Landscaping shall be provided as part of the overall development
plan design. This landscaping shall be integrated into building arrangement,
topography, parking and buffering requirements. Landscaping shall
include trees, bushes, shrubs, ground cover, perennials, annuals,
plants, sculpture, art and the use of building and paving materials
in an imaginative manner.
The applicant shall use natural topography and vegetation where
possible. Large parking areas are not to be stripped of vegetation
without requiring reseeding or replanting of all unpaved areas.
Every attempt shall be made by applicant to save existing trees
even at the loss of parking spaces. Clumps of trees should be saved
over single trees. Care should be taken by the reviewing board to
properly evaluate site clearing proposals recognizing that wild trees
often do not survive when their habitat is drastically altered. Where
loss of trees is suggested, replacement should be required.
Slopes in excess of three to one shall be avoided unless necessitated
by unusual site limitations. All slopes shall be stabilized in a manner
acceptable to the reviewing board engineer.
Parking lots located in front of buildings shall be screened
from adjacent roadways.
Tall, dense screen are required along nonpenetrable sidelines, rear property lines and where commercial or industrial parking areas abut residences or residential zones. Evergreens such as white pine, Austrian pine, Canadian hemlock, Serbian spruce, Arborvitae, and upright yews may be used, provided they meet specified height requirements. All screening and buffering shall be in accordance with Article
26, Buffers and Screening.
The areas adjacent to the driveways shall be planted in low
plants or grass. Appropriate low plants include butterfly bush, Sargent
juniper, inkberry, Japanese barberry or shrubby cinquefoil.
In proposing a landscaping plan an applicant shall take care,
and the Board in reviewing shall require, that a natural setting consistent
with prevailing community standards be preserved. Recognizing that
a major community asset lies in the preservation of the natural condition
of property, all efforts in the area of landscaping shall be exercised
to provide consistent landscaping proposals with existing foliage.