Southold City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XX
Landscaping, Screening and Buffer Regulations
§ 280-91 Purpose.
The following standards are intended to enhance the appearance and natural beauty of the Town and to protect property values through preservation and planting of vegetation, screening and landscaping material. Specifically, these standards are intended to enhance the appearance of major travel corridors and business areas; to reduce excessive heat, glare and accumulation of dust; to provide privacy from noise and visual intrusion; and to prevent the erosion of the soil, excessive runoff of drainage water and the consequent depletion of the groundwater table and the pollution of water bodies.
§ 280-92 General requirements.
The following provisions shall apply to any use in all zoning districts:
A.
Landscaping, trees and plants required by these regulations shall be planted in a growing condition according to accepted horticultural practices, and they shall be maintained in a healthy growing condition. Any landscaping, trees and plants which are in a condition that does not fulfill the intent of these regulations shall be replaced by the property owner during the next planting season for the particular plant material.
B.
A screening fence or wall required by these regulations shall be maintained by the property owner in good condition throughout the period of the use of the lot, subject to the following conditions:
(1)
Any land that is or has been designated or required to be a screening area, buffer area or paved area pursuant to an approval by the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals of any grant of an application for a change of zone, variance or site plan approval or which is required by ordinance or local law must be maintained by the owner of the property or any of the owners, successors in interest or assignees.
(2)
When it is determined by the Planning Board that any land is not maintained pursuant to such grant or law, the Building Inspector shall notify the owner of record of such land, by certified mail to the address shown on the last completed assessment roll, to erect, replace, repair or maintain fences, trees, plantings, shrubbery or other screening or paved areas pursuant to the plan or law.
(3)
In the event that the owner of record does not comply with the notice within 30 days of the date of said mailing, the Building Inspector may take the appropriate action to erect, replace, repair or maintain fences, trees, plantings, shrubbery or other screening or paved areas on the designated land. The Building Inspector shall certify by affidavit the costs incurred either by the Department or the Town Board. The Town Board shall, by resolution, instruct the Town Clerk to publish a public notice that a public hearing will be held for the purpose of adding to the assessment roll of the described lot or parcel the costs incurred and that, at the public hearing, the Town Board will hear and consider any objection which may be made to such roll. The publication of such notice shall not be less than 10 days before the time specified for such hearing. The Town Board, after public hearing, may then cause such assessment to become a lien and may direct the Town Assessors to place it on the assessment roll.
C.
All landscaping, trees and planting material adjacent to parking areas, loading areas or driveways shall be properly protected from vehicular damage by barriers, curbs or other means.
D.
To the extent possible, existing trees, vegetation and unique site features, such as stone walls, shall be retained and protected. Existing healthy, mature trees, if properly located, shall be fully credited against the requirements of these regulations.
E.
Where lot size and shape or existing structures do not make it feasible to comply with the requirements for a front landscaped area or landscaped parking area, the Planning Board may approve planters, plant boxes or pots containing trees, shrubs and/or flowers to comply with the intent of these regulations.
F.
In cases where the edge of the pavement within a public right-of-way does not coincide with the front lot line, the property owner shall landscape the area between the front lot line and the edge of the street pavement.
§ 280-93 Front landscaped area.
A front landscaped area shall be required for all uses in all zoning districts. The required landscaped area shall be covered with grass or other ground cover and shall include appropriate trees and shrubs. As a minimum, in all nonresidential districts and in the Hamlet Density Residential and R-40 Low-Density Residential Districts, one shade tree having a caliper of two inches shall be planted within the front landscaped area for each 40 feet or fraction thereof of lot frontage. The purpose of the landscaping is to enhance the appearance of the use on the lot but not to screen the use from view.
A.
Residential districts. In all residential districts, required front yards, except for the driveway, shall be landscaped with grass or other suitable ground cover, trees and/or shrubs.
B.
Nonresidential districts. In all nonresidential districts, there shall be a landscaped strip in the front yard area; in the Limited Business, General Business and Light Industrial Park/Planned Office Park and Light Industrial Districts, the strip shall be 25 feet, and in the Marine I and II Districts, the landscaped strip shall be 15 feet deep along and contiguous to the front lot line of the property. There shall also be a landscaped area five feet wide abutting the front of the building in all nonresidential districts, including the Hamlet Business District.
§ 280-94 Transition buffer area.
The purpose of the transition buffer area is to provide privacy from noise, headlight glare and visual intrusion to residential dwellings. A buffer area shall be required along all boundaries of a nonresidential lot abutting any lot in a residential district. Such buffer area shall comply with at least the following minimum standards:
A.
The buffer area shall be located within the boundaries of the subject property.
B.
The minimum width of buffer areas shall be as follows:
(1)
Hamlet Business District: 15 feet.
(2)
Marine I and II Districts: 20 feet.
(3)
Limited Business District: 20 feet.
(4)
General Business District: 25 feet.
(5)
Industrial districts: 30 feet.
(6)
Any district other than a residential district adjoining land owned or maintained by New York State, Suffolk County or Southold Town with current or potential use as parkland: 25 feet.
C.
The buffer area shall be of evergreen planting of such type, height, spacing and arrangement as, in the judgment of the Planning Board, will effectively screen the activity on the lot from the neighboring residential area. As a minimum, the planting shall consist of a double row of trees six feet in height planted at intervals of 10 feet on center. Nonevergreen planting may be included to supplement evergreen planting, but not to take its place.
D.
A landscaped earthen berm, wall or fence of a location, height, design and materials approved by the Planning Board may be accepted for any portion of the required planting and/or buffer area.
E.
Where the existing topography and/or landscaping provides adequate screening, the Planning Board may accept the existing planting and/or buffer area as the required planting.
§ 280-95 Landscaped parking area.
In addition to the front landscaped area and buffer area requirements, parking areas shall comply with the following minimum standards:
A.
All uses required to provide 20 or more off-street parking spaces shall have at least 10 square feet of interior landscaping within the paved portion of the parking area for each parking space and at least one tree with a two-inch caliper for every 10 parking spaces or fraction thereof. Each separate landscaped area shall contain a minimum of 100 square feet, shall have a minimum dimension of at least eight feet, shall be planted with grass or shrubs and shall include at least one tree of not less than two-inch caliper.
B.
A landscaped area shall be provided along the perimeter of any parking area except that portion of the parking area which provides access to a street or parking facility on an adjacent lot. Accessways to adjacent lots shall not exceed 24 feet in width and shall not exceed two in number for each purpose. The landscaped area shall have a minimum dimension of four feet, shall be planted with grass or shrubs and shall include at least one tree of not less than two-inch caliper for every 40 feet along the perimeter of the parking area. In cases where the parking area adjoins a public sidewalk, the required landscaped area shall be extended to the edge of the sidewalk.
C.
Trees used in parking lots shall include honey locust, pine, oak or other similar fast-growing, hardy varieties or existing trees where appropriately located.
§ 280-96 Properties located adjacent to creeks.
The rear yards of properties located adjacent to creeks shall include natural vegetation and/or shall contain suitable planted vegetation to a minimum of 20 feet inland from the mean high-water-line elevation or wetland boundary to prevent erosion of the shoreline. Vegetation within the buffer strip shall not be fertilized or chemically treated.