Mebane development director outlines Article 6 landscaping, buffering and screening requirements

Ashley Owingby, development director for the city of Mebane, walked viewers through landscaping, buffering and screening requirements in Article 6 of the Mebane Unified Development Ordinance in a recorded presentation about the North 1st Street towns development.

Owingby said a perimeter buffer "is an area of land that is planted to separate uses," designed to preserve open space, improve appearance and reduce visual contact between unlike land uses. She used a warehouse next to a single‑family home to illustrate the rule that greater separation and denser evergreen plantings are required where uses differ markedly; the recording’s numeric width for that example was unclear on the transcript and the city code should be consulted for the exact figure.

Owingby noted that similar residential uses require smaller buffers: in the example plan she reviewed, a 20‑foot buffer separates townhomes and nearby apartments and is shown as mostly new plantings. She also said that vacant land zoned residential and larger than 10 acres triggers a 40‑foot perimeter buffer in the UDO, and that developers may preserve existing vegetation to meet that requirement.

The presentation described site protections and planting standards: planning staff require tree‑protection fencing with specified height, sturdiness and signage, and the department reviews plans and works with code enforcement to inspect fencing before significant grading or construction. For parking lots, Owingby said screening with trees and shrubs is required where nonresidential parking abuts residential lots, and that UDO standards call for a canopy tree within 60 feet of every parking space in large parking areas.

Owingby also reviewed plan graphics, saying approved landscape plans include legends that identify canopy trees, understory trees and evergreen shrubs and indicate planting size and expected maturity. She described streetscape rules that depend on the type of frontage road and adjacent uses; for the development shown the required streetscape width is 30 feet, achieved by preserving existing trees and adding new plantings and signage.

Throughout, Owingby emphasized that Article 6 is the basis for staff reviews, field inspections and ongoing maintenance expectations and invited residents and developers to contact the Mebane planning department with questions about landscaping, buffering or screening. The presentation closed by noting that new trees are a long‑term investment that help preserve Mebane’s character as developments mature.