Consistent with the objectives established in the Intent and Purpose section of this chapter, landscaping shall be provided in the following areas:
• At the perimeter of sites to buffer, separate, and/or screen adjacent land uses;
• At the perimeter of parking lots to shade, separate and/or screen the view of parked cars from adjacent streets and adjacent land uses;
• In the interior of parking lots to shade and beautify the paved surface;
• Around the perimeter of buildings to soften, shade and enhance the appearance of structures.
Screening is required to block the view of trash receptacle areas, loading areas, service courts and storage areas. Screening is also required between residential and nonresidential land uses. Parking lots shall be screened to minimize the view of cars from adjacent streets and adjacent residential uses. It is not necessary to screen, but only to separate adjacent nonresidential parking areas.
(a) Buffer Yards: The buffer yard is a designated unit of yard or open area together with any plant materials, barriers, or fences required thereon. Both the amount of land and the type and amount of landscaping specified are designated to lessen impacts between adjoining land uses. By using both distance and landscaping, the impact of such items as noise, glare, activity, dirt, and unsightly parking areas will be minimized. It is a further intent of the following provisions to provide flexibility to the property owner through the manipulation of four basic elements - distance, plant material type, plant material density, and structural or land forms.
(1) Location of Perimeter Buffer Yards: Buffer yards shall be located on the side and rear lot lines of a parcel extending to the lot or parcel boundary line except where a planned district buffer yard is required (see the approved development plan for those specific buffers.)
(2) Determination of Buffer Yard Requirements: To determine the type of buffer yard required between two adjacent parcels, the following procedure shall be followed;
A. Identify the land use class of the proposed and each adjoining use by referring to the following table;
B. Requirement conflicts whenever a parcel or activity falls under two or more of the categories, only the category with the most stringent requirements shall be enforced;
C. Determine the buffer yard requirements for those side and rear lot lines or portion thereof on the subject parcel by referring to the following tables.
LAND USE CLASSIFICATION | |
Class I: | • Agriculture • Single-Family Detached Residences • Two-Family Dwellings |
Class II: | • Office Institutional • Administrative and Business Offices • Professional Offices • Institutions, Religious, Social, Cultural, Educational, Health and Public • Multi-Family Dwellings |
Class III: | • Commercial • General Retail, Entertainment, Restaurants, Specialty Retail and Business Services |
Class IV: | • Light Industrial • Light manufacturing, Wholesaling, Research and Development |
BUFFER YARD REQUIREMENTS | ||||
Adjacent Existing | ||||
Land Use Class | I | II | III | IV |
I | E | E | E | |
II | E | A | C | D |
III | E | C | A | B |
IV | E | D | B | A |
No Buffer Yard Requirement | ||||
(1) Should a developed use increase in intensity from a given land use class to a higher one (e.g. Class III to Class IV), the Planning and Zoning Commission shall, during the site plan or development plan review, process, determine if additional buffer yard is needed and, if so, to what extent and type;
(2) Buffer yard requirements are stated in terms of the width of the buffer yard and the number of plant units required per one hundred (100) linear feet of buffer yard. The requirements may be satisfied by any of the options indicated in the following table and illustrated in Exhibit I.
QUANTITY OF PLANT MATERIAL | ||||||
Buffer Yard | Width | Deciduous Trees * | Deciduous Shrubs * | Evergreens * | Berm ** | Fence |
A | 15' | 2 | --- | 2 | ||
10' | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
B | 20' | 2 | --- | 2 | ||
15' | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
10' | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
C | 25' | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
20' | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||
15' | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
D | 30' | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
25' | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
20' | 3 | 4 | 4 | X | ||
10' | 3 | 4 | 4 | X | ||
E | 30' | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
25' | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
20' | 3 | 4 | 4 | X | ||
15' | 3 | 4 | 4 | X | ||
* Required minimum plant units per 100' ** Entire length of buffer yard, 3'- 4' berm or 4'- 6' opaque fence | ||||||
(3) Existing plant material or fences may be counted as contribution to the total buffer yard requirement.
A. The buffer yards specified are to be provided on each lot or parcel independent of adjoining uses or adjoining buffer yards.
(3) Buffer Yard Requirements for Nonconforming Structures or Sites: If a nonconforming site is unable to comply with the minimum buffer yard requirements of this chapter, the applicant shall not be entitled to the permit for which application has been made unless a variance is granted. Existing paved areas beyond the minimum code requirements for number of spaces maneuvering/access aisles or loading areas shall be removed if necessary to provide the required buffer.
(b) Screening of Service Courts, Storage Areas and Loading Dock Areas:
(1) For commercial, industrial, office-institutional and community service uses, all areas used for service, loading and unloading activities shall be screened. Screening shall enclose any service area on three (3) sides. Whenever service areas are screened by plant material, such material may count towards the fulfillment of required interior or perimeter landscaping. No interior landscaping shall be required within an area screened for service structures;
(2) Screening shall consist of walls, fences, natural vegetation, or an acceptable combination of these elements, provided that screening must be at least seven (7) feet, and walls and fencing no more than twelve (12) feet in height. Natural vegetation shall be a variety which will attain seven (7) feet in height within three (3) years of planting;
(3) Natural vegetation screening shall have a minimum opaqueness of seventy-five percent (75%) at all times. The use of evergreen vegetation, such as pines or evergreen is encouraged. Vegetation shall be planted no closer than three (3) feet to any property line.
(c) Screening of Trash Container Receptacles:
(1) For commercial, community service, industrial, office-institutional and multiple family uses, all trash containers or receptacles shall be screened or enclosed on all sides. Trash containers designed to service more than one residential unit or to service a nonresidential structure shall be screened on all sides by walls, fences, or natural vegetation or an acceptable combination of these elements. Trash containers shall be located to the side or rear of buildings and shall otherwise conform to the side and rear yard pavement setbacks of the applicable zoning district;
(2) The height of such screening shall be at least six (6) feet. The maximum height of walls and fences shall not exceed ten (10) feet. Natural vegetation shall have a minimum opaqueness of seventy-five percent (75%) at all times. The use of year-round vegetation, such as pines or evergreens is encouraged. Natural vegetation shall be a variety which will attain six (6) feet in height within five (5) years of planting.
(d) Parking Lot Screening and Landscaping:
(1) Perimeter Screening: Effectively concealing vehicles within a parking area from the adjacent roadway or adjoining property requires the selective use of plant, mounding or fence material for visual separation. Located adjacent to the parking lot edge, the perimeter screening is designed to supplement required buffer yard material. The perimeter of parking areas, except those for single-family and two-family residential uses, shall be screened as follows:
A. Parking areas adjacent to a public street or private roadway shall be developed with plant, mounding, or fence/wall material which conceals the view of parked cars from the street. The height of wall/fences in this location shall be a maximum height of four (4) feet and plant material should be used to soften and add visual interest to a wall/fence. A plant material screen shall have a minimum opaqueness of seventy-five percent (75%) at all times. The use of evergreen vegetation, such as pines or evergreens is encouraged;
B. Parking areas for nonresidential uses and for residential uses such as churches, schools, parks and public facilities adjacent to residentially zoned or used land shall be developed with plant mounding or fence/wall material which conceals the view of parked cars from the residential property. The height of wall/fences located in front of the building line should be a maximum height of four (4) feet. Plant material should be used to soften and add visual interest to a wall/fence. Plant material screen shall have a minimum opaqueness of seventy-five percent (75%) at all times. The use of evergreen vegetation, such as pines or evergreens is encouraged;
C. The separation and landscaping of the required buffer yard will provide adequate screening for all other parking lot perimeters.
(2) Interior Parking Area Landscaping: Landscaping within parking areas, whether ground cover or the upright plant material, is necessary not only to reduce the generation of heat and runoff, but also to break up visually the expanse of paved areas. The use of parking islands or peninsulas strategically placed throughout the parking lot is one of the most effective ways to landscape parking lot interiors. The use of shade trees in these landscaped areas is required. Any open parking area (including loading areas) containing more than 6,000 square feet of area or fifteen (15) or more parking spaces shall provide the following interior landscaping in addition to the required perimeter screening;
A. An area equal to five percent (5%) of the total size in square feet of parking areas smaller than 15,000 square feet shall be landscaped and permeable. For lots between 15,000 and 29,999 square feet, the landscaped area shall equal seven and one-half percent (7.5%). For lots larger than 30,000 square feet, the landscaped area shall be ten percent (10%);
B. Large parking areas of 30,000 square feet or larger shall be designed to break up their visual expanse and create the appearance of smaller parking lots. This distinction or separation can be achieved by interspersing yard space and buildings in strategic areas and by taking advantage of natural features such as slope, existing woodland or vegetation, drainage courses and retention areas;
C. Landscaping in parking areas shall be dispersed throughout in peninsulas or islands. Minimum island or peninsula size shall be two hundred (200) square feet, with a two and one-half (2.5) foot minimum distance between all trees or shrubs and the edge of pavement where vehicles overhang and a minimum width of ten (10) feet;
D. The Planning Commission, as part of the site plan review process, may vary the requirements for minimum and maximum size of parking islands and peninsulas if situations including, but not limited to, the following exist: the need to concentrate landscape areas for the purpose of storm water detention; the need to relocate required landscaping on the perimeter of a parking area in the case of a small or unusually shaped lot or where additional screening is desired.
(3) Required Plant Materials for the Interior of Parking Areas:
A. One deciduous tree shall be required for every 3,000 square feet of parking area or for every ten (10) parking spaces;
B. Where site distances or maneuvering conflicts exist, trees shall have a clear trunk of at least five (5) feet above the ground, and the remaining required landscape areas shall be planted with shrubs or ground cover not to exceed two (2) feet in height.
(e) General Landscaping for Lots and Building Foundations: To visually soften the building mass or help define exterior spaces the following landscaping shall be required for all lots in addition to the landscaping for buffer yards and parking areas. All required planting shall be located in areas which do not include any buffer yard or right-of-way. If the lot consists primarily of impervious surface, such trees may be placed close to the building or may be used to add to required parking area landscaping. Existing plant materials which meet the requirements of this ordinance may be counted as contributing to the landscaping required of this section.
(1) Lot Interior Landscaping: Two deciduous trees shall be required for each one hundred (100) linear feet of building perimeter of nonresidential uses or each multi-family unit. A minimum of one (1) tree per building shall be required;
(2) Building Foundation Planting Requirements:
A. Foundation plantings are intended to soften building edges and screen foundations, and shall be placed within five (5) feet of the building perimeter if feasible. If the Municipal Administrator or designee determines that because of site design considerations such as the location of sidewalks, plazas or service areas, this is not feasible, such plant materials may be located in planter boxes or in other areas of the site in a manner that enhances the overall landscape plan for the development;
B. Five (5) shrubs shall be required per every fifty (50) linear feet of building perimeter of multi-family dwellings;
C. Foundation shrubbery for nonresidential uses shall be used to enhance and highlight building architecture. The use of foundation plantings is particularly important on blank walls (i.e. to window or door openings);
D. Ten (10) shrubs shall be required for every one hundred (100) linear feet of building perimeter for nonresidential uses.
(f) Landscaping at Driveway and Street Intersections: To ensure that landscape materials do not constitute a driving hazard, a sight distance triangle shall be observed at all street intersections or intersections of driveways with streets. Within this sight distance triangle, no landscape material or parked vehicles, except for required grass or ground cover, shall be permitted. Within the sight distance triangle, trees shall be permitted as long as, except during early growth stages, only the tree trunk is visible between the ground and eight (8) feet above the ground, or otherwise does not present a traffic visibility hazard.
(1) Driveway Intersection Sight Distance Triangle: At intersections of driveways with streets, the sight distance triangle shall be established by locating the intersection of the street curb with the driveway edge, and by measuring from this point a distance of ten (10) feet along the driveway to a point and a distance of twenty (20) feet along the street curb to a point and connecting these points;
(2) Street Intersection Sight Distance Triangle: At street intersections, the sight distance triangle shall be formed by measuring at least thirty-five feet along curb lines and connecting these points. (See also Section 1154.03 (f) (Sight Triangle Visibility to be Maintained) of the Zoning Code and Section 1196.01(e)(5) (Intersection Sight Distance Triangle) of the Subdivision Regulations.)
(Ord. 19-011. Passed 4-22-19.)