A.
New development activities, including clearing of existing natural vegetation, erection of structures, construction of new roads, parking areas or other impervious surfaces, and the placement of sewage disposal systems, are not permitted in the Buffer except as provided in the Buffer exemption section of this Chapter 14:1.[1]
B.
Removal of vegetation; cutting or clearing of trees.
(2)
Limited cutting or clearing of individual trees shall
be permitted for the following purposes under an approved Buffer management
plan:
(a)
For personal use, provided that Buffer functions
are not impaired;
(b)
To prevent trees from falling and blocking streams,
causing damage to dwellings or other structures, or resulting in accelerated
erosion of the shore or streambank;
(c)
In conjunction with horticultural practices
used to maintain the health of individual trees;
(d)
To provide access to private piers;
(e)
To install or construct an approved shore erosion
protection device or measure; or
(f)
To protect forests from extensive pest or disease
infestation or threat from fires if approved by the Department of
Agriculture or the Maryland Forest Service (MFS).
C.
Dredged spoil shall not be placed in the Buffer or
habitat protection areas except as necessary for:
D.
Notwithstanding any provisions within this section
which may permit land disturbance within the Buffer, no land disturbance
shall be permitted between March 1 and June 15 in areas of the Buffer
adjacent to anadromous fish spawning streams.
A.
Sensitive areas. The Buffer shall be expanded to include
sensitive areas on the site of proposed development activities or
other land disturbing activities whose development or disturbance
will or may adversely affect streams, wetlands or other aquatic environments.
Sensitive areas into which the Buffer may be expanded shall have at
least one of the following features:
B.
Determination by Planning Commission. A determination
to expand the Buffer to adjacent sensitive areas shall be made by
the Planning Commission upon a review of development plans or plats
which shall include, at a minimum, a description of all soils at the
site for which development activities are proposed, identification
of all areas' hydric soils as designated by the Soil Conservation
District at the site and a topographical survey of the site.
C.
Extent of expansion. In the event sensitive areas
adjacent to the Buffer are present on the site of proposed development
activities and the Planning Commission determines that the Buffer
must be expanded, the Buffer shall be expanded as follows:
(1)
In the case of contiguous slopes of 15% or greater,
the Buffer shall be expanded four feet for every 1% of slope or to
the top of the slope, whichever is greater; and/or
(2)
To the upland limit of adjacent hydric soils, soils
with hydric properties and highly erodible soils within the critical
area as necessary to protect streams, wetlands or other aquatic environments.
[Amended 10-17-1997 by Ord. No. 97-07; 7-12-2011 by Ord. No.
11-01]
A.
Intent. The following provisions are intended to accommodate limited use of shoreline areas that have been mapped as Buffer Exempt Areas (BEAs) under the provisions of this Chapter 14:1 while protecting water quality and wildlife habitat to the extent possible.
B.
Applicability. This section applies only to new development
or redevelopment within 100 feet of tidal waters, tidal wetlands and
tributary streams on lots of record as of December 1, 1985, and located
in mapped Buffer Exempt Areas as shown on the Critical Area maps.
C.
The following special provisions apply to development
and redevelopment in mapped BEAs in the IDA, LDA and RCA:
(1)
New development or redevelopment activities, including
structures, roads, parking areas and other lot coverage including
septic systems, will not be permitted in the Buffer Exempt Area unless
the applicant can demonstrate and the Planning Director finds that
there is no feasible alternative. Such findings shall document that
the intrusion is the least necessary. A copy of the Planning Director's
findings in this regard shall be available to the Critical Area Commission
upon request.
(2)
New development or redevelopment shall minimize the
shoreward extent of intrusion into the Buffer Exempt Area and shall
not exceed the shoreward extent of existing structures located on
the property. In no case shall the intrusion into the Buffer Exempt
Area encroach into a required yard under the terms of the underlying
zone unless a variance thereto has been first granted.
(3)
Development may not impact any Habitat Protection
Area (HPA) as defined in Section VI of the Queen Anne's County Critical
Area Program.
(4)
No natural vegetation may be removed in the Buffer
except that required by the proposed construction, and any other natural
vegetation in the Buffer shall be maintained.
D.
The following
special provisions apply to development and redevelopment in mapped
BEAs in the LDA and RCA:
(1)
If
a parcel or lot 1/2 acre or less in size was a lot of record on or
before December 1, 1985, then lot coverage associated with that use
is limited to 25% of the parcel or lot.
(2)
If
a parcel or lot 1/4 acre or less in size was in nonresidential use
on or before December 1, 1985, then lot coverage associated with that
development is limited to 25% of the parcel or lot. If a parcel or
lot 8,000 square feet or less in size was a lot of record on or before
December 1, 1985, then lot coverage on the lot area is limited to
25% of the parcel or lot, plus 500 square feet, provided:
(a)
New lot coverage on the parcel or lot has been minimized;
(b)
Stormwater quality impacts have been minimized through site design
and/or use of best management practices agreed on by the County and
the Critical Area Commission; and
(c)
On-site mitigation is performed or payment of a fee-in-lieu is made
to offset adverse water quality impacts.
(3)
If
a parcel or lot greater than 8,000 square feet but less than or equal
to 21,780 square feet was a lot of record on or before December 1,
1985, then lot coverage on the lot is limited to 31.25% of the parcel
or lot, provided the requirements of § 14:1-38D(8)(b)[1],
[2] and [3] are met.
(4)
If
a parcel or lot greater than 21,780 square feet but less than or equal
to 36,300 square feet was a lot of record on or before December 1,
1985, then lot coverage on the lot is limited to 5,445 square feet,
provided the requirements of § 14:1-38D(8)(b)[1], [2] and
[3] are met.
(5)
If
an individual lot one acre or less in size is part of a subdivision
approved after December 1, 1985, the lot coverage of the lot may not
exceed 25% of the lot. However, the total lot coverage over the entire
subdivision may not exceed 15%.
(6)
These
provisions do not apply to a legally existing manufactured home park
that was in residential use on or before December 1, 1985.
E.
Buffer mitigation.
(1)
Any development in the Buffer Exempt Areas approved
under the provisions of this subsection shall be mitigated as follows:
(a)
The extent of the lot or parcel shoreward of
the new development or redevelopment shall be required to remain,
or shall be established and maintained, in natural vegetation; and
(b)
Natural vegetation of an area twice the extent
of the lot coverage must be created on the property or other similar
location approved by the Planning Director.
(2)
Any required reforestation, mitigation or offset areas
shall be designated under a development agreement or other instrument
and recorded among the land records of Queen Anne's County.
(3)
If a person demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
Planning and Zoning Office that mitigation requirements, on-site or
off-site, cannot be reasonably accomplished, the person shall contribute
money (a fee-in-lieu), at a rate to equal the total cost of creating
forest land.
(4)
The fees-in-lieu collected may only be used for projects
within the Critical Area for the benefit of wildlife habitat, water
quality improvement or environmental education. These sites will be
planted with more than one native species and will remain in a forest
management plan held with the Maryland Forest Service.
A.
Diverse forest planting. The replacement or establishment
of forests or developed woodlands shall assure a diversified plant
community, but may include other types of tree plantings where necessary
to correct an existing soil stabilization problem. Diverse forest
plantings shall include a canopy layer, an understory layer and a
shrub layer.
B.
Minimum standards. Where reforestation or afforestation
is required, the minimum standards within the critical area shall
be as follows:
(1)
Seventy native trees with a minimum height of four
to six feet, or an equivalent alternative afforestation or reforestation
planting standard as approved by the Department of Planning and Zoning,
shall be planted for each acre of land required to be reforested or
afforested. Bare root seedlings will not be considered an acceptable
alternative.
(2)
For developments within the critical area which require greater than five acres of afforestation, natural regeneration within a deed restricted shore buffer may be permitted in lieu of the afforestation requirement of Subsection B(1) of this section.
(3)
In areas that are required to establish or reestablish
a ground cover, such ground cover shall be planted and maintained
in order to meet all requirements as set forth in the Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) guidelines. This shall include types, time
frame and season for planting, etc.
(4)
All planted areas and natural regeneration areas must
be clearly marked and identified on the site so that they are protected
from development disturbance and/or accidental mowing.
C.
Planting and planting management plans.
(1)
All forestation and afforestation shall be performed
pursuant to a planting plan approved by the Department of Planning
and Zoning. The planting plan, at a minimum, shall include:
(a)
The proposed selection of plant types which
should be chosen from the recommended plant list available from the
Department of Planning and Zoning (Deviations from the plant list
may be permitted in appropriate circumstances by the Department of
Planning and Zoning.);
(b)
The planting schedule;
(c)
Evidence that all plants shall be protected
from vehicular encroachment by wheelstops, curbs or other barriers;
and
(d)
An estimate of the cost for all plantings and
barriers to vehicular encroachment.
(2)
For the first two years after initial planting, competing
vegetation shall be effectively controlled pursuant to a planting
management plan approved by the Department of Planning and Zoning.
E.
Restricted covenants or easements. Forests and developed
woodlands required to be retained or created through afforestation
shall be maintained through restrictive covenants or easements.
[Added 7-28-2009 by Ord. No. 08-10]
A.
The use
or application of all commercial or chemical fertilizers containing
nitrogen or phosphorus between the period of June 15 through September
15 within the one-hundred-foot critical area Buffer is prohibited.
B.
This
section shall not apply to bona fide agricultural or farm operations.
C.
Any violation of this section shall be considered as a land disturbance within the critical area and shall be punishable as provided in § 14:1-100C(6) of this chapter.
