[R.O. 2008 § 402.150; Ord. No. 5752 § 1, 12-8-2011]
City staff shall have authority to
approve the landscape plan subject to such additional requirements
as may be deemed necessary by the Planning and Zoning Commission or
City Council to promote the purpose of this Chapter.
[R.O. 2008 § 402.160; Ord. No. 5752 § 1, 12-8-2011]
A.
All plans submitted in support of a final
development plan or building permit shall hereafter include a landscape
plan with a transition strip, where applicable. Upon an application
for a building permit, each of the following districts/uses shall
be exempt from the bufferyard requirements:
[R.O. 2008 § 402.170; Ord. No. 5752 § 1, 12-8-2011; Ord. No. 5831 § 9, 12-13-2012]
A.
Information Required. All plans submitted
for approval of a landscape plan shall have the following information
included:
1.
North point and scale.
2.
Topographic information and final
grading adequate to identify and properly specify planting for areas
needing slope protection.
3.
The location, size, and surface materials
of all structures and parking areas.
4.
The location, size, and type of all
above ground and underground utilities and structures with proper
notation, where appropriate, as to any safety hazards to avoid during
landscape installation.
5.
The approximate location, type, size
and quantity of all proposed landscape materials, along with the common
name of all plant species. The size, grading and condition shall be
specified according to American Association of Nurserymen standards.
6.
The location, size and common name
of all existing plant materials to be retained on the site (large
masses of trees may be indicated by mass outline only).
7.
Mature sizes of plant material shall
be drawn to scale and called out on the landscape plan by common name
or appropriate key.
8.
Location of hose connections and
other water sources.
9.
The location of all existing trees,
twelve-inch caliper or larger on sites where trees are proposed for
removal.
10.
The location, size and type of required
screening methods.
B.
Planting Requirements Within Parking And
Vehicular-Use Areas.
1.
The intent of this Section is to
encourage interior landscaping within vehicular parking areas; to
break up the large expanses of pavement; to provide relief from the
reflected glare and heat; as well as to guide vehicular and pedestrian
traffic.
2.
Except for vehicle storage lots,
multiple level parking structures, and parking lots having a paved
area no wider than a double-loaded aisle no more than sixty-five (65)
feet in width, all parking areas in all zoning districts shall include
the following as minimum requirements:
a.
Not less than six percent (6%) of
the interior of a parking lot shall be landscaped. The interior of
a parking lot shall be calculated by multiplying the number of parking
spaces by two hundred seventy (270) square feet. Planting which is
required along the perimeter of a parking lot shall not be considered
as part of the interior landscaping requirement.
b.
The landscaping and planting areas
shall be reasonably dispersed throughout the parking lots.
c.
The interior dimensions of any planting
area or planting median shall be sufficient to protect the landscaping
materials planted therein and to insure proper growth. Any protected
planting strip where trees are to be planted shall be a minimum of
seven (7) feet wide and shall be protected from vehicle overhang.
d.
The primary landscaping materials
used in parking lots shall be trees which provide shade or are capable
of providing shade at maturity. Shrubbery, hedges and other planting
material may be used to complement the tree landscaping. Effective
use of rain gardens, earthen berms and existing topography is also
encouraged as a component of the landscaping plan.
e.
In those instances where plant material
exists on the parking lot site prior to its development, such landscape
material may be used if approved as meeting the requirements in this
Section.
f.
No landscaping, tree, shrub, fence,
wall or similar item shall be placed in the zones of ingress or egress
at street corners, or in the intersection of a public right-of-way
that will create an obstruction to visibility, or is a traffic hazard.
g.
Exterior light fixtures shall be
located within landscaped islands or in vegetated areas along the
perimeter of the parking/vehicular use area. Light fixtures shall
not be placed within required bufferyards.
h.
Where determined to be necessary
by the City's Traffic Consultant, landscaped islands within parking
lots shall be configured in a manner to direct traffic entering, exiting
and/or traveling within a particular site.
C.
Planting Requirements. The minimum planting
sizes for all plant material shall be the following:
1.
Medium And Large Deciduous Shade
Trees. Two-inch caliper.
2.
Small Deciduous Or Ornamental Trees.
Four (4) feet in height as specified by the American Association
of Nurserymen, with the exception of true dwarf species.
3.
Conifers. Six (6) feet in height.
4.
Upright Evergreen Trees. Six (6)
feet in height as specified by the American Association of Nurserymen,
except for true dwarf varieties.
5.
Shrubs. (Deciduous and conifer including
spreader and globe tree forms): Size optional as determined by applicant.
6.
Ground Cover Plants. Crowns, plugs
or containers in a number as appropriate by species to provide fifty
percent (50%) surface coverage after two (2) growing seasons.
7.
Grass Seeding. As appropriate to
provide complete coverage within the first growing season.
8.
Sod. As necessary to provide coverage
and soil stabilization.
[R.O. 2008 § 402.180; Ord. No. 5752 § 1, 12-8-2011]
A.
Purpose. This Section provides the landscaping
and width requirements for bufferyards on lots developed after May
10, 1999. One (1) of the most important functions of the Zoning Code
is the separation of land uses into districts which have similar character
and contain compatible uses. The location of districts is supposed
to provide protection, but in the City of O'Fallon this is not the
case since zoning districts permitting uses as diverse as single-family
residential and industrial use were located adjacent to each other
long before May 10, 1999. Bufferyards will operate to minimize the
negative impact of any future use on its neighboring uses.
B.
Required Locations For Bufferyards. Bufferyards
shall be located along (and within) the outer perimeter of a lot wherever
two (2) different zoning districts, or a non-residential land use
and a residential land use abut one another. Bufferyards are not required
adjacent to any right-of-way of or between residential development
and properties zoned "P-R" Park-Recreation.
C.
Determination Of Required Bufferyard.
1.
The following paragraphs shall be
used to select the minimum levels of bufferyard width, landscaping,
berming and/or fencing needed to achieve the minimum level of screening
for the required bufferyard. The landscaping component of each option
is given in plant units. For any given bufferyard, any combination
of options for the same level of screening may be used. This approach
provides a range of choice for bufferyard width, landscaping, berming
and/or fencing which can be varied according to site features. However,
the minimum bufferyard requirements shall consist of conifers or upright
evergreen trees planted on ten-foot centers and staggered to achieve
maximum visual density coverage. Note that in all instances, bufferyard
areas must remain as permanent green space although they may be included
within the required building setback areas.
2.
For commercial zoning districts or
uses otherwise permitted in commercial districts which abut any residentially
zoned property or property projected for future residential development
by the City's Comprehensive Plan, the following additional bufferyard
options shall be available:
a.
For everyone hundred (100) feet of
frontage where the bufferyard is required:
(1)
A total of two (2) plant
units and a sight-proof, six-foot high (as measured from the adjacent
finished grade and placed on the highest elevation or other location
as determined by the Director of Planning and Development) sight-proof
vinyl fence, decorative masonry wall, brick wall or other fence as
approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be provided within
a minimum twenty-foot wide bufferyard area;
(2)
A total of four (4)
plant units and a four-foot high earthen berm shall be provided within
a minimum forty-foot wide bufferyard area; or
(3)
A total of five (5)
plant units shall be provided within a minimum fifty-foot wide bufferyard
area.
3.
For industrial zoning districts or
uses otherwise permitted in industrial districts which abut any residentially
zoned property or property projected for future residential development
by the City's Comprehensive Plan, the following additional bufferyard
options shall be available:
a.
For everyone hundred (100) feet of
frontage where the bufferyard is required:
(1)
A total of three (3)
plant units and a sight-proof, six-foot high (as measured from the
adjacent finished grade and placed at the highest elevation or other
location as determined by the Director of Planning and Development)
vinyl fence, decorative masonry wall, brick wall or other fence as
approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be provided within
a minimum thirty-foot wide bufferyard area; or
(2)
A total of five (5)
plant units and a five-foot high earthen berm shall be provided within
a minimum fifty-foot wide bufferyard area.
4.
For multi-family zoning districts
("R-3", "R-4" and "R-5") or uses otherwise permitted in these districts,
which abut any "R-1", "R-1A", "R-1B" or "R-2" residentially zoned
property or property projected as low or medium density residential
development by the City's Comprehensive Plan future land use map,
the following earthen bufferyard options shall be available (given
that a variety of housing types are possible within the City's residential
districts, the intent of this Subsection is to provide a buffer between
single-family and triplex or greater density developments. However,
the Planning and Zoning Commission may at their discretion require
or not require a bufferyard, depending upon the densities involved):
a.
For every one hundred (100) feet
of frontage where the bufferyard is required:
(1)
A total of one and one-half
(1.5) plant units and a sight-proof, six (6) foot high (as measured
from the adjacent finished grade and placed on the highest elevation
or other location as determined by the Director of Planning and Development)
vinyl fence or decorative masonry wall, brick wall or other fence
as approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be provided
within a minimum fifteen (15) foot wide bufferyard area;
(2)
A total of two and one-half
(2.5) plant units and a two and one-half-foot high earthen berm shall
be provided within a minimum thirty-foot wide bufferyard area; or
(3)
A total of three (3)
plant units shall be provided within a minimum fifty-foot wide bufferyard
area.
5.
Where the regulations set forth in
this Subsection require a fence as part of the bufferyard, the Planning
and Zoning Commission may eliminate that requirement provided that
the adjoining property already has a fence that sufficiently provides
the screening required by this Subsection.
[Ord. No.
6724, 10-22-2020]
D.
Credits For Maintaining Existing Landscaping.
1.
The maintenance of existing mature
landscaping on a property where it may serve the bufferyard requirements
is strongly encouraged and to this end the following incentive for
its retention bufferyard area shall count toward meeting plant unit
point total requirements based on the size of the materials. For instance,
a ten-inch caliper deciduous canopy tree will count as fifty (50)
points in that it is equal to five (5) trees under the plant unit
definition. The amounts that such existing landscaping will count
toward meeting plant unit requirements will be at the discretion of
the Planning and Development Department and, as necessary, the Planning
and Zoning Commission.
2.
Special circumstances such as topography
may necessitate changes in the location of the screened fencing as
recommended by staff and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Generally such fencing is expected to be placed on the non-residential
or denser residential side of the bufferyard area. Increased screening
may be required by the Planning and Zoning Commission through the
site plan or conditional use permit processes where the Commission
finds that such screening is necessary based on the nature of the
proposed commercial or industrial use and its relationship to the
adjacent residential use.
|
Below is Exhibit A, an illustration
depicting the layout of the above bufferyard scenarios.
(2).tif.png) |
