Certain land uses may create an adverse impact when developed adjacent to other less intensive land uses. A bufferyard is a permanent unit of land together with plantings and structure(s), if any, which is designed to ameliorate such adverse impacts. Bufferyards, as required in this section, shall be depicted on any site plans reviewed under this ordinance and shall be depicted and described on drawings submitted for the purpose of development plan review. Unless deferred pursuant to a letter of compliance issued under § 152.177, below, buffers shall be emplaced and approved prior to issuance of any certificate of occupancy for the development.
(A) Location of buffers. Buffers shall be located on lot or parcel boundary lines. Buffers shall not be located on any portion of an existing public or private street or right-of-way, whether opened or unopened.
(B) Determination of buffer requirements. To determine a buffer required between two adjacent parcels or between a parcel and a street, the following procedure shall be followed:
(1) Identify the proposed land use.
(2) Identify the use or, if vacant, the zoning district classification, of land adjacent to the proposed use.
(3) Determine the buffer required on each boundary (or segment thereof) of the subject parcel by referring to the following Table of Buffer Requirements. This specifies the buffer required between proposed land uses and existing adjacent land uses or zoning districts.
TABLE OF BUFFER REQUIREMENTS
Proposed Land Use | Existing Land Use/Zoning Classification | |||
Residential | Institutional and Cultural | Commercial | Industrial | |
Residential | x | x | x | x |
Institutional & Cultural | 10-foot B | x | x | x |
Commercial | 10-foot B | 8-foot A | x | x |
Industrial | 25-foot C | 15-foot B | 15-foot B | x |
Notes for table of buffer requirements: Indicated buffering is required if adjacent parcel of land is used or zoned for the category noted regardless whether adjacent parcel is located in the town, the town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), or the planning jurisdiction of another governmental entity. Existing adjacent land use takes precedence over zoning district. Buffer requirement for the district will be used if adjacent land is vacant.
Institutional and cultural category includes religious, recreational, child care and educational uses and the MICR zoning classification.
(C) Buffer specifications. The following schedule sets forth the specifications of each of the buffers included in the Table of Buffer Requirements. Unless noted differently, the column entitled planting requirements refers to number of individual plants required per 100 linear feet of the buffer. The column entitled size requirements refers to the minimum size of individual plants at the time of planting. Unless otherwise noted, dimensions refer to height.
Type of Buffer | Planting Requirement/100 Linear Feet | Size Requirements |
A | 3 Broadleaf canopy trees 20 Evergreen shrubs (4-foot centers) 25 Flowering shrubs | 5 - 6 feet 18 - 24 inches 12 - 18 inches |
B | 4 Broadleaf canopy trees 25 Evergreen shrubs (4-foot centers) 33 Flowering shrubs | 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 inch caliper 18 - 24 inches 18 - 24 inches |
C | 4 Broadleaf canopy trees 10 Understory trees 33 Flowering shrubs Berm Fence or wall on top of berm | 1 3/4 - 2 inch caliper 5 - 6 feet 18 - 24 inches 6 feet 8 feet |
X | No buffer required | Not applicable |
For type A and B buffers, the developer may, at his or her option, substitute a masonry wall for the evergreen shrubs. A wooden fence may be incorporated into a buffer but shall not be allowed to substitute for evergreen shrubs.
(D) Use of buffer. If approved by the Land Use Administrator, a buffer may be used for passive recreation; however, no plant material may be removed and such use shall not be a nuisance.
(E) Buffers part of required yards. Where front, side and rear yards are required by this chapter, buffers may be established within such required yards.
(F) Buffer requirements when a street separates incompatible uses. If a street with right-of-way of more than 30 feet lies between two land uses which would require a bufferyard between them, a buffer shall be required along the affected side or rear property lines of the developing use. No bufferyard is required along the front property line.
(G) Bufferyards in the central commercial district. In order to preserve and promote existing development patterns within the C-1 Central Commercial District, the bufferyard requirements of this subchapter shall not apply therein.
(Ord. passed 10-1-07; Am. Ord. passed 10-20-08)