appropriate maintenance required in the City Code including cutting the grass, removing growth from sidewalks, trimming trees and shrubbery, weeding, watering the vegetation, planting new vegetation, replacing dead or dying vegetation, replacing weed fabric, replacing rock or bark mulch, and removing debris and trash. e. “Regional trails” means those regional trails identified in the City’s current Parks, Trails, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan. 2. Purposes. a. In general. This Section provides a systematic and uniform method for requiring property owners engaging in development activity to dedicate, improve, and maintain parks, trails, open space, and landscaping in exchange for development approval. b. Applicability. The intent of the City Council is to apply this policy for future development in the City as of December 1, 2015. It is not the intent to apply this policy retroactively except as specifically intended by the City Council and as consistent with applicable law. c. Purposes. The specific purposes of this policy are to: i. ensure that required parks, trails, open space, and landscaping are lawful exactions that comply with Utah statutory and common law; ii. help the City provide and maintain recreational infrastructure for the enjoyment of City residents in a cost-effective, fair, safe, and efficient manner; and iii. increase and preserve the beauty and environmental quality of the Saratoga Springs community by providing well-maintained parks, trails, open space, and landscaping for the enjoyment of City residents on a City-wide or neighborhood basis. 3. Balancing Under the Rough Proportionality Test. a. Exactions for parks, trails, open space, and landscaping will be determined by the City after careful consideration of the rough proportionality test as required by Utah Code § 10-20-911. The rough proportionality test will be used to determine the fairness and extent of each exaction. The rough proportionality test requires that each exaction: i. has an essential link between the exaction and a legitimate governmental purpose; and ii. is roughly proportionate in both: 1. nature, and 2. extent. b. To have an essential link between the exaction and a legitimate governmental purpose, the exaction must be related to the governmental purpose used to justify the exaction. i. Examples of legitimate governmental purposes include without limitation public health and safety, City infrastructure, and City aesthetics. c. To be roughly proportionate in nature, the exaction must be seen as a solution to a problem caused by the new development. i. For example, if the development will cause increased pedestrian traffic, an exaction of land for a trail or sidewalk may be proportionate in nature because it solves the problem of increased pedestrian traffic by providing a place for pedestrians to travel. d. To be roughly proportionate in extent, the cost of the exaction (including the cost of the dedicated land, any improvements to the land, and maintenance) must be roughly proportionate to the development’s impact. Under this requirement, a development only pays its fair share of a public improvement based on the impact of the development. Costs in excess of this impact are borne by the City. i. For example, the cost to the developer should not be significantly higher than the cost the City would spend to ease the burden of the development’s impact. 4. General Policies. a. The City may require developers to dedicate, improve, and maintain in perpetuity land for parks, trails, open space, and landscaping in exchange for development approval. Any such dedication shall comply with the rough proportionality test in Utah Code § 10-20-911, Title 19 of the City Code, and this policy. 5. Trails. a. In General. i. The landscaping and land area of required trails shall count towards the developer’s open space requirement in Title 19 of the City Code. If the City requires open space and trails in excess of the requirements in Title 19 of the City Code, the City shall provide additional consideration to the developer. ii. A Developer may not receive open space credit and impact fee credits for the same trails installed. A Developer may choose which to receive, but may not receive both types of credits. b. Regional Trails. i. Land for regional trails will be dedicated to the City by the developer through easement or fee simple dedication at the discretion of the City. Regional trails are established by City Standards. ii. Regional trails will be improved and installed by the developer. iii. All regional trails will be owned and maintained by the City. The ownership and maintenance will be of the trail surface only and will not extend to landscaping along the trails. 1. Exception: The developer, owners association, and/or property owner may be required to maintain the trail if the City, through an arm’s length negotiation with the Developer, provides additional consideration to the developer that is memorialized through a recordable instrument such as a development agreement, reimbursement agreement, and/or plat note. iv. Although the land to be dedicated to the City is usually for the trail surface only and not the landscaping along the trail, maintenance easements may be imposed by the City alongside and adjacent to the trail to facilitate access for maintenance of the trail surface and reasonable public access. c. Other Trails. i. All other trails will typically be owned, installed, and maintained by the developer or owner’s association. The maintenance shall include both maintenance of the trail surface and the surrounding landscaping. The City and Developer may mutually agree that the City will own and maintain the trail if there is a public purpose in doing so. d. Materials of Trails. i. Unless otherwise provided herein, all trails shall be constructed of those materials as required in City Standards. ii. Regional Trails. 1. All Lakeshore Trails shall meet the concrete standard in City Standards unless the trail in located in Utah State lands and concrete is prohibited by the State of Utah. 2. All trails along Redwood Road shall be constructed either of asphalt or concrete in accordance with the following standards: a. Trails on the west side of Redwood Road shall be constructed of concrete and meet the width requirement of City Standards. b. Trails on the east side of Redwood Road shall be constructed of asphalt and meet the width requirements of City Standards. These trails shall be maintained by an owners association with a public access easement dedicated to the City. Additional consideration may be granted by the City for the Developer’s ongoing maintenance obligations. If the current typical costs of asphalt are less than the current typical costs of concrete, the additional consideration may be in the form of requiring only asphalt on the east side of Redwood Road. 6. Landscaping and Open Space Amenities. a. All landscaping and open space amenities around trails (whether regional or other) will be installed by the developer. b. All landscaping and open space amenities around trails (whether regional or other) will be maintained by the developer or an owners association unless such area has been dedicated to the City. If the City has granted additional consideration, the City and Developer may mutually agree to have the Developer or owners association maintain areas dedicated to the City. 7. Parks and Open Space. a. All parks shall be dedicated, installed, and maintained in accordance with development approvals, development agreements, and the City Code. All general policies herein shall apply. b. The City shall generally not accept maintenance for parks and open space unless: i. The open space or park is public and over 5 Equivalent Acres with a minimum average of 80 points of amenities per Equivalent Acre; or ii. If the public open space or park is less than 5 Equivalent Acres, the open space or park offers a major public benefit such as trailhead parking or other need identified in City Standards, and containing a minimum average of 100 points of amenities per Equivalent Acre. 8. Park Strips. a. All park strips—meeting the definition of park strip in Section 19.02.02 of the City Code—within a development shall be installed by the developer or lot owner. This includes all pavement and landscaping. b. Park strips shall not be counted towards open space requirements in Title 19 unless more than the minimum park strip width is being installed and all open space standards in Title 19 are met. In all cases of park strips counting towards open space requirements, the minimum required width of a local road park strip shall be deducted from the total area of the oversized park strip being installed. c. All park strips along all roads shall be maintained by the individual property owner, tenant, entity, or person in possession of the property whose property abuts the park strip in accordance with Title 19 of the City Code.