Montgomery Town City Zoning Code
§ 235-11.9
Performance buffering.
[Amended 10-6-2022 by L.L. No. 10-2022; 11-3-2022 by L.L. No. 13-2022]
A.
Purpose and intent. The purpose and intent of this section is to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public by prescribing natural or landscaped transitional buffer areas for the purpose of screening noise, vibration, odors and views of proposed land uses from existing or future incompatible or unharmonious land uses of varying intensity as well as from public roads.
B.
Buffers required. Prior to approving any subdivision, site plan or special use permit, the Planning Board shall require buffers consistent with this section, or in any other area deemed necessary and appropriate by the Planning Board to serve the intent of this section.
C.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to a farm or agricultural operation located in a New York State Agricultural District.
D.
Pavement of buffer prohibited. No buffer shall be paved or interrupted, except for access drives travelling approximately perpendicular (except as required pursuant to § 235-11.9K) to the buffer as necessary to access interior parts of the lot from outside of the lot. Such accesses shall be limited to the number and minimum width necessary to provide adequate and safe access. Utility connections shall be routed through areas not requiring buffers or proposed for access drives unless otherwise authorized by the Planning Board.
E.
Any usage of buffer not specifically authorized deemed prohibited. The buffer area shall not be used for any principal or accessory use, drainage, parking, or utilities including the overhang of parked vehicles, storage of product of any kind, recreation or stormwater management facilities. The Planning Board may permit rain gardens and other densely planted stormwater management if same does not undermine the ability to serve the intent of these provisions. Additionally, the Planning Board may permit underground septic facilities and underground or overhead utility connections through buffer areas, but shall require such areas to be suitably landscaped after installation of such utilities and maintain that landscaping on an ongoing basis to serve the intent of these provisions.
F.
Declaration of restrictive covenant and maintenance agreement required. The Planning Board may require a declaration of restrictive covenant and maintenance agreement for any buffer of Grade C, D, or E, or in any other instance in which it finds necessary to guarantee the protective qualities of buffers on an ongoing basis. Any covenant or agreement shall be prepared to the satisfaction of the Town and Planning Boards upon advice of their respective attorneys.
G.
Determination of required buffers. In order to determine the type of buffer required (if any) along each segment of exterior lot line of a development site, the following steps shall be taken:
(1)
Identification of land use intensity classification of the proposed development. Table 235-11.9-A[1] should be consulted to determine the land use intensity classification for the principal use proposed for the site. Where more than one principal use is proposed for the site, the highest land use classification shall be assigned.
[1]
Editor’s Note: Said table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(2)
Division of exterior lot line into segments. The exterior lot line(s) of the subject site shall be divided into segments, so that each segment divides the subject property from a single adjacent lot or from an adjacent road. Where the adjacent lot is vacant, that segment shall be further divided where the zoning district designation of the adjacent lot changes along that segment (if applicable). Where an accessory residence (such as a farmstead) exists on an adjacent lot, the segment shall be further divided into the portion within 200 feet of the residence and the portion more than 200 feet from the residence.
(3)
Identification of adjacent land use classifications and road ownership. Table 235-11.9-A shall be consulted to determine the land use intensity classification for the existing principal use of each adjacent lot and assign it to the corresponding lot line segment. Where more than one principal use exists on an adjacent lot, the lowest land use classification for a principal use shall be assigned to the corresponding lot line segment. Lot line segments within 200 feet of an accessory residence shall be assigned land use classification II. Where a segment is adjacent to a road, the ownership of the road shall be noted.
(4)
Identification of required buffer grade. In order to determine the buffer required (if any) along each segment of the project site periphery, the column of Table 235-11.9-B[2] corresponding to the proposed land use intensity classification of the subject property as determined in § 235-11.9G(1) shall be consulted. The required buffer (if any) is determined by matching that column with the row corresponding to the land use classification or road ownership corresponding to each lot line segment as determined by § 235-11.9G(3). For segments adjacent to vacant land, the buffer grade shall be assigned based on the zoning of the vacant land.
[2]
Editor’s Note: Said table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
H.
Buffer design and dimensions. Required buffers are divided into five grades: A through E. The required dimensions and suggested design of each buffer grade is prescribed in Table 235-11.9-C[3] and are described hereafter:
(1)
Width: This is the minimum width of the required buffer for a given segment.
(2)
Additional required yard: Where an additional required yard is prescribed in Table 235-11.9-C, the yards and setbacks required pursuant to § 235-4.3 shall be increased by the amount of the additional required yard as prescribed for that segment of the lot line. For example, if a particular lot requires a fifty-foot rear yard setback, and a fifty-foot additional required yard is required along a portion of the rear lot line, the required rear yard setback shall be increased to 100 feet from the rear lot line for that segment of the rear lot line. The Planning Board may reduce or eliminate any additional required yards for lots of less than two acres and may reduce any additional required yards for lots of less than 10 acres by up to 50% where it determines that imposition of the additional required yard would impose practical difficulties on the orderly development of the lot and where doing so is consistent with the intent of this section.
(3)
Density of plantings and suggested screening structures. The Planning Board in consultation with its landscape architect, will require retention, supplementation or removal and replacement of vegetation and screening structures as is necessary to achieve the following screening objectives for the prescribed grade of buffer. The number of plantings and suggested types of screening structures described in Table 235-11.9-C shall be deemed a suggested minimum design target for achieving these objectives.
(a)
Grade A. Grade A buffers are intended to provide partial visual screening.
(b)
Grade B. Grade B buffers are intended to provide significant visual screening for persons standing at grade in proximity to the property line, and modest screening from more distant or elevated viewpoints.
(c)
Grade C. Grade C buffers are intended to provide substantial visual screening from all viewpoints and modestly increased setbacks to reduce perceptible noise, odor and vibration.
(d)
Grade D. Grade D buffers are intended to provide substantial visual screening from all viewpoints and provide sound-mitigating structures and substantially increased setbacks to reduce perceptible noise, odor and vibration.
(e)
Grade E. Grade E buffers are intended to completely visually screen a site from all viewpoints and provide sound-mitigating structures and substantially increased setbacks to reduce perceptible noise, odor and vibration.
(4)
Screening structures required. For Grade D and E buffers, the Planning Board shall require screening structures of the types indicated in Table 235-11.9-C, or equivalent alternative structures for the purpose of further reducing visibility and sound, except where it determines that such structures are not necessary to serve the intent of this section.
[3]
Editor’s Note: Said table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
I.
Waiver for open undeveloped areas. Where only a portion of a lot is proposed to be developed and any lot line is located more than 500 feet from areas proposed for construction or permanent use, the Planning Board may waive the requirements to provide a buffer along that lot line if it determines that the buffer is unnecessary to serve the intent of this section due to the character of intervening lands or other relevant extenuating circumstances.
J.
Special requirements relevant to proposed Tier X intensity classifications. Any proposed land use that has a land use intensity classification of X shall be required to meet the following additional requirements:
(1)
Access drives. Access drives shall incorporate winding routes, fencing, berms and topography to screen direct views into the site from any public right-of-way.
(2)
A screening structure meeting the Grade E requirements of Table 235-11.9-C shall be provided along all public rights-of-way. The Planning Board, upon advice of its landscape architect, may permit a solid hedge of evergreen vegetation in lieu of the screening structure, but such hedge shall be subject to ongoing maintenance requirements as are necessary to maintain its health over time.
K.
Context sensitivity of design. Landscape designs shall be in harmony with the environmental context of the site. Preservation and appropriate supplementation of native, on-site vegetation shall be a primary objective of designing buffers. Where natural vegetation provides adequate buffering to serve the intent of this chapter, it shall remain undisturbed, with no removal of lower limbs or undergrowth except as required to maintain the health and vigor of the vegetation. Where located adjacent to overhead utility lines, no canopy trees shall be permitted. Supplemental shrubs and understory vegetation will be required in place of canopy trees at an amount determined by the Planning Board at the advice of its landscape architect.
L.
Buffer location flexibility. The Planning Board may allow the buffer to be set back from and interior to the lot line of the site, at the limits of construction disturbance, the limits of permanent principal and accessory use of the site, or any point between or combination of the foregoing which will best serve the intent of this section. Where the buffer is set back from the property line, it shall generally meet buffer grade requirements for the closest lot line segment. Irrespective of the buffer location, additional required yards prescribed in § 235-11.9H(2) shall be measured from lot lines.
M.
Competing provisions. Various other sections of the zoning chapter may prescribe screening or landscaping in areas of a site for which this section also prescribes screening or landscaping. Unless otherwise specifically indicated, standards for landscaping, fencing, screening or buffering contained in other sections of this zoning chapter shall not be deemed to supplant these requirements, nor shall these requirements be deemed to supplant the requirements of other sections of this zoning chapter, which shall be separately met. Where competing provisions cannot be separately met, the Planning Board shall require that which is most protective of the public health, safety and general welfare.