(a) Minimum Perimeter Setback. A setback of fifty feet shall be provided along the entire perimeter of the development and retained in natural woods, or be designed with berming and landscaped with grass and/or ground cover, shrubs and trees for the purpose of both protecting the proposed PR development while also providing protection to the adjoining uses.
(b) Buffering and Screening.
(1) Within this fifty-foot perimeter setback, a minimum of twenty-five feet shall be preserved as either a recorded no-build/conservation easement or as commonly-owned and maintained land, which is to be used for screening and buffering purposes where screening facilities shall be provided to both protect the proposed residential development from adjoining uses while also protecting adjoining land uses. These perimeter screening areas shall provide a dense landscaping screen. A combination of berming and landscaping may be approved at the discretion of the Planning Commission and City Council when the property is void of trees within the required screening areas or in areas where the natural vegetation is not dense enough to provide suitable screening.
(2) The remaining twenty-five feet of perimeter buffer may be used as standard yard area where accessory structures may be permitted but principal structures, parking lots and similar uses and structures are not. Planned Residential Districts located adjacent to commercial or industrially-zoned or used areas shall provide screening facilities comprised of landscaping, walls or both, which will provide suitable protection to the residential development as adjudged by the Planning Commission and Council. Screening facilities shall not obscure traffic visibility within fifty feet of an intersection.
(c) Modifications. The perimeter setback depth requirement may be varied at the discretion of the Planning Commission and City Council if it can be demonstrated that a variance is necessary to achieve an improved site design and that the surrounding neighborhoods and public facilities will not be adversely affected. If such a modification is granted, the applicant shall demonstrate how the proposed modification will provide an equal level of protection for the proposed use and any adjoining uses when compared to the minimum requirement.
(Ord. 2712. Passed 8-1-78; Ord. 6754. Passed 1-15-19; Ord. 6831. Passed 1-21-20.)