Buffers are intended to augment required setbacks from streets and from the perimeter of a tract where it adjoins a district boundary line by providing additional means of physical, visual and acoustical separation between uses. Landscaped strips, screening and shade trees required by this article are also intended to promote:
A. 
Harmony between land uses.
B. 
Reduction of glare, noise and pollution levels.
C. 
Reduction of stormwater runoff volume.
D. 
Areas of shade that reduce temperature and energy costs during hot weather.
E. 
Natural windscreens that protect from exposure and reduce energy costs during cold weather.
F. 
Protection of environmentally sensitive areas.
G. 
Maintenance of some land on most tracts in a landscaped state to help offset the monotony of widespread pavement and buildings and to improve the general environmental quality of a mostly urbanized municipality.
H. 
Privacy and property rights.
I. 
Attractive, shaded streets that contribute to the maintenance of an appealing community in which to live, work and visit.
J. 
Safer means of controlling access to and from public streets.
This article regulates the circumstances in which buffers are required. Buffers may be required either as part of setbacks from the perimeter of a tract where it adjoins a district boundary line, as specified in § 300-68 or as part of setbacks from street ultimate rights-of-way, as specified in § 300-69. Classification of buffers is specified in § 300-67. Recommended trees and hedges are specified in § 300-74.
Required buffers shall be one or more of the following types, in accordance with §§ 300-68 and 300-69:
A. 
Type A.
(1) 
One canopy tree per 40 linear feet (Type A1).
B. 
Type B.
(1) 
One canopy tree per 40 linear feet, plus one flowering tree per 60 linear feet, plus one evergreen per 60 linear feet (Type B1).
(2) 
One canopy tree per 40 linear feet, plus one hedge (three-foot centers) (Type B2).
(3) 
One canopy tree per 40 linear feet, plus one evergreen per 30 linear feet (Type B3).
C. 
Type C.
(1) 
One evergreen per 30 linear feet, plus one hedge (three-foot centers) (Type C1).
(2) 
One evergreen per 25 linear feet, plus one linear berm four feet high (Type C2).
(3) 
One evergreen per 25 linear feet, plus one shrub per eight linear feet (Type C3).
(4) 
One evergreen per 20 linear feet, plus one shrub. two per four linear feet (Type C4).
D. 
Type D.
(1) 
One hedgerow (three-foot centers) (Type D1).
(2) 
Six-foot high solid cedar or spruce fencing (Type D2).
(3) 
Six-foot high twelve-gauge plastic-coated chain link fence (Type D3).
Adjoining Tract
Subject Tract
Low-Impact
Districts
Medium-Impact
Districts
High-Impact
Districts
Low-Impact Districts
None
None
None
Open Space — all
Residential — all,
None
None
None
except PRD, RMHD, RHD
Medium-Impact Districts
Residentia — PRD, RMHD, RHD
C1
None
None
Commercia l— NC, OLM
D2
C1
None
Institutional — NS, C
C1
C3
None
High-Impact Districts
Commercial — all,
except NC, OLM
D2, B1
D1, B3
A1
Industrial — all
D3, C1
D3, C3
A1
Institutional — all,
except NS, C
D1, B3
B1
A1
Adjoining Ultimate Right-of-Way
Subject Tract
Arterial
Street
Collector
Street
Local
Street
Low-Impact Districts
Open Space — all
None
None
None
Residential — all,
except PRD, RMHD, RHD
None
None
None
Medium-Impact Districts
Residential — PRD,
C3
A1
A1
RMHD, RHD
Commercial — NC, OLM
None
A1
A1
Institutional — NS, C
C3
A1
A1
High-Impact Districts
Commercial — all,
except NC, OLM
None
A1
B1
Industrial — all
C3
A1
B1
Institutional — all,
except NS, C
C3
A1
B1
All required setbacks, whether or not planted with trees, shrubs or hedges required by § 300-68 and/or § 300-69 shall as a minimum consist of grass, ground cover and/or similar vegetative material or other natural landscaping materials.
As an alternative to the potential for an excessively linear appearance brought about by strict conformance to the minimum requirements of § 300-68 and/or § 300-69, innovative, free-form buffers that may, in some cases, not be located entirely within the minimum required setback, are encouraged. Such alternative buffers may be authorized as special exceptions by the Zoning Hearing Board, subject to a recommendation of the Planning Commission, which may seek the advice of technical experts in the review of the alternative plans.
All buffers shall be maintained by the property owner at his expense, assuring that required trees, plantings and vegetative materials are kept in good condition. Any such materials that die shall be replaced within one year.
The following planted materials are recommended for inclusion in buffers. Other plantings may be authorized as special exceptions by the Zoning Hearing Board, subject to a recommendation of the Planning Commission, which may seek the advice of technical experts in their review:
A. 
Canopy trees (two-inch-caliper minimum):
Acer ginnala - amur maple
Acer rubrum - red maple
Acer saccharum - sugar maple
Betular alba - European white birch
Cercidiphyllum japonica - katsura tree
Fagus grandifolia - American beech
Fagus sylvatica - European beech
Fraxinus americana - white ash
Fraxinus pennnsylvanica lanceolata - green ash
Ginkgo biloba - ginkgo (male only)
Gleditsia tracanthos inermis - thornless honey locust
Gymnocladus dioica - Kentucky coffee-tree
Nyssa sylvatica - sour-gum
Phellodendron amurense - amur corktree
Platanus acerifolia - London plane-tree
Quercus alba - white oak
Quercus borealis - red oak
Quercus coccinea - scarlet oak
Quercus palustris - pin oak
Quercus phellos - willow oak
Robina pseudoacacia inermis - thornless black locust
Sophora japonica - Japanese pagoda tree
Tilia - linden - all species hardy to the area
Zelkova serrata - Japanese zelkova
B. 
Flowering trees (two-inch-caliper minimum):
Amelanchier canadensis - shadblow serviceberry
Cornus florida - flowering dogwood
Cornus kousa - kousa dogwood
Cornus mas - cornelian cherrry
Crataegus phaenopyrum - Washington hawthorn
Koelreuteria paniculata - golden rain tree
Laburnum vossi - goldenchain
Magnolia soulangeana - saucer magnolia
Magnolia virginiana - sweetbay magnolia
Malus baccata - siberian crab
Malus floribunda - Japanese flowering crab
Malus hopa - hopa red - flowering crab
Oxydendrum arboreum - sourwood
Pyrus calleryana Bradford - callery pear
Punus kwansan - kwanzan cherry
Prunus yedoensis - yoshino cherry
C. 
Evergreens (four-foot-high minimum):
Ilex opaca - American holly
Picea abies - Norway spruce
Picea omorika - servian spruce
Picea pungens - Colorado spruce
Pinus nigra - Austrian pine
Pseudotsuga menziesii - Douglas fir
Tsuga canadensis - Canada hemlock
D. 
Hedge (four-foot-high minimum):
Crataegus intricata - thicket hawthorn
Forsythia intermedia - border forsythia
Rhamnus frangular columnaris - tallhedge buckthorn
Syringa chinensis - Chinese lilac
Syringa vulgaris - common lilac
Viburnum alatus - viburnum
Maclura pomifera - osage orange
E. 
Hedgerow (four-foot-high minimum):
Crataegus crus-galli - cockspur thorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum - Washington hawthorn
F. 
Shrubs:
Hamamelis virginiana - white hazel
Vaccinium sp. - blueberries
Lindera benzoin - spice bush
Rhododendron sp. - azaleas
Rhododendron sp. - rhododendrons