§ 94-38 BUFFER REQUIREMENTS.

   (A)   Definitions.

      BUFFER. Any physical barrier, whether naturally occurring or human-made, that has the year- round effect of protecting one land use by mitigating the potentially negative effects of another.

      INTRUDING USE. Any land use that needs to provide buffering to mitigate potentially negative effects it may have on another use.

      PROTECTED USE. Any land use that needs to be protected from potentially negative effects of another use.

   (B)   Reasons for buffers.

      (1)   Visual appearance;

      (2)   Noise level;

      (3)   Odor;

      (4)   Public health and safety; and

      (5)   Density.

   (C)   Chart of buffering. Minimum buffering requirements in terms of distance are given in the following Chart of Buffering Distances. These distances shall be applied to all incompatible adjacent land uses as noted.

   (D)   Special exceptions. In applying the requirements of the chart, attention should be focused on the actual use in a proposed zone if the use involves a special exception. Appropriate buffering should be determined by the requirements of the zone in which the special exception use would normally be located. See the following Chart of Buffering Distances on the following page.

   (E)   Effectiveness of buffers.

      (1)   The goal of these buffering requirements is to describe the minimum buffering required to protect one use from the potentially negative effects of an intruding use. Attention should be given to:

         (a)   Distance between incompatible uses;

         (b)   Width of buffer;

         (c)   Height of buffer; and

         (d)   Substance of material used to buffer.

      (2)   Consideration must be given to the specific use within a particular intruding zone, as not all uses in a given zone will have the same negative effects on surrounding land uses. Different kinds of buffers will be required by different intruding uses to effectively buffer protected uses.

      (3)   The performance standard of the buffer should be that the protected use should be no more affected by the intruding use’s presence as it would be by the presence of any use that would not require a buffer.

   (F)   Examples of buffers.

      (1)   In general, natural buffers are preferred over human-made buffers.

         (a)   Natural buffers include:

            1.   Topographical variations, including hills and ravines;

            2.   Vegetation, including evergreen trees and dense growths of deciduous trees and hedges;

            3.   Bodies of water, including creeks, ponds and lakes;

            4.   Combinations of the above, including landscaped mounds; and

            5.   Judicious site planning with regard to prevailing wind directions.

         (b)   Human-made buffers include:

            1.   Intervening non-intruding land uses;

            2.   Fences; and

            3.   Pools.

      (2)   The appropriateness and adequacy of a proposed buffer should be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness at mitigating anticipated negative effects of an intruding use. If equivalent effectiveness can be obtained with alternative buffering methods not listed above, they should be looked upon with favor by the governing body.

Chart of Buffering Distances Required (in feet)
Buffering distance required from protected use (top of chart) to negative impact use (down side of chart)
AG	R1	R2	R3	B1	B2	B3	B4	I1	I2	I3	I4
AG
R1
R2
R3	50	20
B1
B2	20	20
B3	50	50	20
B4	50	50	50	50
I1	50	50	50	50	20
I2	100	100	100	100	50	20
I3			500			200	100
I4						1,000
NOTES TO TABLE: All distances are minimums. All distances are measured from the perimeter of the actively used area within the zone requiring the buffer to the property line of the zone that needs to be protected. ACTIVELY USED AREA shall include all buildings, outside storage areas, outdoor utility generation and transforming areas, delivery driveways and other outdoor areas actively used for the business or industry. ACTIVELY USED AREA shall not include lawns, landscaped areas or employee drives and parking lots.

 

(Ord. 2001-1478, passed 11-19-2001)