If a home professional office, home occupation or an accessory use to a single family detached dwelling requires 10 or more off-street parking spaces, the planning board shall consider the need for a buffer area and may require that buffer areas of 20 feet in width be provided along side and rear property lines adjacent to such accessory use and/or off-street parking.

If a proposed single family detached subdivision abuts a collector or arterial highway or an area zoned for or occupied by other uses, the planning board shall consider the need for buffer areas and may require:

Buffer areas shall be maintained and kept free of all debris, rubbish, weeds and tall grass.

No structure, activity, storage of materials or parking of vehicles shall be permitted within the buffer area, except that, where permitted by the planning board, the buffer area may be broken for vehicular or pedestrian access and appropriate directional and safety signs provided.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the screening, area shall be a minimum of 20 feet in width and shall be planted with evergreen trees approved by the planning board. Trees shall be planted in two staggered rows eight feet apart and shall be between six and eight feet in height and shall conform to the current American Standard for Nursery Stock sponsored by the American Association of Nurserymen, Inc. Within each row, the trees shall be planted on six foot centers (see Figure 1 below).

In cases where it is determined to be desirable by the planning board, evergreen trees planted with a minimum height of four feet may be substituted for the six to eight foot trees required under paragraph a provided that the developer shall install a solid six-foot high stockade fence along the outside of the required screening strips in accordance with subsection 13-8.14 prior to commencing the construction of improvements on the site.

The stockade fence shall be maintained in good condition by the developer until such time as the evergreen trees have grown to a minimum height of 10 feet at which time, the developer may remove the stockade fence.

Where suitable trees exist within a screening area, they should be retained and supplemented with shade tolerant evergreen trees to provide the equivalent of the required screening as determined by the planning board.

Where all proposed buildings, parking areas and other improvements are located 50 feet or more from a property line abutting a residential zone, the planning board may permit a screening area 10 feet in width planted with a single row of evergreen trees in a location approved by the planning board planted on five foot centers with a minimum height of six to eight feet of a type and species to be substituted for the screening area required in Figure 1 (see Figure 2 below).

The required height for a screening area shall be measured in relationship to the elevation of the land at the nearest required rear, side or front yard setback line of the abutting residentially zoned properties. Where the average ground elevation of the location at which the screening strip is to be planted is less than the average ground elevation at the nearest required rear, side or front setback line on the abutting residentially zoned property, the planning board may require the height of trees planted in the required screening strip be increased by an amount equal to the difference in elevation. Where the average ground elevation of the location at which the screening strip is to be planted is greater than the average ground elevation at the nearest required rear, side or front setback line on the abutting residentially zoned property, the planning board may permit the height of trees planted in the required screening strips to be decreased by an amount equal to one-half the difference in elevation, except that in no case, shall the required height be reduced to less than four feet.

All trees in a screening area shall be watered weekly through the first growing season. The developer shall construct a six inch deep earth saucer around each tree to hold water and fill with woodchips or other suitable mulch. Trees shall be nursery grown, balled and bagged, sheared and shaped, of the required height and planted according to accepted horticultural standards.

At the following locations within required screening areas, evergreen shrubs with a maximum mature height of 30 inches or less, approved by the borough planning board as to type, location and spacing, shall be provided in lieu of the evergreen trees specified above:

Waiver: The planing board, after favorable recommendation by the borough engineer, and after examination and review, may waive, fully or partially, provisions of this section in heavily wooded areas, in areas unsuitable for plantings or because of other exceptional conditions, and/or may require supplementary plantings.

Topsoil Preservation: No topsoil shall be removed from the site or used as spoil, except excess topsoil remaining after all improvements have been installed in accordance with an approved site plan or subdivision map after topsoil has been redistributed in accordance with this paragraph. All topsoil moved during the course of construction shall be redistributed on all regraded surfaces so as to provide an even cover and shall be stabilized by seeding or planting. All regraded areas and all lawn areas shall be covered by a four inch minimum thickness of topsoil. If sufficient topsoil is not available on the site, topsoil meeting the requirements of the standard specifications shall be provided to result in a four inch minimum thickness.

Protection of Trees: No material or temporary soil deposits shall be placed within six feet of any trees or shrubs designated to be retained on the preliminary and/or final plat. Where grading may be required, trees not shown for removal shall be walled in and extension tiled to the outer crown of the tree.

Removal of Debris: All tree stumps and other tree parts or other debris shall be removed from the site and disposed of in accordance with law. No tree stumps, portions of a tree trunk or limbs shall be buried anywhere in the development. All dead or dying trees, standing or fallen, shall be removed from the site. If trees and limbs are reduced to chips they may, subject to the approval of the borough engineer, be used as mulch in landscaped areas.

Slope Plantings: Landscaping of the area of all cuts or fills and terraces shall be sufficient to prevent erosion, shall be approved by the borough engineer. All roadway slopes steeper than one foot vertically to three feet horizontally shall be planted with suitable cover plants combined with grasses and/or sodding. Grasses or sodding alone shall not be acceptable.

Selective Thinning: Throughout the development except in areas specifically designated to remain in their natural state, in landscaped or buffer areas, on building lots and in open space areas for public or quasi-public use, the developer shall selectively thin to remove all dead or dying vegetation, either standing or fallen, and shall remove, including grubbing out stumps, all undesirable trees and other growth. The developer shall, in accordance with overall site development and his proposed landscaping scheme, provide cleared, graded and drained pathways approximately four feet wide through all public or quasi-public open space in heavily wooded areas. Such pathways should be sited to conform to the existing natural conditions and should remain unobstructed. They are not intended to provide improved walkways, but only to provide easy access through open space areas.

Additional trees in single family subdivisions: Besides the screening and shade tree requirements, additional trees shall be planted throughout the subdivision in accordance with a planting plan approved by the planning board at the time of final approval. The number of trees planted shall be not less than 10 per acre, calculated on the basis of the entire subdivision tract. The variety of plantings may vary from those listed under shade tree requirements and may include flowering types and/or evergreens, not exceeding 30% of the total plantings.

Additional landscaping for non-residential uses: In conjunction with all uses other than single family homes, all areas of the site not occupied by buildings, pavement, sidewalks, required screening, required parking area landscaping, required safety islands, or other required improvements, shall be landscaped by the planting of grass or other ground cover acceptable to the planning board and a minimum of two shrubs and one tree of each 250 square feet of open space.

Trees shall be planted with a minimum diameter of two inches breast high.

Waiver: The planning board, after favorable recommendation by the borough engineer and after examination and review, may waive, fully or partially, provisions of this section in heavily wooded areas, in areas unsuitable for plantings or because of other exceptional conditions, and/or may require supplementary plantings.

Specifications: All planting, clearing, selective thinning, topsoiling, seeding and other landscaping work shall conform to the applicable requirements of the standard specifications.

Landscaping Plan: The placement of landscaping shall be in accordance with a landscaping plan submitted with the final plat.

Relocated Plantings: Existing plants may be salvaged and/or relocated from clearing areas within the development and utilized to meet the planting requirements of subsection 13-8.4c.6 and 7, provided that:

In each subdivision of land, the developer shall plant between the sidewalk and right-of-way line proper shade and/or decorative trees of a type approved by the planning board, at a maximum distance of 50 feet between trees. The minimum distance between such trees planted shall be 40 feet. Planting sites shall be indicated on the final plat. Such plantings shall not be required within sight easements as required elsewhere herein.

All trees planted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be placed in a proper manner and in a good grade of topsoil and within the area of the tree well at the point where the tree is planted. In the event that any individual person or group of individual persons desire to plant a tree or trees in a tree well or within the jurisdiction of the planning board, such person or persons may do so, provided that they conform to the provisions of this chapter, and further provided that permission of the planning board is obtained.

All shade trees to be hereafter planted in accordance with this chapter shall be nursery grown, or of substantially uniform size and shape and shall have straight trunks. Ornamental trees need not have straight trunks, but must conform in all other respects with the provisions for trees and tree plantings outlined in this chapter.

All trees planted pursuant to this chapter shall be planted in a dormant state.

Subsequent or replacement plants shall conform to the type of existing tree in a given area, provided that if any deviation is anticipated, it must be done only with the permission of the Shade Tree Commission. In a newly planted area, only one type of tree may be used on a given street, unless otherwise specified by the planning board.

A hole in which a tree is to be planted shall be in each case, one-third larger in width and in depth than the existing root ball of the particular tree to be planted. The hole for a tree to be planted shall contain proper amounts of topsoil and peat moss, but no chemical fertilizer shall be added until the tree has been planted for one year.

All shade trees shall be planted in accordance with the landscaping requirements of the standard specifications.