The Town of Franklin has an abundant and diverse tree and vegetative cover that contributes to the aesthetic value of the town and provides numerous ecological and economic benefits. The landscaping, buffering, and screening standards set forth below require landscaping in certain circumstances and locations in order to achieve the following:
(A) Encourage the preservation of existing trees and vegetation and replenish removed vegetation;
(B) Improve the visual quality of the town and minimize potential negative impacts of development such as noise, dust, glare of lights, parking lots, traffic, heat, overcrowding, and odor;
(C) Provide environmental benefits such as climate modification, decreased energy consumption, reduced stormwater runoff, decreased erosion, improved water and air quality, and protection of wildlife habitat;
(D) Provide a transition between dissimilar land uses to protect abutting properties from potential negative impacts of neighboring development and preserve the character and value of a property and provide a sense of privacy;
(E) Improve standards for quantity, location, size, spacing, protection, and maintenance of plants and other screening materials to assure a high level of quality in the appearance of Franklin while allowing flexibility to promote well designed and creative landscape plantings;
(F) Require the maintenance of landscaping installed to meet the requirements of these standards to ensure that the landscaping continues to thrive and enhance the visual quality of the Town of Franklin.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07)