§ 38-389. Walls.

(a)

For those use districts and uses listed below, there shall be provided and maintained on those sides abutting or adjacent to a residential district, or a single-family detached residential use, an obscuring wall as required below, except otherwise required in subsection (d):

Use Requirements

(1)

P-1 Vehicular parking district—Four (4) foot six (6) inch high wall. Off-street parking area (other than P-1 districts) four (4) foot six (6) inch high wall.

(2)

B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, and OS-1 districts—Four (4) foot, six (6) inch high wall.

(3)

I-1 and I-2 districts—Open storage areas, loading or unloading areas, service areas—Four (4) foot, six (6) inch to eight (8) foot high wall or fence. Height shall provide the most complete obscuring possible. See subsection (d) of this section.

(4)

Auto wash. Drive-in restaurants—Six (6) foot high wall.

(5)

Utility buildings, stations and/or substations—Six (6) foot high wall.

(b)

Required walls shall be located on the lot line except where underground utilities interfere and except in instances where this chapter requires conformance with front yard setback lines in abutting residential districts. Upon review of the site plan, the board of appeals or planning commission may approve an alternate location for the wall or may waive the wall requirement if in specific cases it would not serve the purposes of screening the area effectively. Required walls may, upon approval of the board of appeals, be located on the opposite side of an alley right-of-way from a nonresidential zone that abuts a residential zone when mutually agreeable to affected property owners. The continuity of the required wall on a given block will be a major consideration of the board of appeals in reviewing such request.

(c)

Such walls and screening barrier shall have no openings for vehicular traffic or other purposes, except as otherwise provided in this chapter and except such openings as may be approved by the police chief and the building inspector. All walls herein required shall be constructed of materials approved by the building inspector to be durable, weather resistant, rust proof and easily maintained. Masonry walls may be constructed with openings which do not in any square section (height and width) exceed twenty (20) percent of the surface. Where walls are so pierced, the openings shall be so spaced as to maintain the obscuring character required, and shall not reduce the minimum height requirement. The arrangement of the openings shall be reviewed and approved by the building inspector.

(d)

The requirement for an obscuring wall between off-street parking areas, outdoor storage areas, and any abutting residential district, or single family detached residential use, shall not be required when such areas are located more than two hundred (200) feet distant from such abutting residential district.

(e)

The board of appeals or planning commission may waive or modify the foregoing requirements where cause can be shown that no good purpose would be served, provided that in no instance shall a required wall be permitted to be less than four (4) feet six (6) inches in height, except where section 38-388 applies. In certain consideration of request to waive wall requirements between nonresidential and residential districts, or single-family detached residential use, the planning commission shall determine or the board shall refer the request to the planning commission to determine whether or not the residential district or single-family detached residential use, is considered to be an area in transition and will become nonresidential in the future. In such cases as the planning commission determines the residential district or single-family detached residential use, to be a future nonresidential area, the board or commission may temporarily waive wall requirements for an initial period not to exceed twelve (12) months. Granting of subsequent waivers shall be permitted, provided that the planning commission shall make a determination as hereinbefore described, for each subsequent waiver prior to the granting of such waiver.

(Code 1977, § 5.89; Ord. No. 440, § 1, 1-6-86)