(A) For those use districts and uses listed below there shall be provided and maintained on those sides abutting or adjacent to a residential district an obscuring wall as required below, except as otherwise required in subsection (F) of this section.
Use | Requirements |
Use | Requirements |
P-1 Vehicular Parking District | 4'6" high wall |
Off-street parking area (other than P-1 Districts) | 4'6" high wall |
B-1, B-2, B-3, CBD and OS-1 Districts | 4'6" high wall |
IRO, I-1, I-2 Districts – open storage areas, loading or unloading areas, service areas | 4'6" to 8' high wall or fence. Height shall provide the most complete obscuring wall possible |
Auto wash, drive-in restaurant | 6'0" high wall |
Hospital – ambulance and delivery areas | 6'0" high wall |
Utility buildings, stations and/or substations | 6'0" high wall |
(B) The Planning Commission may in its review of site plans for specific uses allow or require the provision of an earth berm and/or a greenbelt planting consisting of trees and shrubs to serve as an obscuring wall, where such obscuring walls are required under this chapter, and where conditions are such that a more effective and harmonious development with abutting or neighboring land uses would result. Review and approval shall be required by the Planning Commission of types of plant materials and their location in such greenbelt.
(C) Required walls shall be located on the lot line except where underground utilities interfere and except in instances where this chapter requires conformance with front yard setback lines in abutting residential districts. Upon review of the site plan, the Planning Commission may approve a reduction in height requirements or may approve an alternate location for the wall or may waive the wall requirement if in specific cases it would not serve the purposes of screening the parking area effectively. Required walls may, upon approval of the Planning Commission, be located on the opposite side of an alley right-of-way from a nonresidential zone that abuts a residential zone when mutually agreeable to affected property owners. The continuity of the required wall on a given block will be a major consideration of the Planning Commission in reviewing such request.
(D) Walls and screening barriers shall have no openings for vehicular traffic or other purposes, except as otherwise provided in this chapter and except such openings as may be approved by the Chief of Police and the Building Official. All walls required in this section shall be constructed of materials approved by the Building Official to be durable, weather resistant, and rustproof, and shall be maintained by the property owner or tenant at all times equal in condition to the completed structure at the time of initial installation. Walls may be constructed with openings which do not in any square section (height and width) exceed 20% of the surface. Where walls are so pierced, the openings shall be so spaced as to maintain the obscuring character required, and shall not reduce the minimum height requirement. The arrangement of the openings shall be reviewed and approved by the Building Official.
(E) The city may require that suitable maintenance guarantee be provided for the continued maintenance of walls required under this chapter.
(F) The requirement for an obscuring wall between off-street parking areas, outdoor storage areas, and any abutting residential districts shall not be required when such areas are located more than 200 feet distant from such abutting residential district.
(G) The Board of Appeals may waive or modify the requirements of this section where cause can be shown that no good purpose would be served.
(1) In consideration of request to waive all requirements between nonresidential and residential districts, the Board shall refer the request to the Planning Commission for a determination as to whether or not the residential district is considered to be an area in transition and will become nonresidential in the future.
(2) In such cases as the Planning Commission determines the residential district to be a future nonresidential area, the Board may temporarily waive wall requirements for an initial period not to exceed 12 months. Granting of subsequent waivers shall be permitted, provided that the Planning Commission shall make a determination, as described in this section, for each subsequent waiver prior to the granting of such waiver by the Board. (See Appendix I.)
(1993 Code, § 82-467) (Ord. passed 10-12-1992)