(A) General requirements.
(1) Property perimeter landscape buffer areas shall be applied along all property boundaries of sites affected by this subchapter except for those boundaries adjacent to streets.
(2) Zoning districts and their associated land uses have been grouped into the following five intensity classes for the purpose of applying property perimeter landscape buffer area requirements; refer to the table below.
Intensity Classes and Zoning Districts
Intensity Class | Zoning Districts |
1 | R-R, R-E, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, PRD, R-5B, PVD, PD (single-family residential use) |
2 | R-5A, R-6, R-7, U-N, TNZD, institutional uses, PD (multi-family residential use) |
3 | R-8A, OR, OR-1, OR-2, OR-3, OTF, C-R, W-1 (residential use), W-2 (residential use), PD (office use) |
4 | C-N, C-1, C-2, M-1, C-M, PTD, W-1 (commercial use), W-2 (commercial use), PD (commercial use), PEC (commercial use)1, PRO1 |
5 | M-2, M-3, EZ-1, PD (industrial use), PEC (industrial uses), W-1 (industrial use), W-2 (industrial use), utility substations, landfills, treatment plants, or similar uses |
1 These zoning districts have additional landscape and buffering requirements. | |
(3) CUP sites located in a residential zoning district shall provide buffering as per the requirements for uses permitted in the C-1 Zoning District, or alternative buffering and landscaping as
approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
(4) Exceptions to the buffering requirements can be found in § 155.144.
(5) All development subject to this subchapter, as defined in § 155.141, shall provide landscape buffer areas and plantings as defined in the tables below. Associated with each landscape buffer area requirement is a planting density requirement. The planting density requirement indicates the minimum amount of landscape material to be provided within each landscape buffer area to ensure an appropriate screen.
LBA Size and Planting Requirements
Intensity Class of Adjacent Site | Proposed Use | |||
** Letter entries in this table reference the table below; numbers refer to requirements of the Planting Density and Screening table below. | ||||
Property Perimeter Landscape Buffer Areas
Landscape Buffer Area Type | Width Options (in feet) | Planting Density Multiplier2 |
A | 51 | 2 |
B | 101 | 1.5 |
C | 151 | 1.5 |
D | 251 | 1.5 |
1 This option is only available in the traditional neighborhood, traditional workplace, and traditional marketplace corridor form districts. 2 The planting density multiplier allows for a reduction in the size of landscape buffer areas with a provision of an increased number of trees to offset the reduction in buffer width. (A “2” multiplier requires twice the number of trees to be planted as required in the Planting Density and Screening table below.) | ||
Planting Density and Screening
Planting Density Requirement Categories (per 100 linear feet) | |||
2 large (Type A), medium (Type B), or small (Type C) tree plus 3-foot screen | 2 large (Type A) or medium (Type B) trees plus 6-foot screen | 3 large (Type A) or medium (Type B) (minimum 50% large (Type A)) trees plus 6-foot screen | 3 large (Type A) or medium (Type B) (minimum 75% large (Type A)) trees plus 8-foot screen |
Example: In the neighborhood form district, construction of a C-1 retail establishment (Intensity Class 4) is proposed adjacent to the R-4 district (Intensity Class 1). A “C.4” buffer is required. A 35-foot buffer strip, 8-foot screening fence, and 3 large trees per 100 feet of perimeter are required. The developer has the option of decreasing the buffer to 25 feet, and increasing the number of trees to 4.5 per 100 feet of common boundary with the R-4 property. If the site were in the traditional neighborhood form, the developer would have the option of a 15-foot buffer, with 4.5 trees per 100 feet. | |||
(B) Explanatory text and exceptions.
(1) Property perimeter landscape buffer areas may contain walks, trails, or other similar elements; provided that the required plant material (as defined in § 155.144) is not eliminated and the landscape buffer area is at least 25 feet wide. Property perimeter landscape buffer areas shall be free from all other development including buildings, parking, driveways, or other structures except those attendant to public utility service within a dedicated easement. Outdoor storage or stockpiling of materials is not permitted within property perimeter landscape buffer areas.
(2) Utility easements (for example, drainage, sewer, gas/electric) are allowed to encroach into as much as 50% of the required width of property perimeter landscape buffer areas; provided the required screening can still be achieved and the design of such facilities is compatible with the purpose of the landscape buffer area. If work is required within the easements causing removal or damage of landscape materials (including any required fences, walls, or berms), the property owner shall be responsible for replacement of materials according to the approved landscape plan. Type C trees may be planted under overhead utility lines at a minimum spacing of one tree per 30 feet of lineal boundary with approval of utility company to meet perimeter tree planting requirement.
(3) The landscape material and buffer area required generally shall be provided by the property
owner of the higher intensity activity. If the higher intensity use is already developed and the landscape material and buffer area, required in §§ 155.120 through 155.127, 155.140 through 155.154, and 155.165 through 155.179 has not been provided, the lower intensity use shall provide the required landscaping. If the requirements of this subchapter have been fully complied with on an adjoining property, the property owner is not required to duplicate them along the common boundary.
(4) Property perimeter landscape buffer area requirements for schools, fire stations, and other similar community facilities structures shall be determined, as part of a community facility review, and will be based on the form district, size (square feet), height, and location relative to adjacent land uses.
(5) Private schools and churches are to be considered the same as Intensity Class 3 for the purposes of screening in accordance with this subchapter.
(6) Sites with a conditional use permit that are located in a residential zoning district shall be considered the same as a C-1 commercial use for the purposes of application of §§ 155.120 through 155.127, 155.140 through 155.154, and 155.165 through 155.179. Sites located in non-residential districts will follow the landscaping requirements for the zoning district that they are in, unless the Board of Zoning Adjustment deems a different classification is appropriate.
(7) Screens specified in the Planting Density and Screening table in division (A)(5) above shall consist of shrubs, fences, berms, or walls, individually or in combination, that meet the requirements outlined in §§ 155.165 through 155.179. Evergreen tree plantings can be substituted for landscape material specified in the Planting Density and Screening table, placement, and species to be approved by the Planning Commission staff to ensure an effective screen. The planting density multiplier (Property Perimeter Landscape Buffer Areas table in division (A)(5) above) does not apply to the minimum screen height established in the Planting Density and Screening table.
(8) In the PEC and PRO zoning districts (except for C-1 uses in the City of Jeffersontown): Unless a larger landscape buffer area is required, a 15-foot wide landscape buffer area shall be maintained at all side and rear property lines. The landscape strip shall be planted with a number of large (Type A) or medium (Type B) trees equal to one tree per 75 lineal feet of boundary. Trees do not have to be evenly spaced; instead, tree placement should be based on site characteristics and compatibility with other landscaping.
(9) Property perimeter landscape buffer areas, unless specifically prohibited, may also count toward other yard, or setback requirements found elsewhere in these regulations. Property perimeter landscape buffer areas may count towards open space requirements in accordance with Chapter 10, Part 5.
(10) Cellular towers are considered the same as utility substations for the purposes of screening in accordance with this subchapter.
(11) Exceptions to landscape buffer area requirements are as follows.
(a) Property perimeter landscape buffer areas are not required in the downtown form district.
(b) Property perimeter landscape buffer areas separating differing land uses within a planned development zoning district shall not be required to meet the standards set forth in this subchapter but shall adhere to the approved master plan for each development.
(c) Landscape buffer area requirements are waived when a property boundary separates shared parking (as defined in Chapter 9) and may be reduced to Type A between parking when adjoining zoning districts are no more than one intensity category apart.
(d) If property in Intensity Class 2 is developed as patio or town homes with a maximum of six units per building and no more than two stories, six foot high screening of adjacent single-family
property is not required. (Landscaping for attached housing using the ADI regulations can be found in Chapter 4, Part 5.)
(e) When offsite buffering and plantings exist on adjoining property, they may be applied toward the sites landscape buffer planting Type A in division (B)(11)(c) above which refers to landscape buffer area in the Property Perimeter Landscape Buffer Areas table in division (A)(5) above.
(f) Perimeter property landscape buffers are not required between a multi-family residential zone and a single-family residential zone when the multi-family residential property is developed as a single-family residential use.
(C) (1) (a) Step 1. Determine intensity class for the proposed use and adjacent sites.
(b) Step 2. Based on intensity class of proposed and adjacent uses, determine applicable entries in the tables above.
(c) Step 3. Select buffer yard width option and associated planting multiplier.
(d) Step 4. Identify required plantings and screening.
(2) Appendix 10A classifies tree species as type A, B, or C.
(3) Retaining walls are not permitted within a required landscape buffer area.
(4) “Type A” in part 3 refers to landscape buffer area in the Property Perimeter Landscape Buffer Areas table in division (A)(5) above.
(5) Note: Division (B)(11)(d) above exemption applies only to screening; trees specified in the Planting Density and Screening table in division (A)(5) above are required.
(LDC § 10.2.4)