Buffer areas and screening shall require site plan or subdivision
approval and are required along all lot lines and street lines which
separate a nonresidential use from either an existing residential
use or residential zoning district, and where specified elsewhere
in this title. Buffer areas shall also be provided between residential
buildings of different types in multifamily or PRD developments. Buffer
areas shall be developed in an aesthetic manner for the primary purposes
of screening views and reducing noise perception beyond the lot. Buffer
widths shall be measured horizontally and perpendicularly to lot and
street lines. No structure, activity, storage of materials, or parking
of vehicles shall be permitted in a buffer area. These standards are
intended to provide flexibility in order to provide effective buffers
and screens. The location and design of buffers and screens shall
consider the use of the portion of the property being screened, the
distance between the use and the adjoining property line, differences
in elevations, the composition, height, and width of the buffer, and
natural features. Buffer shall be designed, planted, graded, landscaped
and developed with the general guideline that the closer a use or
activity is to a property line, or the more intense the use, the more
effective the buffer area must be in obscuring light and vision and
reducing noise beyond the lot.
All buffer areas shall be planned and maintained with either
grass or ground cover together with a screen of live shrubs or scattered
planting of live trees, shrubs or other plant material. The preservation
of all natural wooded tracts shall be an integral part of all development
plans and may be calculated as part of the required buffer area, provided
the growth is of a density and the area has sufficient width to serve
the purpose of a buffer. Additional plantings may be required by the
reviewing board to establish an appropriate tone for an effective
buffer.