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10 <br />existing residential structure to house a professional office or similar professional <br />service (i.e. doctor, beautician, dentist, etc), the screening standard(s) shall be as <br />follows: <br />a. Existing single-family residential structures shall only be permitted to be <br />utilized in supporting professional office or similar service development. <br />b. Buffers along road rights -of -way or along identified highway corridors shall <br />be in accordance with previously established standards as detailed herein. <br />c. There shall be a minimum twenty (20) foot vegetative buffer along all common <br />side and/or rear property lines separating non - residential and residential land <br />uses. <br />d. There shall be a minimum ten (10) foot landscaped strip along all aide and /or <br />rear property lines separating non - residential uses from other similar non- <br />residential uses <br />e. The required plantings shall be in accordance with those required within this <br />Section of the Ordinance. <br />f. The landscaped strip shall be comprised of vegetation that forms a semi - <br />opaque intermittent visual obstruction, with a minimum initial planning height <br />from the ground of at least thirty -six (36) inches that will achieve a height of at <br />least fifteen (15)feet at maturity. <br />g. In cases where a joint use agreements) exists between adjacent property <br />owners allowing for shared ingress /egress and/or parking, the Zoning Officer <br />shall be authorized to grant a waiver regarding the exact location(s) of the <br />required buffers to avoid conflict. <br />Staff recommends the revision for the following reasons: <br />1. By modifying the landscaping requirement, it is expected the County will <br />actually be encouraging the preservation, and continued use of, existing <br />residential- structures in an effort to preserve the visual appeal of the <br />identified roadway corridors. <br />2. As professional offices have different operational characteristics from other <br />non - residential land uses (i.e. restaurants, retail, etc) the need for a large <br />buffer is reduced as the impacts will not be the same. <br />7. In the LO district, the buffer may be limited to 50' <br />Staff is recommending that this provision be deleted as it is in conflict with the other <br />requirements of this Section of the Ordinance. <br />