A. Purpose: The parking lot buffer regulations of this section are intended to help mitigate the visual and operational impacts of parking lots that are adjacent to streets or Residential Zoning Districts.
B. Applicability: Unless otherwise expressly stated, the parking lot buffer regulations of this section apply to all the following:
1. The construction or installation of any new parking lot containing ten (10) or more parking spaces; and
2. The expansion of any existing parking lot results in the provision of ten (10) or more parking spaces or more than three thousand five hundred (3,500) square feet of paved area.
C. Exceptions:
1. Parking areas used solely for the display of motor vehicles for sale, lease or rental are exempt from the street frontage buffer and R District buffer requirements of this section.
2. Household living uses consisting of a single household on one lot or two (2) households on one lot (existing or proposed) are exempt from the street frontage buffer and R District buffer requirements of this section.
3. Parking areas in Industrial Zoning Districts are exempt from the street frontage buffer requirements of this section.
D. Requirements:
1. Street Frontage Buffers:
a. When a parking lot is located adjacent to a street right-of- way, street frontage (parking lot) buffers must be provided in accordance with the regulations of this subsection to physically and visually buffer the parking lot from the right-of-way.
b. Street frontage buffers are required only when the parking lot is located within one hundred feet (100') of the right-of-way and there are no intervening buildings between the parking lot and the right-of-way.
c. Except as expressly stated for parking lots in the Downtown Overlay District (see subsection D1e of this section), street frontage buffers must be at least seven feet (7') in width and be planted with at least one large or medium tree per fifty (50) linear feet street-frontage buffer. An S1 low-profile screen must also be provided within the street frontage buffer, in accordance with subsection 10-11-5C1 of this chapter.
d. Trees planted to satisfy the street tree planting requirements of section 10-11-3 of this chapter may be counted toward satisfying street frontage buffer tree planting requirements.
e. In the Downtown Overlay District, required street frontage buffers must be at least three feet (3') in width and include a minimum three foot (3') tall decorative metal or wrought-iron fence or brick, stone, cast stone, or stamped concrete wall.
f. Shrubs and ground cover plants must be provided in all street frontage buffer areas that are not covered by fences or walls.
g. A portion of a motor vehicle parking space may be landscaped instead of paved to meet street frontage landscape buffer requirements. The landscaped area may be up to 2.5 feet of the front of the space, as measured from a line parallel to the direction of the bumper of the vehicle using the space.
2. R District Parking Lot Buffers:
a. When a parking lot is located adjacent to an abutting R-Zoned lot, an R District buffer must be provided in the form of an F1 screen, in accordance with subsection 10-11-5C2 of this chapter.
b. R District buffers are required only when the parking lot is located within one hundred feet (100') of an abutting R-Zoned lot and there are no intervening buildings between the vehicular use area and the abutting R-Zoned lot.
c. Shrubs and ground cover plants must be provided in all R District buffer areas that are not covered by fences or walls.
d. A portion of a motor vehicle parking space may be landscaped instead of paved to meet R District landscape buffer requirements. The landscaped area may be up to 2.5 feet of the front of the space, as measured from a line parallel to the direction of the bumper of the vehicle using the space.
