The buffer strips shall be measured from the district boundary line or the street line on the side of the street on which the industrial or commercial use is located where a street center line serves as the district boundary line.

Buffer areas shall be maintained and kept clean of all debris, rubbish, weeds and tall grass in conformance with existing regulations.

No structure, activity, storage of materials or parking of vehicles shall be permitted in the half of the buffer strip nearest the property line.

Buffer widths shall be as established in the Schedule of Area, Bulk and Yard Requirements.[1] No less than the exterior half of the buffer area for business zones and 1/4 for manufacturing zones shall be planted and maintained with grass or ground cover as well as a dense screen of trees, shrubs or other plant material in accordance with the following requirements. (The preservation of all natural wooded tracts shall be an integral part of all site plans regardless of their proximity to required buffer areas.)

No screen planting shall be required along streets which form district boundary lines, provided that:

Prior to the issuance of any building permit, complete plans showing the arrangement of all buffer strips and placement, species and size of all plant materials, and the placement, size, materials and type of all fences to be placed in such buffer strip, shall be reviewed by the Construction Code Official to ascertain that the plans are in conformance with the terms of this chapter.

Whether the project has a significant impact upon the environment.

Whether the project is controversial.

Whether the project interferes with existing community standards of living.

Whether the construction is situated on land which, because of its natural beauty and wilderness state, has potential for recreation or park development and whether the damage to the environment and loss of aesthetics incurred through construction of the development substantially reduce the potential and cause an unwarranted burden on the surrounding area.

Whether the development has a cumulative effect when compared to the number of other projects proposed in the existing area and whether the development fits into the overall proposed or adopted master plan of the area.

Whether there is, as a result of the development, an irreversible commitment of natural resources, such as water, gas and electricity. Signed statements from the managers of the various utilities affected should be incorporated into the report, assuring that the new development will have no effect on the current services supplied to the community and will result in no undue cost burden to the community for expansion of the necessary service facilities for the new construction.

If forested area is to be damaged or cleared, whether the construction interferes with any select stands of native forested trees and whether there is any serious influence to natural wildlife in the area.

All changes in natural runoff and the ultimate disposal of the stormwaters collected within the development should be discussed in detail. The environmental effects of the stormwater discharges and the location of the discharge points should be discussed in detail to ensure that no serious flooding conditions or substantial increases in health hazards or flooding over existing conditions would occur to the surrounding area or communities.

All increases in air pollution, noise levels and other environmental quality changes that might result through clearing of land and increased traffic patterns should be specifically delineated in the report.

All methods of construction to be used in the building of the development should be specifically delineated and restraints set out to avoid any adverse effects during the construction project upon surrounding communities. This would include access roads for truck vehicles and methods to eliminate blowing of dust and dirt and to control noise during the construction period.