8.28.05 Wildlife Habitat Protection

Wildlife studies may be required in any large-scale development being planned within any foothill, canyon or rural area, prior to any development, to determine the presence of critical or important wildlife habitat. The foothills and canyon areas provide important wildlife habitat for a wide variety of animal and bird species. As a result of past development activities, many habitat areas have been impaired, altered, or fragmented. The following requirements have been developed to promote and preserve valuable wildlife habitats and to protect them from adverse effects and potentially irreversible impacts. (1) Applicability. (a) The requirements of this chapter shall apply to large-scale (more than five (5) lots or units) developments being planned on property that contains wildlife habitats designated as critical and high value use areas. If information is not available, a wildlife study should be done to make this determination. The planning staff may have this study reviewed by the Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources. (b) Maintain buffers between areas dominated by human activities and core areas of wildlife habitat. (c) Facilitate wildlife movement across areas dominated by human activities by maintaining connections between open space parcels on adjacent and near-by parcels, locating roads and recreational trails away from natural travel corridors used by wildlife such as riparian areas and prohibiting fencing types that inhibit the movement of wildlife species, except directly adjacent to the structures in order to protect adjacent landscaping features. (d) Mimic features of the local natural lands vegetation in developed areas by retaining predevelopment, high quality habitat to the maximum extent feasible, including large patches of natural, vegetated areas that have not yet been fragmented by roads or residential development; minimizing the levels of disturbance to trees, the under story, and other structural landscape features during construction; designing lots in a fashion consistent with local natural habitats by landscaping with native vegetation; enhancing the habitat value of degraded pre-development landscapes. (e) Clustering of development to limit the areas to be disturbed.