1. Every new or replacement fence shall be constructed with its decorative side facing outward from the lot and the area to be enclosed, and shall have its posts, framing and other structural support within or facing toward the interior of the lot and the area to be enclosed.

2. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no new fence shall be constructed of materials such as chicken coop wire, barbed wire, bamboo or any readily flammable material such as paper, cloth, canvas, or like material.

3. No fence shall encroach within the sight distance triangle of an intersection.

4. For the purpose of this section, each yard facing the right-of-way shall be deemed a front yard.

5. All fences shall be installed and continuously maintained in accordance with the provisions of the Property Maintenance Code of the City of Crestwood.

C. Enforcement. See Section 26-22C for details.

D. Fence exceptions. See Section 26-22D for detailed information.

See Section 26-22: Fencing for more detailed information.

1. Preservation of vegetation. Preserve existing natural vegetation and the incorporation of native plants, plant communities, and ecosystems into landscape design, where possible.

2. Aesthetics. Improve the appearance of all areas through the incorporation of open space into development in ways that harmonize and enhance the natural and built environment.

3. Land values. Maintain and increase the value of land by requiring landscape improvements to be incorporated into development, thus becoming by itself a valuable capital asset.

4. Human values. Provide direct and important physical and psychological benefits to human beings through the use of landscape materials to reduce noise and glare, to provide visual diversity and seasonal interest, and visually soften the harsher aspects of urban development.

5. Improved design. Promote innovative and cost-conscious approaches to the design, installation, and maintenance of landscaping, encouraging water and energy conservation.

B. Landscape Design Standards.
 

1. Landscape points system. See Section 26-21B.1 for details.

2. General landscape requirements.

a. Any part of the lot area not used for buildings, other structures, or for parking, loading, access ways, and other pavement areas shall be landscaped and maintained with turf, ground cover, trees, shrubs, or native planting areas.

b. Irrigation requirements.

(1) All required landscape on parcels with a commercial, industrial, and/or multi-family residential land use type must be automatically irrigated to properly establish and maintain the selected plant material with a minimum of overspray and without significant potential for causing erosion. Water-efficient irrigation components such as drip irrigation and weather sensors are encouraged to be used.

(2) Automatic irrigation systems are recommended although not required for single-family and two-family properties. It is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that irrigation is provided to properly establish and maintain required landscape.

(3) Irrigation systems should be properly winterized prior to winter months to prevent freezing. It shall be the property owner's responsibility to properly prepare irrigation lines for months during which freezing may occur and perform testing of backflow equipment as required.

(4) Backflow equipment shall be located and/or screened in a manner that limits visibility of equipment from view of general public. Backflow equipment installed in areas with potential access by the general public should be installed in a lockable cage to prevent damage, theft, and vandalism.
 

c. The design standards for water discharge management contained in Section 26-44N.4 of this Code shall be applicable.
 

3. Landscape plantings within or near street right-of-way. See Section 26-21B.3 for details.
4. Landscape buffer requirements. See Section 26-21B.4 for details.
5. Off-street parking landscape requirements. See Section 26-21B.5 for details.

6. Open space tree plantings.

a. Description. Open space trees shall be planted, or acceptable existing trees shall be preserved in open spaces to promote healthy tree canopy within the City. Open lot area will be considered the lot area not covered with buildings or structures and shall be used to calculate open space tree planting requirements at the ratios noted below:

b. Point requirements.

(1) Residential districts: Thirty (30) points per every ten thousand (10,000) square feet of open lot area.
(2) Non-residential districts: Twenty (20) points per every ten thousand (10,000) square feet of open lot area.
(3) Watson road overlay area: Thirty (30) points per every ten thousand (10,000) square feet of open lot area.
(4) Points calculated to satisfy open space tree requirements must be canopy trees or large evergreen trees.
 

c. Trees used for parking lots/vehicular use areas, trees for landscape buffers, or street trees planted on private property can be counted towards open space tree requirements.

d. Existing trees saved, meeting minimum size, of acceptable species, and in good health may be counted toward open space tree totals.

e. Large open sports/play fields or native meadow plantings areas may be excluded from the calculation with approval from the Director of Public Works or his/her designee.
 

7. Foundation planting requirement.

a. Description. Building foundation landscaping is required on all properties within the Watson Road Overlay Area. Foundation landscaping shall be planted with a combination of shrubs, ornamental trees, and groundcover to accent architectural features and visually soften expanses of building walls, particularly those lacking windows.

b. Foundation landscaping shall be placed along the entire length of building facades facing rights-of-way and/or off-street parking areas, with the exception of areas where walkways and/or driveway crossings are located.

c. Layout and selection of foundation plantings shall be designed to be compatible with architectural materials, form of buildings, and care should be taken to prevent blocking views and light passage into building windows.

d. The minimum width of landscape area provided along building foundations shall be six (6) feet.

e. Point requirements. One hundred (100) points per one hundred (100) linear feet of building facade.

f. Intent diagrams. Reference diagram on the following page for design intent examples for foundation planting. See Section 26-21B.7.f.

 

8. Screening. At commercial, industrial, multi-family, and civic/institutional uses, the following elements shall be screened as described below.

a. Ground-mounted equipment and storage. Where adjacent to non-industrial uses, all mechanical equipment and storage of materials and equipment shall be within a fully enclosed building or in a side or rear yard so screened by berms, dense vegetative plantings, fences, walls, or combinations of these materials at least eight (8) feet in height so that such materials and equipment are not visible at six (6) feet above the grade of the adjacent street(s) and adjoining property lines.

b. Trash containers. Outside rubbish, garbage, and dumpster containers shall be permanently screened from view from all four (4) sides by an enclosure with masonry walls and a workable privacy gate or door of durable solid metal, vinyl, or wood. Enclosure walls shall have a minimum height of six (6) feet and a maximum height of eight (8) feet. Enclosures shall not be located in a front yard and shall be located a minimum of one hundred twenty-five (125) feet from front lot lines. Materials other than masonry may be permitted upon approval by the Planning, Zoning and Architectural Review Commission. Enclosures shall be comprised of a color and composition compatible with that of the main structure of the premises.

c. Loading areas. Loading and service areas shall be screened with sight-proof fences, walls, or dense vegetative plantings or a combination of these materials at least eight (8) feet in height where adjacent to residential areas. In all instances, views into loading and service areas from the adjacent right of way shall be minimized by site placement and/or means of screening.

d. Ground-mounted equipment, storage, trash containers, and loading areas shall not be located in a required landscape buffer.
 

For more information on Landscape standards including Non-conforming conditions, Maintenance standards and Modifications, please reference Section 26-21: Landscape standards.

1. Site lighting shall include all lighting on property, other than lighting within a fully enclosed building, provided that site lighting shall include interior lighting when used as accent lighting, as provided in Subsection A.8, below, of this section.

2. Site lighting fixtures shall be compatible with the building design and the adjoining landscape and shall not be used in such a manner as to turn the building itself into signage.

3. Excessive brightness of site lighting shall be avoided.
4. Site lighting shall not spill over to adjacent sites or properties.
5. Site lighting shall not create glare which is directed toward or reflected onto adjoining properties.

6. Site lighting shall not create glare which is directed toward or reflected onto streets, or interior drives where such glare could negatively impact vehicular or pedestrian safety.

7. Except as may be provided elsewhere in this section, site lighting shall at no time be directed upward, in a radiating and/or moving or sweeping pattern, or at any angle which will light surfaces other than building walls, parking or pedestrian areas, and landscaped areas, and shall not create lighting patterns which will direct light toward residential areas.

8. Except as may be authorized in Article VII, Sign Regulations, of this chapter, the use of tube lighting of any singular static color may be utilized as accent lighting in any location on the site, including the exterior of a building or around any window as long as the lighting is recessed and the tubing would not be visible from the street.

9. At the time of filing any application for any use, development, amendment or change as set out in Section 26-23 hereof, a lighting plan for site lighting shall be provided on a separate sheet. The following information shall be submitted as part of the lighting plan:

a. Manufacturer's catalog cut sheet or other graphic and narrative description of the light standards, fixture heads, and/or luminaires with specification data.

b. Photometric curves indicating both vertical and horizontal candle-power distribution.

c. A plan of the site superimposed with a grid of not more than 20 feet between light sources showing the calculated foot-candle levels at average site grade at the center of each twenty-foot grid.
 

10. All site lighting shall be installed utilizing underground cable.

1. Except as otherwise provided in the following provisions of this section, all parking and loading areas and walkways shall be illuminated so as to produce a uniform minimum average illumination within such areas of two (2) foot-candles of illumination, measured at the ground level.

2. Lighting fixtures or standards without cutoff-type luminaires or with globe-style luminaires shall be no higher than 15 feet and shall have a maximum illumination output of not more than ten thousand (10,000) lumens.

3. Lighting fixtures or standards with a cutoff-type luminaire shall be no higher than twenty five (25) feet with a maximum average illumination of the property, measured at ground level over the site, of five (5) foot-candles.

4. Except as may be otherwise approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, where parking and loading areas are adjacent to residential areas, the maximum average illumination of the area between the rear building wall line and the property line abutting a residential area shall be one (1) foot-candle, measured at ground level over the site, provided that at the property line abutting a residential area, the maximum illumination of the property shall be no higher than 0.1 foot-candle.

5. Where parking or loading areas abut residential property, the fixture head shall be of an appropriate type which controls the lighting pattern and shields such residential property from direct view of the light source. In order to achieve this end, reflector shields may be required for fixture heads.

6. Globe-style fixture heads (including other shapes, such as acorn or cylinder styles) may only be used as decorative accents along the front of properties or buildings which face bordering streets which are occupied by, or zoned for, commercial or light industrial uses and where adjoining uses on the same side of the street are not residential. No such fixtures shall be located in any side or rear yard. Globe-style fixture heads shall be of the types which are frosted or translucent so that the bulb lighting source is not visible and that emitted light is diffused.

1. Exceptions. See Section 26-24B.1 for details.

2. Exemptions. See Section 26-24B.2 for details.

Definitions. See Section 26-24C for a list of terms associated with stream buffer protection.
 

1. Buffer and setback requirements. All land development activity subject to this section shall meet the following requirements:
 

a. For streams depicted as a solid blue line on the USGS Map, an undisturbed natural vegetative buffer shall be maintained for fifty (50) feet, measured horizontally, on both banks (as applicable) of the stream as measured from the top of the stream bank. For all other streams subject to this section, an undisturbed natural vegetative buffer shall be maintained for twenty five (25) feet, measured horizontally, on both banks (as applicable) of the stream as measured from the top of the stream bank.

b. An additional setback shall be maintained for twenty five (25) feet, measured horizontally, beyond the undisturbed natural vegetative buffer, in which all impervious cover shall be prohibited. Grading, filling and earthmoving shall be minimized within the setback.

c. No septic tanks or septic tank drain fields shall be permitted within the buffer or the setback.

See Section 26-24: Stream Buffer Protection for more detailed information.

 

1. Tree protection measures identified by a Tree Preservation Plan, or otherwise required as stated herein or by a permit issued by the Director of Public Works, should be in place and fully installed prior to redevelopment or construction of a site.

2. Developer(s) of a site shall be responsible for the replacement of protected trees damaged beyond repair if the trees are harmed due to lack of protection or through negligence on the part of the developer/contractor.

3. Tree Protection Measures. Measures utilized by developers and their contractors before and during construction and development of a site shall include the following: see Section 26-21.5F.3 for details.

4. Tree Protection Zone. Tree protection fencing shall be placed at the dripline or limits of the Critical Root Zone, as approved by the Director of Public Works of each tree to be protected within the area of disturbance. The fencing shall be used to create a designated tree protection zone that shall be installed prior to construction of any type commencing and must be maintained for the entirety of construction. The tree protection zone shall comply with the following: see Section 26-21.5F.4 for a list of required compliances.

City Tree Fund.

1. The City shall maintain an account where compensatory payments for tree replacements and violations, donations, and other tree and urban forestry related proceeds can be deposited. City Tree Fund money may be used at the discretion of the Director of Parks and Recreation, the Director of Public Works, or his/her designee to plant and maintain trees located within the City of Crestwood public right-of-way and public lands and provide funding for other applicable urban forestry efforts.

 

Damage To Protected Trees. It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to top or mutilate any protected tree as classified herein.

1. "Topping" is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three (3) inches in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree.

2. "Mutilate" is defined as damaging, cutting, carving, transplanting or removing any tree; attaching any rope, wire, nails, advertising posters or other contrivances to any tree, allowing any gaseous liquid or solid substance which is harmful to such trees to come in contact with them; or setting fire or permitting any fire to burn when such fire or the heat thereof will injure any portion of any tree.

3. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical may be exempted at the determination of the Director of Public Works.