A. Essential Views are a critical visual and quality of life resource and are protected as provided herein. The purpose and intent is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and to protect the scenic quality of Wellsville City both for visitors to the city as well as for its residents by ensuring that future development improvements are compatible with existing land forms, including city ridgelines and views of Wellsville's many unique geologic and agricultural features and the existing landscape fabric of the city's hillside areas. The regulations contained in this chapter are consistent with the goals and policies of the Wellsville City General Plan. It is intended that this chapter accomplish the following:
1. Provide hillside development standards to minimize the impact of man-made structures and grading on views of existing landforms, unique geologic features, existing landscape features and open space as seen from designated public roads within the city;
2. Protect and preserve views of major and minor ridgelines from designated public roads;
3. Create a development review process by the Planning Commission.
4. Minimize cut and fill, earthmoving, grading operations and other such man-made effects on the natural terrain to ensure that finished slopes are compatible with existing land character; and
5. Promote architecture and designs that are compatible with hillside terrain and minimize visual impacts.
B. General Requirements For Essential Views:
1. All final grades, including all cut and fill slopes, visible from any designated public road shall be:
a. Consistent with the existing landscape to the greatest extent possible, avoiding uninterrupted slope surfaces that stand out against existing topographic contours;
b. Contoured to resemble existing terrain by varying slope increments and breaking the visual surface of banks and inclines both vertically and horizontally as naturally as possible;
c. Constructed to allow for the creation of berms or mounding at the top of slopes and in other locations for the screening of structures and assurance proper site drainage.
2. Design, height and massing of hillside development shall:
a. Maintain a balance of scale and proportion using design components that are harmonious with natural landforms and landscaping;
b. Be small scale and low in height, conforming with hillside topography by stepping or staggering the mass of the proposed building up or down slope, avoiding flat pad construction and vertical massing;
c. Utilize structural elements, building materials and color tones which blend artificial surfaces with surrounding native elements;
d. Utilize construction materials, glass, roofing and other surfaces that are of a non-reflective nature;
e. Utilize articulated wails that use reveals, cornice detailing, alcoves or other features which are appropriate to the scale of the building and building projections, trellises, landscaping or other devices, which serve to break up continuous building wails which are visible from designated public roads; and
f. Ensure that the proposed structure does not break the skyline of a primary ridge when viewed from any designated public road.
3. Roadways, driveways and utility alignments shall be:
a. Located to minimize grading, by following existing contours and positioned upon gradual slopes;
b. Constructed to blend with the existing landscape, through alignment with the natural curving contour of the land instead of using straight lines or geometric patterns which create excessive cuts and fills;
c. Concealed from view through preservation and maintenance of existing vegetation or through planned landscaping that is constant with the natural character of the area.
4. Landscape planting and vegetation preservation shall:
a. Incorporate trees where appropriate, planted in random groupings or clusters that mimic or maintain natural assemblages rather than in systematic rows;
b. Maintain vegetation lines which convey the existing slope of the hillside;
c. Preserve native vegetation, including grasses and open space whenever possible;
d. Use native materials to the greatest extent possible and/or non-natives that are compatible with indigenous vegetation and confined to the adjacent vicinity of the proposed structure;
e. Include a sufficient irrigation, maintenance and monitoring program designed to provide species requirements as well as protect against sedimentation, soil loss and land sliding;
f. Be landscaped in such a manner so as to reduce fire hazard and create a minimum defensible space for fire suppression.
5. Exterior and landscape lighting applications shall be:
a. Designed to minimize nighttime disruption and visual glare by shielding lamp sources downward and away from view of designated public roads;
b. Controlled by timers and/or motion sensors, to limit the duration of use and reduce prolonged glare;
c. Sized with the minimum wattage possible to meet desired application. (Ord. 2019-04, 10-16-2019)