Battle Ground City Zoning Code

The city council finds that orderliness, beauty, architectural harmony and design with nature in mind bear a substantial relationship to community welfare. The regulations in this chapter promote the maintenance of existing natural areas and the reestablishment of vegetation for aesthetic and health reasons, establish a pleasant visual character by softening the effects of built and paved areas, promote compatibility between land uses by reducing impacts of development on abutting uses, and enhance the livability of residential lands. The city council intends to upgrade the aesthetic character, and ensure the compatibility of, institutional, multiple-family residential, commercial, industrial and other developments through the application of screening requirements for outdoor storage uses, maintenance and replanting of natural buffers between incompatible uses, the reservation of sufficient open space, and the installation of landscape strips along street rights-of-way, within parking lots and alongside property lines, as more fully set forth in this chapter and other chapters of this title.

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all development applications in the city, with the exception of individual single- and two-family residential lots.

The following landscaping standards are intended to improve and soften the appearance of parking areas; reduce the visual impact of parking areas from sidewalks, streets, and especially from adjacent residential zones; shade and cool parking areas:

Screening outdoor storage areas shall be required as follows:

Any loading bays or berths required by this title or provided to serve development shall not face public streets and shall be located to the rear of buildings. A B3 buffer or equivalent must screen such loading bays or berths from adjacent properties or streets.

Mechanical and other equipment located on the ground, such as but not limited to heating or cooling equipment, pumps, generators, electrical boxes and transformers, must be screened from the street and any abutting residential lots with a B2 buffer or equivalent. Mechanical or other equipment on roofs must be screened from the ground level of any abutting residential lots.

New development or additions and expansions of existing development shall provide landscaping consistent with Table 17.131-1, and for parking lots as required by BGMC § 17.131.016.

Landscaping is to be maintained in a healthy and neat manner and may be subject to periodic inspection by the city. When installation of landscaping is required by this title, the owner shall be responsible for the monitoring, maintenance and replacement, if necessary, of new landscaping to assure one hundred percent survival for trees and ninety percent survival for shrubs and ground cover for a one-year period.

All new development within the city shall comply with the screening and buffering required by the buffering matrix contained in Table 17.131-1 and the following standards. Where there is a conflict between the fence and hedge provisions of BGMC § 17.135.080 and this section, this section shall prevail; provided, that in no case shall sight distance provisions at intersections or other safety provisions be violated. The planning director may allow specific change to the following standards where it is found that an alternative buffer provides the same level of buffering as the standard indicated:

No person shall operate or cause to be operated any source of sound in such a manner as to create a sound level that exceeds sixty DBA in any residential district. Specifically exempted from this requirement are the following: emergency signaling devices, domestic power tools, air-conditioning equipment for residential purposes, operating motor vehicles and lawnmowers, railroads, aircraft, church bells or chimes and normal sounds from agricultural or domestic animals.

Glare shall not directly or indirectly from reflection cause illumination on other properties or on public streets or private streets with permitted public access in excess of a measurement of one footcandle of illumination. Outdoor lights shall consist of fully shielded and downward directed fixtures.

Continuous, frequent or repetitive vibrations that can be detected by a person of normal sensitivities at a property line shall not be produced. Vibrations from temporary construction and vehicles are exempt. Vibrations lasting less than five minutes per day are also exempt. Seismic or electronic vibration equipment may be used for measurements when there are doubts about the level of vibration.

Continuous, frequent or repetitive odors that exceed centimeter No. zero may not be produced. The odor threshold is the point at which an odor may just be detected. The centimeter reading is based on the number of clean air dilutions required to reduce the odorous air to the threshold level. Centimeter No. zero is one to two dilutions of clean air. An odor detected for less than fifteen minutes per day is exempt. Marijuana businesses shall incorporate odor control technology and provisions, and ensure that emissions do not exceed Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency regulations, including but not limited to those specified for odors at SWCAA 400-040(4).

Measurement for compliance with the standards specified in BGMC § 17.131.090 through § 17.131.120 are to be made from the property line or within the property of the affected site. If the city does not have the equipment or expertise to measure and evaluate a specific complaint, it may request assistance from another agency or may contract with an independent expert to perform such measurements. The city may accept measurements made by an independent expert hired by the controller or operator of the off-site impact source. If the city contracts to have measurements made and no violation is found, the city will bear the expense. If a violation is found, city expenses will be charged to the violator.