3B - Conditional Use Permit to Create Office Space in the Commercial District

Home Browse Search

1. Purpose and Intent. The Highway 371 Corridor (HI) Overlay District is intended to promote safe and reasonable access to Highway 371 from abutting properties and also maintain and require a buffer zone of trees and shrubs to preserve the northwoods atmosphere of this area. The intent is to promote safety in the highway corridor and maintain the aesthetics of the existing forest and woodlands in the region while allowing a variety of uses along the corridor district in harmony with existing vegetation. 2. Tree Removal. Tree removal permits are required for the removal of more than ten (10) trees over two inches (2") in diameter (as measured at four (4) feet from the base of the tree) from corridor property. 3. Buffer Zone Ve etation. Buffer zones require provision of both physical separation and landscape elements to meet the intent of this district. Existing vegetation shall be used wherever possible. Vegetation to be saved shall be identified on site plans along with protection measures for existing trees. Plantings shall consist of the following: A. Large, indigenous trees with a minimum size of 1.5 caliper at planting are required. Large trees are those with a mature height of thirty (30) feet or greater and a mature spread of thirty (30) feet or greater. Of these, twenty-five percent (25%) must be evergreen trees which are described as trees having green foliage throughout all seasons of the year in the Pequot Lakes region. B. Small, indigenous trees/large indigenous shrubs are required to fulfill from no less than twenty percent (20%) to no more than thirty percent (30%) of the required number of trees. Small trees/large shrubs are trees or shrubs with a mature height of ten (10) to thirty (30) feet. The mix is designed to create a buffer which will give a satisfactory screen within three to five years of planting, under normal maintenance, while allowing room for the various plants to grow. Trees shall be distributed along the entire length of the buffer. Due to unique characteristics of a site, or design objectives, alternative plant mixes may be approved. Trees shall not be pruned to remove lower branches that will provide screening. 4. The following are the required buffer zones in each underlying zoning district along the Highway 371 Corridor district: A. Commercial District. A minimum of one tree per each 200 square feet of property for a depth of fifty (50) feet from the Highway 371 right-of-way into the development property. Pequot Lakes Staff Report 3 N-3 May 19,2016