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City of San Mateo Municipal Code.

27.71.110 Plant Coverage and Tree Sizes.

(a) Allowed Bare Ground. Areas of bare ground or ground covered only by bark or rocks shall be allowed on-site only where required as part of an approved facility, such as a baseball diamond, vegetable garden, flowerbed, or similar use.

(b) Allowed Natural Landscaping. Natural landscaping shall be allowed only in areas where it is compatible with the surrounding environment.

(c) Minimum Tree Size. All required trees shall be a minimum size of 15-gallon container at time of installation, except for heritage tree replacements, which shall be replaced according to Chapter 13.40 and the Administrative Guidelines.

(d) Plant Coverage.

(1) Trees shall be planted at a minimum ratio of one per 400 square feet of required landscaped area. The ratio may include existing trees and required parking area trees. Public parks, golf courses, cemeteries, school recreation areas and public facilities need not comply with this ratio.

(2) Groundcover and shrub massing areas shall be planted in a manner or at the spacings recommended by the American Association of Nurserymen, to uniformly cover the proposed groundcover areas within two years and the shrub areas within five years or a period optimum for the species.

(e) Security Planting. The use of plant materials that promote building security is encouraged. A list of such materials may be obtained from the Planning Division. Perimeter landscaped areas should incorporate thorny plant materials to discourage persons from cutting through parking areas, trampling vegetation near ground floor windows, or climbing perimeter fences and walls.