(A) Applicability.
(1) A landscape buffer area is required when any use in a commercial or office industrial or industrial district is adjacent to any agricultural and residential districts. Additionally, any principal non-residential and non-agricultural use permitted in the agricultural and residential zoning districts is subject to buffering requirements when adjacent to properties within the same districts.
(2) A buffer area is not required if the qualifying adjacent zoning districts are separated by a public right-of-way.
(3) A buffer area shall be required even when the adjacent agricultural and residential zoned property is undeveloped.
(B) Design and placement.
(1) The buffer area shall abut the applicable property line and plantings shall fall within the required buffer area width.
(2) Buildings, structures and parking lots may not encroach into the buffer area. Areas of ingress/egress may cross the required buffer areas perpendicularly.
(3) Storm water management measures, such as areas for infiltration or retention, may be located in the buffer area; provided, the planting requirements in the table below can still be met.
(4) Buffers may be used for passive recreation, such as pedestrian, bicycle or equestrian trails, as long as no plant material is eliminated, and the total width of the buffer shall be maintained.
(5) Required buffer plantings shall not be installed on cut or fill slopes with slope ratios greater than two to one (2:1). Where buffers include any part of a cut slope greater than ten feet in height, grading for such cut slope shall not encroach closer than ten feet to the property line.
(6) Plantings may be arranged formally or informally for a more natural effect.
(C) Buffer requirements. Buffer area types applicable to the following zoning districts are indicated in the table below.
District | Buffer Type | Min. Width | Min. Planting Required per 50 Linear Ft. |
AG, R-3, R-10 and R-15 | I | 10 ft. | 1 tree, 4 primary evergreen plants, 5 supplemental evergreen shrubs |
OI and GC | II | 15 ft. | 1 tree, 5 primary evergreen plants, 10 supplemental evergreen shrubs |
Industrial | III | 20 ft. | 2 trees, 8 primary evergreen plants, 10 supplemental evergreen shrubs |
(1) If any conflict exists between the buffer requirements as identified in this section and any use standards or zoning district regulations contained in other sections of this chapter, the buffer requirements in the other section shall apply.
(2) (a) Only trees which have mature heights exceeding 25 feet may be used for required buffer plantings.
(b) All trees used for buffer screening must be a minimum of two DBH at installation.
(c) All primary evergreen plants shall be a minimum of six feet in height at time of installation unless combined with an approved earthen berm, and shall be not less than ten feet in height at maturity.
(d) All supplemental evergreen shrubs shall be a minimum of 18 inches in height at installation and shall attain a minimum height of 36 inches three years after installation.
(D) Buffer alternatives.
(1) Berms may be constructed in a buffer area to supplement landscaping. Minimum landscaping requirements shall be reduced by 50% where a berm at least three feet in height is constructed for at least 85% of the length of the buffer area. The minimum buffer width shall be maintained.
(2) A privacy fence may be used to supplement landscaping. For the linear footage, a privacy fence is used, the minimum landscaping requirement shall be reduced by 75%. Minimum buffer width shall be maintained. To qualify for the reduction, privacy fences must meet the following requirements:
(a) Height: six-foot minimum;
(b) Placement: at least five feet from the property line; and
(c) Opacity: gaps between pickets must be no greater than one-half of an inch.
(3) Where the distance between the building, parking area or use is more than 200 feet from a side or rear lot line, the minimum landscaping requirement along that lot line may be reduced by 50%.
(Ord. passed 3-5-2018) Penalty, see § 152.999