Floyds Fork DRO
Jefferson County Division of Planning and Development Services

Vistas and Appearance

Residential Development

a. New construction along designated scenic corridors (Map A) should preserve the area's rural appearance. In existing wooded areas a buffer area 60 feet in width and densely vegetated should be maintained, to create an effective visual barrier. Outside the wooded areas (agricultural or open lands), new development should provide a substantial setback from the roadway (400 feet minimum) with plantings to partially screen buildings (one tree per 25 feet of building facade visible from the road). An alternative to the substantial setback is to create a 60 foot buffer thickly planted with fast growing native trees and shrubs. Residential developments having two or more dwellings per acre should provide the 60 foot buffer.

b. Placement of new homes within an existing wooded area, or along far edges of open fields adjacent to a woodland; is encouraged (to reduce impact upon agriculture, to provide summer shade and shelter from wind and to enable new construction to be visually absorbed by natural landscape features).

c. Creation of new driveways from designated scenic corridors should not exceed six feet in height or 50 feet in total length (25 feet each side).

d. Signature entrances located along designated scenic corridors should not exceed six feet in height or 50 feet in total length (25 feet each side).

Non-Residential Development

e. New development should be setback a minimum of 50 feet from the right-of-way line of designated scenic corridors (Map A). This area is reserved to accommodate landscaping consistent with the "rural character" of the Floyds Fork corridor. When use in this context, development includes all buildings, signs, parking lots, service drives and access roads that parallel designated scenic corridors.

f. Landscaping in the 50 foot green space (1.a. above) along designated scenic corridors should include earth berming (average height of three feet) and shrub masses to screen parking areas. Large deciduous trees, a minimum of one tree for every 50 feet of roadway frontage, should be planted in the green space. Existing trees should be retained whenever possible, both in the buffer area and within the area to be developed. Trees should be planted at least ten feet from the right-of-way.

g. Parking lots should be provided only at the side or rear of the buildings to reduce visual impact of the use while providing an appropriate level of visibility.

h. Buildings, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces should cover no more than 75 percent of each site. The remainder of the site should be planted and maintained with live vegetative cover so as to reduce visual impacts as well as drainage and run off problems.

i. Newly installed utility services should be underground and service structures should be screened as required by Article 12 of the Development Code (Available from the Jefferson County Planning Commission).

j. Attached and monument type signs are preferred; pole signs should be avoided.

k. Permanent freestanding signs for property or business identification should not exceed six feet in height or sixty square feet in area. Attached signs are governed by size standards found in the Zoning District Regulations.

l. No billboards, off-premise advertising signs of any kind, banners, balloons, and pennants should be visible from a scenic corridor.

All Development

m. Buildings should be planned and designed and vegetation should be managed to preserve and enhance scenic vistas along roadways shown on Map A.

n. The visual impact of new structures proposed for prominent hillsides visible from public facilities, scenic corridors and the stream itself should be minimized. Trees should be retained or planted to screen them or to create a filtered view of these structures (one tree per 25 feet of building facade length).

o. When it is necessary to use retaining walls, their height should be minimized. A series of smaller retaining walls is preferable to one large wall, provided that the series of walls can be built without excessive removal of vegetation during construction. Retaining walls faced with brick or stone are preferable.

p. Hedges and fence rows (trees and shrubs growing along a fence) are the preferred means of property enclosure provided they do not obstruct scenic vistas. If chain link fencing is to be used, it should blend with its setting (painting or vinyl coated with dark colors such as black, green or brown). Unscreened galvanized chain link fencing is appropriate only for areas not visible from roads shown on Map A.

q. Parking areas, outbuildings, satellite dishes, and other less attractive aspects of a development should be screened from view. Where total screening is impractical, partial measures that lessen the full visual impact of development are recommended.

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For additional information regarding development and land use controls within the Floyds Fork DRO contact the Jefferson County Division of Planning and Development Services, 531 Court Place – 9th Floor, Louisville, KY 40202, (502) 574-6230.

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