(a) No more land shall be disturbed than is reasonably necessary to
provide for the desired use or development. All site plans shall clearly delineate land
areas to be disturbed and those which shall remain undisturbed.
(b) Indigenous vegetation shall be preserved to the maximum extent
possible consistent with the proposed use and development.
Any proposal to clear cut a property in the
absence of an approved development plan shall be deemed to constitute
a “forestry” operation and shall be permitted only in such districts
and under such procedures as are set forth in articles 3 and 4 of this
chapter or only when in accordance with the provisions of Section
10-14(f) of the York County Code.
(c) Best management practices shall be applied to all land disturbing
activities regulated by this chapter.
(d) Natural areas with a biodiversity ranking
of B1 (outstanding significance), B2 (very high significance), or B3
(high significance), shall be protected through a conservation
easement or other development restriction encompassing the area within
the secondary ecological boundary as defined by Technical Report 93-4,
by the Division of Natural Heritage, Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation, as may be amended from time to time.
Biodiversity rankings be-tween B1 and B3 indicate natural resources of
global or state significance. For areas with a B4 or B5 ranking,
necessary federal and state permit approvals required under the
Federal Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Chesapeake Bay
Preservation Ordinance, or state and county wetlands laws and
regulations shall suffice as proper environmental authorization.
(e) Land development proposals shall be designed to minimize impervious
cover consistent with the particular use proposed.
(f) New construction on existing slopes in excess of thirty percent
(30%) shall be prohibited unless the zoning administrator, after reviewing a detailed
soils, geology, and hydrology survey prepared in accordance with acceptable engineering
standards and submitted by the applicant, determines that such construction can be
accommodated without creating or exacerbating erosion, seepage, or nutrient transport
problems. Such survey shall include cross-sections of existing and proposed slopes and
detailed plans of drainage devices. Grading such slopes to less than thirty percent (30%)
shall also be prohibited unless the zoning administrator determines that such grading is
necessary to the overall development; however, in no case shall such grading be used to
permit new construction which otherwise would have been prohibited.
(g) Except as exempted below, all outdoor lighting in excess of
3,000 initial lumens associated with land use and development
proposals, whether new uses or changes and modifications in existing
uses, shall be designed, installed and maintained to prevent
unreasonable or objectionable glare onto adjacent rights-of-way and
properties and shall incorporate the use of "full cut-off"
luminairies/fixtures. The lighting standards established by the
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) shall be
used to determine the appropriate lighting fixture and luminaries for
such uses. High-pressure sodium or metal halide lights shall be the
preferred type of exterior site lighting. The use of Mercury vapor
lights shall be discouraged in any exterior lighting applications,
with the exception of under-canopy lighting for gasoline pump islands,
bank or other drive-thru or drive-in facilities.
The following outdoor lighting applications shall be exempt
from these requirements:
(1) Construction, agricultural, emergency or holiday decorative
lighting of a temporary nature.
(2) Lighting of the United States of America, Commonwealth of
Virginia, or York County flags and other non-commercial flags.
(3) Security lighting controlled by sensors which provide
illumination for fifteen (15) minutes or less.
(4) The replacement of an inoperable lamp or component which is in a
luminaire that was installed prior to the effective date of this
section.
(5) The replacement of a failed or damaged luminaire which is one
of a matching group serving a common function.
(6) Fixtures used for architectural or landscape accent lighting
(façade, features, trees, etc.), when such lighting is aimed or
directed so as to preclude light projection beyond the immediate
objects intended to be illuminated. If the surrounding area contains
residential uses that could be adversely impacted by such lighting,
the zoning administrator
may require that such lighting be extinguished between the hours of
midnight and dawn.
(7) Streetlights illuminating public rights-of-way, or private
streets which the zoning administrator determines to be consistent
in illumination characteristics with those allowed and specified
under the board of supervisors’ street light installation policy.
In addition to the above-noted exemptions, the Zoning Administrator
may approve a modification of the full cut-off luminaire requirements
in the following circumstances:
· Upon finding that alternatives proposed by the owner would
satisfy the purposes of these outdoor lighting regulations at least to
an equivalent degree; or
· Upon finding that the outdoor luminaire or system of outdoor
luminairies required for a baseball, softball, football, soccer or
other athletic field cannot reasonably comply with the standard and
provide sufficient illumination of the field for its safe use.
• Upon a finding that the
proposed luminaire is a decorative colonial-style “cut-off optics”
fixture in which the lamp is fully recessed into the upper housing.
For the purposes of administering these provisions, lamps of less
than or equal to the following rated wattages shall be deemed to
emit 3,000 or less initial lumens and, therefore, shall be exempt
from the full cut-off requirement:
• Incandescent lamp: 160 watts
• Quartz halogen lamp: 160 watts
• Florescent lamp: 35 watts
• Mercury vapor lamp: 75 watts
• Metal halide lamp: 40 watts
• High-pressure sodium lamp: 45 watts
• Low-pressure sodium lamp: 25 watts
Lamps having greater wattages than those listed above also may be
exempted by the zoning administrator upon presentation of
documentation from the lamp manufacturer, or other source deemed
appropriate by the zoning administrator, that the lamp emits 3,000
or less initial lumens.
Unless specifically authorized by the zoning administrator or
specifically authorized by the board of supervisors in a special use
permit approval action, site lighting shall be designed to limit
illumination intensity to not more than 0.5 footcandles at all
perimeter property lines abutting non-residential property and not
more than 0.1 footcandles when abutting residential property.