(1) A buffer yard is determined exclusive of any required front, corner side, interior side, rear, or waterfront yard. However, the buffer yard may be located wholly or partially within required yards.

(2) A buffer yard must be located within the outer perimeter of the lot, parallel to and extending to the applicable lot line. A buffer yard may not be located within the adjacent public right-of-way.

(3) Where a fence and landscaping are required within the buffer yard in accordance with Table: Buffer Yards, the fence must be positioned interior to the landscaping, except for buffer yards along an interior side or rear lot line, where fences must be positioned exterior to the landscaping. However, the Planning Board may adjust the positioning of a fence within a buffer yard to better mitigate potential impacts between the proposed project and adjacent properties.

(4) No building, accessory structure, or vehicle parking, may encroach upon a buffer yard, with the following exceptions:
 

(a) Pedestrian and vehicle access points, plus related signs, may encroach upon a buffer yard.

(b) Where a proposed project is subject to site plan review, per § 270-37, the Planning Board may allow a building or other structure to be located within a required buffer yard, where it finds the building or other structure would better mitigate potential impacts between the proposed project and adjacent properties. This exception does not allow for the waiver by the Planning Board of any other required yard, per the applicable Zoning District regulations.

(5) A natural, preexisting grade separation may be conserved, or a man-made berm retained or installed, in lieu of a fence or wall to the extent that the height of the berm or preexisting grade separation meets the minimum required height of the fence or wall.

B. Buffer yard landscape.
 

(1) Required buffer yard landscape must be of the following dimensions at installation:

(a) Shade trees must be of a minimum caliper of two inches.
(b) Ornamental trees must be of a minimum caliper of 1 1/2 inches.
(c) Shrubs must be of a five-gallon container minimum.

(2) Pre-existing, equivalent vegetation that is conserved within the buffer yard may substitute for any required landscape installation, so long as the preexisting vegetation is healthy and growing.

(3) Any required trees or shrubs may be installed at varying distances to create a naturalistic landscape design, so long as the per linear foot requirement is applied as an average, and the landscape is arranged so as to provide sufficient screening.

(4) Buffer yards must be integral, where possible, with on-site stormwater management facilities.

(5) All required plant materials within the buffer yard must be maintained in a healthy, growing condition over their lifetime, or replaced where necessary.

(6) Except as it relates to the required height of fences and walls for buffer yards, fences and walls must be installed and maintained in accordance with § 270-40.5L.

(1) Required spaces. There are no provisions that establish a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for development. However, development proposals subject to site plan review (§ 270-27) are required to provide off-street parking as determined by the Planning Board. Where provided, off-street vehicle parking must comply with the standards of this section.

(2) Size and access. Each required off-street parking space shall have a dimension of at least nine feet by 18 feet exclusive of passageways and driveways thereto. Each such space shall have direct and usable access to a road, designed and located so as not to require the backing of any vehicle into a road right-of-way, except that this provision shall not apply to one- and two-unit dwellings.

C. Parking in yards. Off-street parking space, open to the sky, may be located in any yard area required by this chapter, except that:

(1) No more than 50% of the area of any required front yard may be used for parking.
(2) No parking space may be located less than 10 feet from any property line of an adjacent residential lot.
(3) For nonresidential land use activities, all front yard area not used for parking or access shall be improved by grass, trees, shrubs or other forms of landscaping.

D. Screening and landscaping. For nonresidential land uses in lake shore and residential districts (L1, R1, R2 and R3 Districts), off-street parking areas adjacent to an existing residence shall provide for a buffer yard designed to screen the parking area from such adjacent residence.

E. Parking area lighting. If an off-street parking area is to be lighted, such illumination shall be designed using cutoff fixtures, or equivalent, installed so that light does not create glare onto adjacent residential properties or onto any adjacent roadway. Wherever practical, luminaires shall provide for glare-free, downward directed, and shielded lighting as promotes the dark-sky standards of the International Dark-Sky Association ("IDA"), Tucson, Arizona, including, for example, meeting the goals and standards expressed in the "Outdoor Lighting Ordinance and Community Standards" Information Sheet No. 172 and the IDA "Outdoor Lighting Code Handbook." Excessive lighting for promotional or commercial visibility purposes shall be discouraged.

F. Off-street loading requirements.
 

(1) Location and size. All required off-street loading berths shall be located on the same lot as the land use activity to be served, shall not be located in any front yard area or located on a front facade and shall be at least 12 feet in width and 35 feet in length.

(2) Space requirements. Areas for off-street loading shall only be required in commercial and industrial districts and only when necessary to provide adequate service. Unless modified by the Zoning Board of Appeals, one loading space shall be provided for each 15,000 square feet of floor area or major fraction thereof.