Stillwater Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE X
Buffers, Landscaping and Lighting
§ 210-72 Buffers.
A.
Applicability. The following shall be the minimum standards required. The Planning Board may require additional buffer requirements such as fencing, berms, landscaping, etc. during site plan, special use permit, or subdivision review. These standards shall apply to all zoning districts and uses. Whenever possible, these standards shall be met by saving existing trees on the site. The planting new trees from the recommended species list below shall be required where existing vegetation does not exist. The Planning Board may vary the species on this list at its discretion.
B.
Buffers from existing roadways for new major subdivisions of 10 or more lot or new commercial site plan developments.
(1)
A landscaped buffer strip shall be provided adjacent to all existing public and private streets. The buffer strip shall be a minimum of 10 feet exclusive of the street right-of-way. Within the landscaped strip, one shade tree (three-inch caliper minimum) shall be provided per every 250 square feet, or any portion thereof, of landscaped strip. Required shrubbery shall be no higher than four feet above existing street grades, nor shall any tree with foliage extending below 10 feet above the established street grades be maintained, within 20 feet of any street intersection or 10 feet of driveway/street intersections. This restriction is for purposes of maintaining visibility at all times.
(2)
Where parking lots and drives abut the landscaped strip along the street right-of-way, evergreen shrubs selected from the list below must be provided for screening. The screening must be a minimum of three feet high and extend along the entire street frontage of the parking lot, exclusive of driveways and visibility clips. A landscaped berm may be provided in lieu of required shrubs. The berm must be 18 to 40 inches above the average grade of the street and parking lot curbs, with a slope not to exceed 3:1. If a parking lot is located 50 feet or more from the street right-of-way line, no screening shrubs or berm will be required.
Evergreen Low Screening Shrubs | |
|---|---|
Common Name | Scientific Name |
Euonymous | Euonymous fortunei |
Oregon grape | Mahonia aquifolium |
Rhododendron | Rhododendron ('compacta' varieties) |
Holly | Ilex ('compacta' varieties) |
Dwarf hinoki false cypress | Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Gracilis' |
Spruce | Picae (varieties) |
Juniper | Juniperus (varieties) |
Yew | Taxus (varieties) |
The blue hollies | Ilex meservae |
Mountain laurel | Kalmia latifolia |
Fire thorn | Pyracantha |
Rhododendron | Rhododendron |
Leatherleaf viburnum | Viburnum rhytidophyllum |
C.
Visibility. Street-level landscaping shall not interfere with visibility.
D.
Interior parking lot landscaping. Interior parking areas shall be landscaped in addition to the required landscaped strip. Trees must be provided in each parking lot at a minimum average density of one shade tree (three-inch caliper) for each 15 parking spaces, or any fraction thereof. Additionally, interior parking lot landscaping shall be provided in accordance with the following table:
Total Parking Area (square feet) | Interior Landscaped Area |
|---|---|
Less than 24,999 | 5% |
25,000 to 49,999 | 8% |
50,000 or larger | 10% |
E.
Exterior parking lot landscaping. A landscaped strip shall be provided around the perimeter of the site, exclusive of driveways. The landscaped strip shall be a minimum of five feet wide for sites 10,000 square feet or greater and three feet wide for sites less than 10,000 square feet, except for any area abutting a public street, in which case, the requirements of Subsection B above shall apply. Within the perimeter landscaped strip, one shade tree (three-inch caliper minimum) shall be provided per every 250 square feet, or any portion thereof, of landscaped strip.
F.
General parking lot landscaping.
(1)
Parking lot landscaping shall be met for all customer and employee parking. Parking lot landscaping requirements shall apply to storage and standing parking spaces incidental to uses, such as sales and rental of motor vehicles, mobile homes, boats, trailers, or other similar uses, if such storage is visible from any public rights-of-way.
(2)
To calculate the total parking area and the subsequent percentage of required interior lot landscaping, total the square footage of parking spaces, planting islands, curbed areas, and all interior driveways and aisles, except those with no parking spaces located on either side. Landscaped areas located outside the parking lot may not be used to meet the interior landscape requirement.
(3)
The required landscaping for parking lots shall be more or less evenly distributed throughout the parking lot, although adjustments may be approved by the Planning Board reviewing the landscape plan where the shape or size of the parking lot, the location of existing trees or other natural constraints reasonably prevent such distribution.
(4)
All landscaped areas, including permeable areas and drip lines around trees, and planting beds used for visual screening which abut any parking lot or vehicular travel area, shall be protected with curbs, parking blocks, or similar barriers sufficient to protect them from vehicular intrusion. Such areas shall have a minimum pervious area of 60 feet if they are for the purpose of housing landscaping including trees and 25 feet if they house landscaping other than trees. Landscaped islands will be a minimum of five feet in dimension and must be a minimum of nine feet wide when adjacent to parking spaces where a car door would open into the island.
§ 210-73 Buffer zones between uses.
A.
Purpose. The purpose of buffer zones is to separate land uses and offer visual screening between uses that may not be compatible. The level of general compatibility dictates the level of screening. Three different types of buffers are specified. The buffer types are designated as Type A, Type B and Type C buffers. The following table illustrates the types of buffers required between adjacent uses.
Buffer Requirements Between Adjacent Uses | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land Uses | Single-Family Residential | Multifamily Residential | Office | Retail | Commercial/Recreational | Industrial |
Single-family residential | None | B | A | B | C | C |
Multifamily residential | B | None | A | A | B | C |
Office | A | A | None | A | B | C |
Retail | B | A | A | None | B | C |
Commercial/recreational | C | B | B | B | None | B |
Industrial | C | C | C | C | B | None |
NOTE: Any use not specified above is considered a commercial use, unless otherwise determined by the Planning Board. |
B.
Description of buffer types. Each buffer type contains certain minimum requirements, which are outlined in the table below. Trees and shrubs are to be from the recommended lists in this section. An opaque fence may be substituted for trees or shrubs of the minimum specified height, at the discretion of the Planning Board.
Buffer Types | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Buffer Yard Type | Minimum Landscaped Yard (feet) | Number of Trees Required per 100 Linear Feet of Buffer | Minimum Height of Required Trees (feet) |
A | 10 | 1 | NA |
B | 20 | 3 | 6 |
C | 50 | 5 | 10 |
C.
Parking. Parking or storage of vehicles of any kind or objects associated with the use of the property is not permitted within the buffer yards. When not inhabited with natural woody plants (i.e., trees and shrubs) sufficient to visually screen adjoining uses or zones, such buffer area shall be planted, regraded and/or fenced.
D.
Additional requirements. Buffer yards are in addition to landscape requirements outlined in this section and may not be used as a substitution for any part of the required landscaping. Where the use and area tables of this chapter specify a 50-foot buffer, the requirements of a Type C buffer in the table above shall apply.
E.
Exemptions. The requirements of this section shall not apply to agricultural uses or activities.
§ 210-74 Lighting.
A.
Purpose. It is the intent of this chapter to minimize glare and to provide the minimum amount of lighting on commercial sites necessary to provide for safe use of the property.
B.
Application. These regulations shall apply to all commercial, industrial, multifamily, office and recreation uses in the Town of Stillwater. These requirements shall not apply to agricultural uses, including the operation of any greenhouse within the Rural Residential District. These requirements shall apply to the operation of a greenhouse within the Low-Density Residential District.
C.
Standards. All exterior lights and illuminated signs shall be designed and located in such a manner as to prevent objectionable light and glare from spilling across property lines. The following horizontal illumination levels shall be observed. For uses not listed here, the Planning Board may determine the appropriate horizontal illumination level, referencing the values found in the most current edition of the reference entitled "The IESNA Lighting Handbook," published by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. The Planning Board may vary these standards, making them more or less restrictive, where it finds it to be in the interests of this chapter and the Town to do so. In particular, the Town may vary the standards with reference to the brightness and use of the surrounding environment.
Use | Horizontal Illumination (footcandles) |
|---|---|
Commercial parking lot | 2.5 |
Industrial parking lot | 1.0 |
Office parking lot | 1.0 |
Recreation parking lot | 2.5 |
Multifamily parking lot | 2.5 |
Church/education lots | 1.0 |
Building entrances | 5.0 |
Building exteriors | 1.0 |
Loading/unloading areas | 20.0 |
Gas station approach/driveway | 2.0 |
Gas station pump island | 20.0 |
Gas station service areas | 3.0 |
Seasonal stands | 25.0 |
Automobile lots | 25.0 |
Driveways and road approaches | 2.0 |
D.
Fixtures. All lighting fixtures shall be architecturally compatible with the primary building. Fixtures shall be shielded and have cutoffs to direct light directly to the ground. Fixtures shall generally be of dark colors. Pole-mounted fixtures shall not exceed 20 feet in height. High-pressure sodium lights are preferred. Lexan lenses or similar low-glare materials are preferred.
E.
All lighting shall maintain a uniformity ratio of 4:1.
F.
Procedure. Any use subject to site plan review shall submit a lighting plan describing the lighting component specifications, such as lamps, poles, reflectors and bulbs. The lighting plan shall show the illumination levels over the project site.