Goshen has new landscaping ordinance
More trees may soon be planted in the Maple City.
On Tuesday, the Goshen City Council passed a citywide landscape ordinance.
Beginning in the spring, developers will be required to include landscaping in all new developments — commercial, industrial and residential. The type and number of plantings required will depend on where the development is located. Buffering will be required in several cases, such as where industrial areas abut residential areas.
The council voted 5-2 to pass the ordinance, with council members Everett Thomas, Daniel Grimes, Julia Gautsche, Chic Lantz and Dave Puro all voting in favor of the ordinance. Councilmen Bill Bloss and Paul Scott voted against it.
Prior to voting, Grimes said he had some reservations about the ordinance because he felt it might be “a little far-reaching.”
“To mandate that every homeowner has to have a shaded front yard is a concern,” he said, explaining that some homeowners like himself would prefer to have flowers or other plantings in the front yard rather than a set number of trees.
He said the lot his home is located on has only one medium-sized tree, but the ordinance would require two large trees for the lot size. He said several of the newer, more upscale neighborhoods would likely not meet the requirements of the ordinance.
The council approved an amendment that would allow for variations like that so that homeowners could plant flowers or other plantings if they chose. Instead of trees in the front yard, in some cases trees may be able to be planted on the side or in back of the lot.
Councilman Bloss said he felt that the entire ordinance was unnecessary.
“Seems like we are getting too sophisticated,” he said.
Bloss said many developers do a good job with their developments and should be left alone to decide what to do about landscaping.
He also questioned whether the landscape ordinance could be policed.
“We tell someone ‘you need to do this, this and this,’ but 95 percent of the time we don’t go back there and check,” he said.
Councilman Scott said that while he personally loves trees, “some people don’t, and I hate to see people have to put them in.”
Councilwoman Gautsche indicated her support of the ordinance. She said she particularly liked the section that deals with buffer landscaping.
The ordinance spells out the types and size of landscaping required in different zoning districts and when different uses abut one another.
Copies of the ordinance may be obtained from the city planning office.
Respond: (574) 533-2151, ext. 313
tara.layne@goshennews.com
