1143.10 SCREENING AND BUFFERING.
(a) Where Required. Screen(s) and buffer(s) shall be provided along the common property line separating all A and Residential (R) Districts from Institutional (B), Commercial (C) and Industrial (M) zoning districts as well as between residential zoning districts in accordance with the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.
(b) Responsibility. Provisions for such buffer areas and construction of required screens shall be the responsibility of the property owner or developer introducing the new use as defined by the requirements for screening and buffering found within the individual zoning district (i.e., A-1, R-0, R-1, R-2, etc.). These screening and buffering requirements are to be utilized for reference in evaluating P.U.D. plans and preliminary/final development plans as provided for in Chapter 1191.
(c) Construction. All screens required or provided shall be constructed of any combination of natural and man-made elements to comply with the height and material requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. All vertical screening elements between incompatible land uses as described below and required within the various zoning districts of the Zoning Ordinance shall be a minimum height of six feet. Natural screens made of vegetation having a mature height greater than six feet may be required in cases where the difference in topography and/or intensity of the two uses being screened merits such action.
(d) Buffer Areas. All buffer areas shall be unobstructed from ground to sky, except for required screens and natural plantings, and planted in grass or other natural ground cover upon which no activity, use or structure shall be placed. Screening and buffering will extend along the common property line forward to the building line of the adjoining use except when the new use conducts primary and/or accessory activities excluding driveways of two lanes or less forward of the primary building of the adjoining use. In that situation, the screening and buffering shall be extended to provide screening and buffering between such primary and/or accessory activity and the adjoining property. The height of such screen may be adjusted to prevent limits to visability that may affect safety.
(e) Screening Materials. For the purpose of screening incompatible land uses, the property owner may utilize any combination of the following: masonry wall, chain link fence with slats, opaque wooden fences, earthen mounds, natural vegetation hedges and plantings, open space or any other material approved by the Technical Review Committee. Plantings must utilize a mix of coniferous and deciduous type plantings so as to provide a minimum of sixty percent (60%) winter opacity and an eighty percent (80%) summer opacity within five years after installation. The Zoning Inspector shall have authority to determine whether such plantings will provide the appropriate levels of opacity within five years recognizing the growth of natural vegetation. Screens other than plantings must provide a minimum of eighty percent (80%) opacity at all times.
(f) Maintenance and/or Replacement. All buffers and screens shall be maintained in a condition reasonably representing the original condition, recognizing growth of natural vegetation, and shall be replaced as necessary. The property owner shall be responsible for such maintenance and/or replacement of buffer areas and screens, including but not limited to, appropriate trimming of natural vegetation, painting and general repair. (Ord. 94-84. Passed 7-9-84.)