[Ord. No. 856, § 3; Ord. No. 90-38, § 5; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4; Ord. No. 94-19, § 3.]
The side or rear lot line of a lot, other than a lot having street frontage, shall be screened by a landscaped buffer strip designed in accordance with this subdivision 3.11 and section T10B-288(c) wherever the lot is proposed to be improved with a:
(a) 
Nonresidential use and the lot line borders a residential use or district, except for the SC Shopping Center District, within which said buffer shall only be required where the SC Shopping Center District boundary borders the R-7 Residential District.
[Amended 7-27-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-20]
(b) 
Residential use on a lot which is part of a proposed residential development of three or more dwelling units and the lot line borders a multifamily or nonresidential use to the extent that there is insufficient screening on the contiguous lot or lots to screen the residential use from the nonresidential use or district; and
(c) 
Multifamily use including a continuing care residential community and the lot line borders a single-family and two-family use or district.
The buffer strip requirements of this section shall apply to any development application approved after the effective date of this section. If the application involves a pre-existing development, the board of jurisdiction may lessen the requirements to a level commensurate with the nature of the application taking into account the extent to which the application modifies the pre-existing development.
[Ord. No. 856, § 2; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4.]
Within required buffer areas, a solid and continuous landscape screen shall be planted and maintained, and the remaining area of the buffer shall be appropriately planted. Such landscaping shall consist of a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs of such species and size as will produce a screen at least five feet in height within two growing seasons, so as continually to restrict a clear view beyond such buffer strip. The plantings shall be not arranged in a straight row. In addition, an adequate number of shade trees not in the visual barrier shall be provided. The planning board shall adopt and maintain on file a list of appropriate plantings.
[Ord. No. 856, § 2; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4.]
The required height of the screen shall be measured from the elevation of the edge of the adjacent area to be screened. In cases where the elevation of the planting location is less than the elevation of the edge of adjacent area, the required height of the screen shall be increased in an amount equal to such difference in elevation. In cases where the elevation of the planting location is greater than that at the edge of the adjacent area, the required height of the screen may be reduced in an amount equal to such difference in elevation; provided, that in no case shall the required height be reduced more than two feet.
[Ord. No. 856, § 2; Ord. No. 90-38, § 6; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4.]
Any required buffer strip shall be at least 50 feet in width at all points, except that, if a service use abuts another nonresidential use or nonresidentially-zoned lot, the buffer strip shall be five feet in width at all points if there is a buffer along the lot line on the adjacent lot and 10 feet if there is no such buffer. The board of jurisdiction may increase the buffer strip width, up to but not more than 75 feet, if the nature of the uses to be buffered and the existing or proposed site layout require the installation of a wider buffer strip in order to mitigate visual, noise, and light impacts and there is sufficient room for a wider buffer. It shall be maintained and kept clean of all debris and rubbish.
(a) 
Within the SC Shopping Center District, the required buffer strip along the boundary abutting the R-7 Residential District shall comply with the following :
[Added 7-27-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-20]
(1) 
The minimum buffer width shall not be less than nine (9) feet and shall not have an average width less than 18 feet;
(2) 
At any point where the minimum buffer width is less than 12 feet the composition of the buffer, in terms of materials used for visual screening, shall be enhanced to ensure that an opaque visual screen is created between the ground elevation and a height of six (6) feet at the time of installation; and
(3) 
Retaining walls to provide suitable grades shall be permitted within the required buffer.
[Ord. No. 856, § 2; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4.]
No development certificate of occupancy for premises upon which such screening is required shall be issued until such time as the landscaping requirements as set forth in this subdivision are installed, or, in the event that the season is not appropriate for such installation, until a performance guarantee is posted with the township in an amount equal to the estimated cost of such landscaping installation.
[Ord. No. 856, § 2; Ord. No. 93-19, § 4.]
In required buffer areas where a natural buffer strip is deemed impracticable or inappropriate by the planning board, a suitable screening wall or fence may be substituted, as approved by the planning board.