17.10.052 Standard wetland buffers.
Any wetland relocated or replaced because of wetland alterations shall have at least the standard buffer width identified in the table below. Standard buffer widths have been established in accordance with best available science based on wetland category and habitat scores; they shall be as follows:
Wetland Category |
Minimum Buffer Width |
Buffer Width |
Buffer Width |
Buffer Width |
---|---|---|---|---|
Category I: |
75 ft. |
105 ft. |
165 ft. |
225 ft. |
Based on total score |
||||
Category I: |
190 ft. |
190 ft. |
190 ft. |
225 ft. |
Bogs and Wetlands of High Conservation Value |
||||
Category I: |
75 ft. |
105 ft. |
165 ft. |
225 ft. |
Forested |
||||
Category II (all) |
75 ft. |
105 ft. |
165 ft. |
225 ft. |
Category III (all) |
60 ft. |
105 ft. |
165 ft. |
225 ft. |
Category IV (all) |
40 ft. |
40 ft. |
40 ft. |
40 ft. |
Measures to minimize the impacts of the land use adjacent to the wetlands shall be applied:
Disturbance |
Required Measures to Minimize Impacts |
---|---|
Lights |
• Direct lights away from wetland |
Noise |
• Locate activity that generates noise away from wetland |
• For activities that generate relatively continuous, potentially disruptive noise, such as certain heavy industry or mining, establish an additional 10-foot heavily vegetated buffer strip immediately adjacent to the outer wetland buffer |
|
Toxic runoff |
• Route all new, untreated runoff away from wetland while ensuring wetland is not dewatered |
• Establish covenants limiting use of pesticides within 150 feet of wetlands |
|
• Apply integrated pest management |
|
Stormwater runoff |
• Retrofit stormwater detention and treatment for roads and existing adjacent development |
• Prevent channelized flow from lawns that directly enters the buffer |
|
• Use Low Impact Development techniques (per PSAT publication on LID techniques) |
|
Change in water regime |
• Infiltrate or treat, detain, and disperse into buffer new runoff from impervious surfaces and new lawns |
Pets and human disturbance |
• Use privacy fencing OR plant dense vegetation to delineate buffer edge and to discourage disturbance using vegetation appropriate for the ecoregion |
• Place wetland and its buffer in a separate tract or protect with a conservation easement |
|
Dust |
• Use best management practices to control dust |
Disruption of corridors or connections |
• Maintain connections to offsite areas that are undisturbed |
• Restore corridors or connections to offsite habitats by replanting |
(Ord. 3193 § 2, 2016)