(a) General. This section is intended to ensure that new landscaping and the retention of existing vegetation is an integral part of all development and that it contributes added high quality to development, retains and increases property values, and improves the environmental and aesthetic character of the community. It is also the intent of this section to provide flexible requirements that encourage and allow for creativity in landscape design.
(b) Parking Lot Landscaping.
(1) Screening from street. The parking setback adjacent to any public street shall include a partial visual screen to minimize the motorist's view of parking areas and aisles. Such a screen shall include plantings and shall be a minimum of six (6) feet deep of continuous coverage starting from the sidewalk or street and shall traverse the complete length of street frontage; with the exception of ingress and egress points for the site. In addition to plantings, the screen may include decorative fencing. Such a screen shall provide a year-round opacity of at least fifty percent (50%) up to a height of two and one half (2-1/2) feet. Landscaping shall include a minimum on average of one tree per thirty (30) feet of parking lot frontage.
(2) Decorative Fencing. Decorative fencing shall not exceed three (3) feet above grade level and shall not be located on earthen berms. For Light-Industrial Districts, decorative fencing shall not exceed eight (8) feet in height.
(3) Landscaping within parking lot. Any parking lot containing more than 6,000 square feet of area, or twenty (20) or more vehicular parking spaces, shall provide interior landscaping. A minimum of five percent (5%) of the area of a parking lot shall be devoted to landscaping within the parking lot. This landscaped area shall be in addition to any street screening and buffer landscaped area. All landscaped areas shall be a minimum 100 square feet in area, shall not measure less than an average five (5) feet in any dimension and shall include a tree. Landscaped areas larger than the minimum area shall include one (1) tree for every one-hundred seventy-five (175) square feet or fraction thereof, of landscaped area.
(4) Size of trees. At the time of planting, trees shall be a minimum eight (8) feet in height and two and one half (2 ½) inches in caliper.
(c) Screening.
(1) Equipment. All commercial compactors, storage bins, refuse containers and mechanical equipment shall be contained wholly within enclosed buildings, or enclosed by a masonry wall, excluding concrete block, or fence of such nature and height as to conceal completely all operations thereof from grade level.
(2) Loading areas. All loading areas shall be screened to the extent deemed reasonable and practical by the Planning Commission to minimize visibility from adjacent streets and property lines.
(3) Outdoor storage. Installation is required of screening with a year-round opacity of at least eighty percent (80%) of sufficient height to conceal the outdoor storage from view from the ground level on adjoining properties and from the street. Screening shall be accomplished through plantings, earthen berms, fencing, masonry walls, excluding concrete block, or a combination thereof.
(4) Vehicles. Outdoor storage of vehicles (automobiles, vans, sport utility vehicles, light trucks) shall be permitted provided that the vehicles are normally associated with the main use of the property and are screened and landscaped pursuant to the requirements for parking lots.
(d) Buffer Areas.
(1) Screening or buffering shall be provided as required in this section when any use permitted in a non-residential district abuts a residential district.
(2) Property lines. Buffer areas shall be adjacent to all property lines which abut properties in residential districts. This applies to side lot lines and rear lot lines.
(3) Width. Buffer areas shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet wide.
(4) Composition. Screening shall be accomplished through plantings, earthen berms, fencing, masonry walls (excluding concrete block), or a combination thereof. The height of the screening shall be a minimum six (6) feet high and the screening shall provide a year-round opacity of at least eighty percent (80%) up to a height of six (6) feet at the time of installation. Fencing shall be constructed so that the finished side is toward the residential property. Living ground cover including grass, shall be provided throughout the buffer area. The screening shall contain a minimum of one tree per thirty (30) linear feet of buffer area length.
(5) Maintenance responsibility. The owner of the buffer area shall be responsible and obligated to maintain the area.
(e) Lighting Standards.
(1) The general purpose of this section is to require outdoor lighting that is adequate for safety and convenience, in scale with the activity to be illuminated and its surroundings, directed to the surface or activity to be illuminated, and designed to contribute to a pleasant and safe night environment.
(2) Flood lighting or other lighting of playfields, buildings, signs and parking areas shall be located and designed so as to completely shield the light source from adjoining residences and the public right- of-way.
(3) Exterior lighting shall be provided for the safety and convenience of users, but shall not be of excessive brightness and shall be placed in such a way so as to minimize glare on neighboring properties or the public right-of-way.
(f) Residential Landscaping Maintenance.
(1) The purpose of this section is to set forth general standards as to how residential areas shall be maintained and contribute to the overall health, safety and wellness of the community as a whole.
(2) Residents shall provide maintenance of all landscaping in a way that presents a healthy, neat and orderly appearance. All landscaping shall be maintained free from disease, pests, weeds and litter. This maintenance shall include weeding, watering, fertilizing, pruning, mowing, edging, mulching or other maintenance, as needed, consistent with acceptable horticultural practices.
(3) Landscaping and barrier hedges are required to be trimmed and maintained in a healthy and neat condition and shall not extend onto or over public properties, rights-of-way or easements.
(Ord. 2017-49. Passed 12-5-17.)