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, �. <br /> , � <br /> (a) This subsection establishes requirements for wetland buffer areas around protected wetlands. Buffer <br /> areas are necessary and beneficial to maintain the health of wetlands. Buffer areas protect the edge of wetlands from <br /> erosion while filtering sediment, chemicals and other nutrients from runoff that drains into wetlands. Buffer areas <br /> can improve the biological diversity and health of a wetland environment while reducing the adverse impacts of <br /> human activities. <br /> (b) Buffer areas regulated by this section are areas of vegetative cover that are upland of the wetland <br /> edge, and that occur in a natural condition or through restoration. BufFer areas consist of shrubbery and trees, native <br /> grasses and/or forbs that are not mowed,fertilized or manicured in any manner. Mowing,fertilizing, manicuring, or <br /> vegetation removal within a buffer area is not allowed unless the city has issued a permit for such activity in <br /> conjunction with an approved buffer management plan. <br /> (1) Acceptable buffer areas shall have the following qualities: <br /> a. A continuous dense layer of perennial grasses that have been uncultivated or unbroken for at least <br /> ten consecutive years, or <br /> b. An over story of trees and/or shrubs with at least 80 percent canopy closure that have been <br /> uncultivated or unbroken for at least ten consecutive years,or <br /> c. A mixture of the plant communities described in a. and b.above,which have been uncultivated or <br /> unbroken for at least ten consecutive years. <br /> (2) Unacceptable buffer areas have the following qualities, including but not limited to: <br /> a. Undesirable plant species (including but not limited to reed canary grass,common buckthorn, purple <br /> loosestrife, leafy spurge and noxious weeds),or � <br /> b. Lacking a layer of organic thatch or duff,or <br /> c. Topography which tends to channelize the flow of surface runoff, or <br /> d. Is characteristically unlikely to retain nutrients and sediment. <br /> (3) Buffer areas which have been broken or cultivated within the past ten consecutive years must be <br /> restored to a condition consistent with an acceptable buffer area defined in section 78-1605(b)(1),a restoration or <br /> landscape plan must be submitted to the planning director, which restoration shall include, replanting and <br /> maintaining according to each of the following guidelines: <br /> a. Buffer areas shall be planted with a seed mix containing 100 percent perennial native plant species, <br /> except for a one-time planting of an annual nurse or cover crop such as oats or rye. <br /> b. The seed mix to be used shall consist of at least 12 pounds pure live seed (PLS) per acre of native <br /> prairie grass seed and five pounds PLS per acre of native forbs. Native prairie grass and native forb mixes shall contain <br /> no fewer than four and five species respectively. <br /> c. The annual nurse or cover crop shall be applied at a rate of 20 pounds per acre. <br /> d. Native shrubs and ortrees may be used in addition to forbs and grasses.Shrubs shall be distributed <br /> so as to provide a natural appearance and shall not be planted in rows. <br />