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VN-140 -2- July 22, 1975 _ strip would then still have to ..have this jog in it. An alternative to providing the indentation.. in the. landscape trip would be for the applicant to acquixe the half lot adjacent -to 5th St. N(n1. This is City owned. property and in the opinion of the. staff, is not property for which the City has any planned use.. If the Council were. to approvethevariance xequest and if it wouldentertain the possibility of selling the property to the applicant, the motion. granting the variance should be worded in such away as to allow the buffer strip to conform to whatever the final configuration of the property. line is. The applicant has not explained how the requested variance ~'-fits the conditions which the ordinance says must be met. One aspect of the property which can be noted is that it is very .long. and narrow. It has such considerable length that conformance with the code requirements for providing -landscaped areas would put almostone-third of the property into landscaping.- The principal question is whether the 60 foot width for the buffer strip is suff iciently important that it must be maintained . in this instance. Simple distance ca_n be an effective buffer against noise and odors. In this .case odors are not likely to be a problem. While there-will certainly be noise associated with the business, it is questionable as to whether it will noticeably add to'the noise aleeady coming from -5th St. LQW. Buffer strips also provide visual buffering and this would seem to be the principal function of the buffer strip in this case. A parking lot full of trailers will add nothing to the residential. area to the north and will, in fact, detract from it. For this reason,- a thick planting screen ox fence which will make the trailers less visible is essential. For this purpose, the .width of the buffer strip per se is not important. Another aspect of visual buffering which does relate to the width of the buffer strip is Ghat the buffer strip provides a natural low intensity use area similar to the open low density residential area across the street. As such, it provides a compatible character when viewed from the residential area. Reduction of the buffer strip reduces the open natural area and so reduces the simi7.arity to .the open low density residential area for which it~ is to provide-the. transition zone.