The intent of this article is to provide minimum
screening and buffering between potentially incompatible uses and
between specific operations which may create a nuisance for the occupants
of adjoining properties. It is also the intent of this article to
provide minimum landscaping and planting standards for the purpose
of enhancing community appearance.
[Amended 10-10-2006 by Ord. No. A-361]
Whenever development cannot be placed in harmony
with its surroundings, adequate screening and distance buffering shall
be provided to make it so. Screening shall be an obscuring wall or
fence or other method subject to the approval of the Administrator.
The table below indicates those conditions which are considered inherently
disharmonious, and adequate screening shall be provided at the side
of the parcel between conflicting uses by the owner of the potential
disharmonious use.
|
Minimum Screening Requirements
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Use or District
|
Potential Disharmonious Use
|
Height
|
|
Residential
|
Business districts
|
6' 0"
|
|
Residential
|
Industrial districts
|
6' 0"
|
|
Residential
|
Business parking lots
|
4' 6"
|
|
Residential
|
Loading areas
|
6' 0"
|
|
Residential
|
Utility substation
|
6' 0"
|
A.
Durable materials. All walls and fences hereafter
erected shall be durable, weather-resistant, rustproof, and easily
maintained.
B.
Masonry walls. Masonry walls shall be erected on foundations
which are a minimum of 54 inches below grade.
C.
Limitation on open-grid metal fences. Metallic-cyclone-type
or other open-grid fences may not be used as required screening between
residential uses and nonresidential uses. Such metallic fences may
not be used in front yards, except in industrial districts.
D.
Fence maintenance. All fences shall be kept in good
condition, plumb and true, and without damage.
Landscaped berms or planting strips may be substituted
for obscuring walls or fences when approved by the Administrator.
Landscaped berms and planting strips shall be landscaped with evergreen
plants. Plant materials shall be of such size when planted as to reach
the necessary screening height within three years of planting.
Certain uses and activities are inherently incompatible
with other uses and activities and are hereby required to be separated
as indicated in the table below so as to reduce conflict and to maintain
amenity.
|
Minimum Distance Buffering
| |
|---|---|
|
Use
|
Minimum Permitted Distance
|
|
Quarrying operation or any stockpile exceeding
15 feet in height
|
Minimum of 200 feet to any property line except
a minimum of 100 feet to street line
|
|
Junkyards and salvaging operations
|
200 feet to residential uses and districts and
100 feet to other uses
|
|
Swimming pools
|
7 1/2 feet to property line
|
|
Air conditioners (independently mounted)
|
15 feet to property line
|
|
Loading docks
|
100 feet to an adjoining lot line of a residence
or residential district
|
[Amended 3-21-2023 by Ord. No. A-561]
For purposes of this section, the term "single-unit
housing" means a parcel of land that is either in use as single-unit
housing at the time a permit for the development referred to in this
section is requested or zoned R-1A, R-1B or R-1C at such time. Where
proposed multiunit residential or commercial development abuts existing
single-unit detached housing, the following additional setbacks will
be required:
|
Structure
|
Distance
|
|---|---|
|
2-story commercial or multiunit structure
|
25 feet to property line abutting single-unit
housing
|
|
3-story and higher commercial or multiunit structure
|
50 feet to property line abutting single-unit
housing
|
[Amended 3-21-2023 by Ord. No. A-561]
All trash, recyclable and/or garbage collection
areas for multiunit dwellings and businesses shall be enclosed on
at least three sides by screening at least as high as the height of
the refuse container(s). Any open side shall not be visible from a
street or abutting properties.
A.
Permitted outdoor storage and outdoor storage areas
in commercial and industrial districts exposed to view from any street
adjacent to the property on which the storage area is located shall
be screened by a six-foot-high sight-obscuring fence, wall, or landscape
berm or planting strip when approved by the Administrator.
B.
Materials covered by buildings with roofs only, but
without any sides, shall be considered outdoor storage and shall be
subject to the screening provisions of this section. This provision
shall not apply to the display of new or used agricultural implements,
motor vehicles, or watercraft where such activities are an integral
part of an automobile, agricultural implement, or watercraft dealership
or storage facility.
In the event that terrain or other natural features
are such that the erection of obscuring berms or planting strips,
walls or fences will not serve the intended purpose, the Plan Commission
may grant exceptions to the requirements of this section.
