Screening and buffering shall be provided along the entire length of a common boundary whenever a lot abuts a more restrictive zoning district or use as required below. Such screening and buffering shall be provided in accordance with the following regulations and shall be approved as part of the development plan required by Chapter 1228.
(a) Required for the Following: Screening and buffering shall be required according to the following:
(1) When a lot in any Office, Business or Industrial District abuts a Residential District;
(2) When a lot in any Industrial District abuts an Office or Business District;
(3) When a lot in a R-3 District abuts a R-1 or R-2 District; and
(4) When a lot in a Residential District is occupied by a nonresidential special use.
(b) Ingress and Egress. No buffer yard shall be used for any purpose other than for plantings and screening, except that necessary ingress to or egress from the lot shall be permitted, including access to easement tracts by the grantees to perform the functions of which such easements were granted. Buffer yards shall be designed to permit proper and adequate fire and emergency access to both the site and any established easements.
(c) Width of Buffer Yard. Each required buffer yard shall have a minimum width equal to the parking setback required for the district.
(d) Screening. When the natural vegetation within the required buffer yard does not form a solid, continuous, visual screen, as determined by the Planning Commission, or does not have a minimum height of six feet along the entire length of the common boundary, screening shall be installed in compliance with the following:
(1) Screening materials.
A. Screening within the buffer yard shall consist of one or a combination of the following:
1. A dense vegetative planting that provides 80% summer opacity and 60% winter opacity.
2. A fence with openings through which light and air may pass together with a landscaped area at least ten feet wide.
3. A non-living opaque structure such as a solid masonry wall, or a solid fence that is compatible with the principal structure.
4. A landscaped mound or berm at least seven feet wide.
B. Fences and walls, or fences and walls in combination with a mound or berm, may be used as a complete buffer only with the approval of the Planning Commission.
(2) Location. The location of the wall, fence, berm or vegetation shall be placed within the buffer yard to maximize the screening effect as determined by the Planning Commission.
(3) Height of Screening. The height of screening shall be in accordance with the following:
A. Visual screening walls, fences, or mounds and fences in combination shall be a minimum of six feet high measured from the natural grade, except as set forth in division (d)(3)B. below.
B. Whenever the required screening is located along the common side lot line in the area extending from the parking lot to the street, the required screening shall not exceed a height of three feet. Fences and walls in a front yard shall also comply with 1294.08.
C. Vegetation shall be a minimum of six feet high measured from the natural grade, in order to accomplish the desired screening effect.
(4) Buffering Effect. The desired buffering effect shall be achieved not later than 12 months after the initial installation. The Commission may extend this 12-month period where a hardship would be created because of lack of expected growth or material shortages, but the Commission shall not extend such period beyond three years from the time the initial installation was to have been or has been completed.
(Ord. 58-01. Passed 5-29-01.)