Chapter 12A LAND PRESERVATION
Section 12A-236 Design standards for stream buffers.
(a) An adequate buffer for a stream system
shall consist of a predominantly undisturbed strip
of land extending along both sides of a stream and its adjacent wetlands, floodplains or slopes.
The buffer width may be adjusted to include contiguous sensitive areas, such as steep slopes or
erodible soils, where disturbance may adversely affect water quality, streams, wetlands, or other
water bodies.
(b) The buffer shall begin and be
measured from the ordinary high water mark of the channel
during base flows.
(c) The required base width for all
stream buffers is shown in Table I.
|
TABLE I.
Required
Stream
Buffer
Width
|
|
Waterway
Type
|
Required
Width
(each
side)
|
|
Type I
|
100 feet
|
|
Type II
|
50 feet
|
|
Type III
|
30 feet
|
(d) Stream buffer width shall be increased
where there are steep slopes in close proximity to
the stream that drain into the stream system as set forth in Table II.
|
TABLE II.
Modifications
to Stream
Buffer Width
Based on
Slope
|
|
Percent
Slope
|
Width
of
Buffer
|
|
0 –
14%
|
No
Change
|
|
15% -
25%
|
add 25
feet
|
|
Greater
than
25%
|
add 50
feet
|
(e) Buffer averaging. The stream
buffer width may be relaxed and the buffer permitted to
become narrower at some points as long as the average width of the buffer meets the minimum
requirement. This averaging of the buffer may be used to allow for the presence of an existing
structure or to recover a lost lot, as long as the streamside zone (Zone I) is not narrowed by the
averaging.
(Ord. No. 19343, § 1, 1-2-07)
(Ord. 19343, Added, 01/02/2007)