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Township of Deerfield, NJ
Cumberland County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A. 
No use or occupancy of any building, structure or land shall hereafter be changed to a different use or occupancy, and no building or structure or part thereof shall hereafter be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved or structurally altered unless in conformity with all of the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located, except as hereinafter provided.
B. 
No building or other structure shall hereafter be erected or altered to exceed the height, to accommodate or house a greater number of families or persons, to occupy a greater percentage of lot area, or to have a narrower or smaller rear yard, front yard, side yards or other open spaces than are herein required, or in any other matter contrary to the provisions of this chapter, except as hereinafter provided.
A. 
Due to environmental considerations and/or public health and safety factors, the Township will not allow consideration of wetlands in determining permissible building coverage calculations. The Land Use Board may at its discretion, allow wetlands areas to be considered in total lot coverage calculations, after determination that the increased lot coverage will have no adverse environmental, health or safety impact on the community or adjacent lands. The maximum percentage of lot coverage set forth in the Schedule of District Regulations may be extended by the Board, provided the lot(s) in question is/are serviced by approved public or private off-site sewer and water facilities.
B. 
For all lots, regardless of district or location within the Township, 50% of the maximum area required for a lot, by use, in that district must be classified as upland and not as wetland. (See definitions in § 120-5.) As an example, if the base district lot size is two acres for a single-family, detached dwelling and the actual lot size is three acres, then 1.5 acres of the lot in question must be classified as upland.
No part of a yard or other open space or off-street parking or loading space required about or in connection with any building for the purpose of complying with this chapter shall be included as part of a yard, open space or off-street parking or loading space similarly required for any other buildings, except as hereinafter provided.
A. 
No yard or lot existing at the time of passage of this chapter shall be reduced in size or area below the minimum requirements set forth herein. Yards or lots created after the effective date of this chapter shall meet at least the minimum requirements established by this chapter.
B. 
Within each district the regulations set by this chapter shall be minimum regulations and shall apply uniformly to each class or kind of structure or land.
The height limitations of this chapter shall not apply to silos, belfries, cupolas and domes not used for human occupancy, nor to chimneys, ventilators, skylights, water tanks, and similar necessary mechanical appurtenances usually carried above the roof level. Such features however, shall be erected only to such height as necessary to accomplish the purpose they are intended to serve. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to prevent the erection above the building height limit of a parapet, wall or cornice for ornament (and without windows) extending above such limit not more than five feet. Public and quasi-public buildings and other similar permitted uses shall increase the required front, rear and side yards by one foot for each foot by which such building exceeds the height limit herein established for such zone in which it is located, and further provided that in no case shall any building have a height greater than 50 feet overall unless it is specifically permitted by the Schedule of District Regulations.
A. 
Existing lots.
(1) 
A lot which is of public record and in single and separate ownership and not of continuous frontage with other lots in the same ownership at the time of enactment of this chapter may be used for a permitted use in the district in which it is located even though such lot fails to meet the requirements for area or width, or both, that are generally applicable in the district, provided that the road frontage is not less than 50 feet, and further provided that yard dimensions or other requirements not involving area or width shall conform or a variance for such yard dimensions or other requirements be obtained from the Land Use Board.
(2) 
In the case of existing irregularly shaped lots, the minimum lot width specified in the schedule of district regulations for the zoning district in which said irregularly shaped lot is located shall be measured at the rear line of the required front yard area, provided that in no case shall the distance between side lot lines be reduced to less than 50% of the minimum width requirement in the appropriate schedule of district regulations.
B. 
Existing structures.
[Added 7-17-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8]
(1) 
Compliance with standards. No person shall occupy as owner or occupant or rent to another for occupancy any dwelling or dwelling unit for the purpose of living therein, which does not conform to the provisions of the International Property Maintenance Code adopted by Chapter 112, Housing Standards, established hereby as the standard to be used in determining whether a dwelling is safe, sanitary and fit for human habitation.
(2) 
Certificates of occupancy; fee.
(a) 
No owner or agent thereof shall hereafter sell, rent, lease or let to any occupant or occupants, whether or not for a consideration, any dwelling, dwelling unit, hotel or rooming house or rooming unit unless a certificate of occupancy shall first have been obtained from the Housing Officer. Said certificate shall certify that the building or unit is fit for human habitation and complies with the requirements of all ordinances of the Township of Deerfield which relate to housing. No tenant or occupant shall sublease, sublet or permit use of dwelling or lodging units without following the above procedure.
(b) 
There shall be paid at the time of application for a certificate of occupancy by the applicant the sum of $25 to the Housing Officer of the Township of Deerfield, or such other amount as the Township Committee of the Township of Deerfield shall, by its ordinance, provide.
(3) 
Violations. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to erect, construct, alter, extend, repair, remove, demolish, maintain, fail to maintain, provide, fail to provide, occupy, let to another or occupy or permit another person to occupy any structure or equipment regulated by this chapter, or cause same to be done, contrary to or in conflict with or in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or to fail to obey a lawful order of the Code Official, or to remove or deface a placard or notice posted under the provisions of this chapter.
(4) 
Penalties. Any person who shall violate a provision of this Subsection B shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 180 days, or both, at the discretion of the court. Each day a violation continues after due notice has been served shall be deemed a separate offense.
(5) 
Schedule of fees. The following fees shall be paid by the applicant and accompany the application for development and/or request for a certificate of permit:
(a) 
Zoning permit: $10.
(b) 
Temporary use permit: $25.
(c) 
Conditional use permit: $10.
(d) 
Certificate of use and occupancy: $25.
If two or more lots or combinations of lots or portions of lots with continuous frontage in single ownership are of record at the time of passage or amendment of this chapter, and if all or part of the lots do not meet the requirements for the lot width and area as established by this chapter, the lands involved shall be considered to be an undivided parcel for the purpose of this chapter, unless approval for such lots has been obtained under provisions for Township subdivision and site plan review; and no portion of said parcel shall be used or sold which does not meet lot width and area requirements established by this chapter.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, the lawful use of land or buildings existing at the date of the adoption of this chapter may be continued although such use or building does not conform to the regulations specified by this chapter for the zone in which such land or building is located; provided, however, that:
A. 
No nonconforming lot shall be further reduced in size;
B. 
No nonconforming building shall be enlarged, extended or increased unless such enlargement would tend to reduce the degree of nonconformance; and
C. 
No nonconforming use may be expanded.
Every principal building shall be built upon a lot having frontage on a public street either improved to Township requirements or standards or for which such improvements have been ensured by posting of a sufficient performance guaranty pursuant to the provisions of Article X of this chapter.
Where a building lot has frontage upon a street which is shown on the adopted Master Plan or Official Map of the Township of Deerfield or the County of Cumberland and which street is proposed for right-of-way widening, the required front yard shall be measured from such proposed right-of-way lines.
Nothing herein contained shall require any change in plans, construction or designated use of a building, structure or sign for which a building permit has been heretofore issued and the construction of which shall been diligently prosecuted within three months of the date of such permit, and the ground story framework of which, including the second tier of beams, shall have been completed within six months of the date of the permit, and which the entire building shall be completed according to such plans as filed within one year from the date of this chapter.
Any use not specifically permitted in a zone established by this chapter is hereby specifically prohibited from that zone, and the following uses and activities are specifically prohibited in any zone in the Township:
A. 
All billboards, signboards, advertising signs or devices not expressly related to the activity being conducted on the premises or otherwise specifically permitted in this chapter.
B. 
Residential structures without permanent foundations or without permanent connection to utilities.
C. 
Trailer coaches or mobile homes other than those permitted within approved mobile home parks.
D. 
The use of any building or premises in such a manner that the health, morals, safety or welfare of the community may be endangered.
E. 
Any trade, industry or purpose that is noxious or offensive by reason of emissions of odor, dust, smoke, gas or noise. The standards of the Air Pollution Control Commission of New Jersey shall be the enforcement standard for this provision.
F. 
The manufacture of heavy chemicals such as but not limited to mineral acids or other corrosives, ammonia, caustic soap and sulfuric acid.
G. 
The manufacture of basic or semifinished chemicals such as but not limited to cellulose products, resins, dyestuffs, glue, vegetable, animal or mineral fats or oils, explosives, combustible gases, soap and detergent.
H. 
The manufacture or production of metals and alloys in ingot form.
I. 
The manufacture or production of matches, paints, oils, varnishes, lacquer, solvents and rubber.
J. 
Junkyards, automobile wrecking or disassembly yards, the sorting or bailing of scrap metal, paper, rags or other scrap or waste material.
K. 
The application to the surface of the ground or to vegetation or directly into the ground of any product, liquid, water, solid or solution, or effluent (with the exception of fruit and vegetable food processing residual) which is the end result or end product of the treatment of sewage waste, industrial waste, hazardous waste, or any other waste treatment process.
[Added 9-1-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-6]
L. 
All classes of cannabis establishments or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services as said terms are defined in Section 3 of P.L. 2021, c. 16[1], but not the delivery of cannabis items and related supplies by a delivery service.
[Added 8-4-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-5]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 24:6I-31 et seq., the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act.
No residential lot shall have erected upon it more than one principal building, and no yard or other open space provided about any building for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this chapter shall be considered to provide a yard or open space for any other building.