A.
No structure or uses shall be permitted in the buffer yard, other
than stormwater management facilities, provided the structures or
uses do not interfere with the required plantings in the buffer yard
and provided all plantings are located outside any stormwater management
structure. Structures or uses not permitted within the required buffer
yard include, but are not limited to, buildings, accessory structures,
parking spaces and lighting devices.
B.
Openings for driveways and Township-required access drives shall be permitted to cross a required buffer yard. Plantings in the buffer yard shall be located so as to not obstruct vision for traffic entering and leaving the site and shall be subject to the clear sight triangle requirements of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 22).
C.
In the event that existing vegetation and/or existing topography
provides screening which is adequate to meet the intent of the required
buffer yard to screen the buildings, activities and parking areas
from adjoining residential properties, the Township Engineer, upon
recommendation by the Planning Commission, may determine that existing
topography and/or vegetation constitutes all or part of the required
buffer yard. If such a determination is made and the size of the buffer
yard warrants it, the applicant may be required to record a conservation
easement of the depth specified by the Board of Supervisors to guarantee
that the existing topography and/or vegetation will not be disturbed
or removed from the approved buffer yard.
D.
None of the plantings in the required buffer yard shall encroach
across any property line. All plantings shall be located a minimum
of 2 1/2 feet from the property line which constitutes the exterior
boundary of the buffer yard.
E.
Bufferyard requirements are subject to the Table of Bufferyard Requirements as included as an attachment to this chapter in Attachment 2. The requirements imposed on each use are in the first row as it directly relates to the existing use on the adjacent property in the top column as indicated on the chart in Attachment 2.
(1)
Any residential subdivision of lots, excluding a minor subdivision,
shall be classified as low density residential for purposes of the
Table of Bufferyard Requirements.
F.
Buffer Yard A.
(1)
Purpose. Buffer Yard A is designed to provide for adequate screening
between uses and districts exhibiting the greatest potential conflict
in terms of density and intensity.
(2)
Depth of buffer yard: 40 feet.
(3)
Base planting standards. Plantings in groupings or planted evenly
along the perimeter shall be installed at a rate of two high-level
planting for every 50 feet or two ornamental tree for every 30 feet
and four low-level plantings for every 50 feet.
[Amended 12-16-2021 by Ord. No. 21-07]
(4)
Plantings and screening shall be furnished through one or a
combination of the following to provide a solid visual screening:
(a)
Mounding required. Buffer Yard A shall include an earthen mound
that provides an immediate visual barrier with a minimum height six
(6) feet greater than the corresponding elevation along the property
line. This shall be a requirement for the frontage of the plan site
in all PRD forms.
(b)
Two staggered rows of evergreen trees of at least six feet in
height at planting which, at planting, provide continuous screening
and are spaced in a manner which best ensures long-term survival.
Up to 50% of such trees may be substituted for trees required under
the base planting standards.
(c)
An opaque fence of six feet in height located on the side of
the landscaping buffer facing the principal structure(s) on the interior
of the site or, where multiple rows of plantings are utilized, at
a location where an equal number of plantings are disbursed on each
side of the fence. The fence shall be constructed of vinyl, brick,
masonry with finished surfaces, or similar maintenance-free material,
and it may be located on the side of the buffering directly facing
the property line. The colors of fence materials shall be consistent
or in harmony with the housing and fence materials of the block on
which the lot is located. The fence shall be set back at least four
feet from the abutting property line.
G.
Buffer Yard B.
(1)
Purpose. Buffer Yard B is intended to provide for the visual
screening between uses which possess inherent contrasts in types and
functions of similar use, namely between forms of residential and
lower impact forms of commercial development.
(2)
Minimum depth of buffer yard: 20 feet.
(3)
Buffer Yard B shall contain a minimum of one row of plantings
consisting of a mixture of high-level and ornamental trees which include
sufficient evergreen trees of a proportion and species sufficient
to ensure that 60% of the row will provide a solid visual screening
within three years of planting, with the remaining portions screened
to a height of six feet through a combination of mounding, decorative
fencing as per the standards of Buffer Yard A and/or low-level plantings.
H.
Buffer Yard C.
(1)
Purpose. Buffer Yard C is designed to provide visual screening
between varied uses in mixed-use and transitional neighborhoods and
between varied uses that possess minimal, yet potential, conflicts
with respect to the density and intensity of use.
(2)
Depth of buffer yard: 10 feet.
(3)
Buffer Yard C shall be comprised of a continuous, compact evergreen
hedge combined with decorative fencing as specified under Buffer Yard
A or mounding in a manner that provides six feet in height of screening
or a line of high-level plantings as evergreen trees that will grow
together when mature.
I.
Where 20 or more parking spaces face the buffer yard, in addition
to the required trees, a row of low-level evergreen shrubs or hedges
shall be planted, or earthen mounding shall be constructed in the
buffer yard which shall provide a year-round visual screen capable
of acting as a barrier to light beams emanating from the headlights
of passenger cars. These low-level shrubs or hedges or mounds shall
be installed so that a person facing a passenger car with the shrubs
or hedges or mounds between him/her and the car could observe the
car's low-beam lights only as a result of the diffused or reflected
light from the headlights and not because the direct beam from those
lights was observable. The earthen mound shall be a minimum of three
feet in height at its center point with a minimum width at the base
of 10 feet. Low-level shrubs or hedges shall be a minimum of three
feet at the time of planting.
A.
A buffer yard shall be required as identified in the following table
and shall be installed along the property line of the use specified
in the column in accordance with the buffer yard type, if any, that
is specified by the row headings which represent the use of the adjacent
lot. The categories of "Institutional," "Intensive Residential," "Intensive
Industrial/Institutional," and "Retail" shall be determined by finding
the particular use and corresponding category in the Use Authorization
Table as set forth in Part 30 of this chapter.
B.
Conflict between buffer yard and yard requirements. When the width
of a required buffer yard is in conflict with the minimum yard requirements
of Parts 4 through 7, the greater distance shall apply. The buffer
yard planting requirement shall be adhered to regardless of what the
yard requirement is.
C.
Existing trees in required buffer yards. Any existing trees within
the required buffer yard which are a minimum of two inches in diameter
at breast height (DBH) shall be preserved and shall count as a required
tree within the buffer yard; provided, however, diseased or dead material
may be removed. At no point, however, shall any existing trees and
required trees be separated at a distance greater than the distance
specified in the required buffer yard for the planted material.
D.
Responsibility for maintenance. It shall be the continuing responsibility of the landowner or lessee to assure the continued growth of all required landscaping and/or to replace the same in the event of frost, vandalism, disease or other reasons for the discontinued growth of the required trees, shrubs and bushes. Failure to replace such landscaping shall be a violation of this chapter and shall be subject to the enforcement provisions of Part 25 of this chapter.
E.
Stormwater management facilities in buffer areas. When required by
the Township stormwater management regulations, stormwater management
facilities and structures may be located within a buffer yard; however,
the existence of such facilities or structures shall not be a basis
for a failure to meet the planting requirements in the buffer yard.
F.
Landscaping of open areas. All yard areas not utilized for parking
facilities, driveways, gardens, the planting of trees or shrubs, flower,
vegetable or herb beds or similar uses shall be seeded, sodded or
landscaped within a reasonable period of time. The phrase "a reasonable
period of time" shall be interpreted to be within 30 days after construction
activities are completed, unless those activities are completed between
November 1 and April 1. In such case, the required sodding or seeding
must occur within 30 days of April 1.
G.
Landscaping specifications. Landscaping shall be provided in accordance
with the following specifications:
(1)
Planting required in buffer yards other than this section cannot
be substituted for any required planting mandated by this section.
(2)
Where buffer yards are required and in land developments where
additional landscaping is required, a landscaping plan, with detailed
drawings, shall be submitted with the application for approval of
the land development, and this landscaping plan shall contain and
show the following information:
(a)
All required buffer yards with proposed plantings (identifying
each proposed tree, bush or shrub by type and size) drawn to scale
and identifying the height and width of any proposed mounds.
(b)
All required planting independent of any buffer yard requirements
(identifying each tree, bush, shrub by type and size, the use of sod
or seeding, etc.) drawn to scale.
(c)
Any planting in excess of the requirements in this section.
(d)
Any existing trees or vegetation which are to be preserved,
accurately identifying type, size and their relative location.
(e)
Any existing trees or vegetation which will be removed, accurately
identifying their type, size and relative location.
(3)
For nonresidential developments which have a building or buildings
with a gross floor area of 10,000 square feet or more and/or which
have parking areas containing more than 50 spaces, a landscaping plan
shall be required which is in compliance with this section, subject
to approval by the Township.
(4)
For residential land developments containing multifamily dwellings,
duplex dwellings or garden apartments on lots which have a total area
of one acre or more, at least one deciduous tree shall be planted
for each four multifamily dwelling units or portion thereof.
(5)
All trees which are required to be planted as per the regulations
of this section shall be a minimum of two inches in diameter at breast
height (DBH) at the time of planting, measured along the trunk of
the planted tree, which tree shall be planted in accordance with accepted
conservation practices.
(6)
In all zoning districts, all areas not utilized for buildings,
structures, screening, parking facilities, driveways or other paved
areas shall be graded to conform to existing contours on adjacent
properties and to contain stormwater runoff on the lot. These areas
shall be seeded, sodded or landscaped within one year following the
completion of grading and/or construction activities. Continued maintenance
of soil erosion and sedimentation control techniques as approved by
the Township Engineer shall be required until such planting can be
accomplished.
H.
Posting of financial security for landscaping.
(1)
The landowner and/or developer shall provide the Township with performance security, as required by the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 22), during development of the site to guarantee proper installation of the required landscaping and buffer yard materials required by this chapter and as shown on the Township-approved landscaping plan.
(2)
The landowner and/or developer shall provide the Township with
maintenance security to guarantee the maintenance and survival of
the landscaping and buffer yard materials installed on the subject
property in accordance with this chapter and the Township-approved
landscape plan. This maintenance security shall be in the amount of
15% of the total cost of the landscaping and buffer yard materials
shown on the Township-approved landscape plan for a period of 18 months
from initial planting and certification by the Township Engineer and/or
Township landscape consultant.
(3)
All such performance securities and maintenance securities shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 1, Part 11, Financial Security, of the Code of Jackson Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as amended. Release of the performance security and maintenance security shall be handled consistent with the requirements of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 22).
