Landscape buffers shall be used where non-residential activities or intense household or group living situations will impact an existing residential use with glare, noise or vehicle exhaust or where the impact of incompatible uses or proportionately different structures cannot be mitigated through building design or transitional features. Landscape buffers shall be located in the rear and side yards of a lot and are required in the following circumstances:
(a) Where a parking lot, non-residential driveway or drive-through facility is adjacent to a residential use, public park, recreation facility or open space.
(b) Where a building or structure in a commercial Zoning District is two (2) or more stories higher than the buildings or structures in the adjacent residential Zoning District.
(c) Where a twenty-four (24) hour non-residential use of property is adjacent to a residential use, regardless of the Zoning District.
(d) As a condition of Site Plan approval, or other special approval required by the approving body.
The landscape buffer shall be located within the subject property along the outer perimeter of the property and shall extend to the lot line. Such a buffer shall also meet the following requirements:
Yard | Minimum Buffer Width* | Minimum Number of trees per 50 lineal feet | Minimum Number of Shrubs per 50 lineal feet |
Rear | 20 ft. | 2 | 10 |
Side | 25 ft. | 4 | 20 |
* The minimum buffer width may be reduced by twenty-five percent (25%) if an earthen berm is provided that undulates to add visual interest and does not exceed slopes of one foot (1') of vertical rise to three feet (3') of horizontal distance (1:3). Decorative landscape fences or other comparable landscape treatments may also be used to screen views to reduce the required buffer width by twenty-five percent (25%). | |||
Uses allowed in the landscape buffer include sidewalks, trails and bike paths; and stormwater management facilities, provided they do not interfere with the performance and maintenance of the buffer area.
(Ord. 1-15. Passed 2-23-15.)