City of Rahway, NJ Design Standards

Required area for each parking space. Each automobile parking space shall be not less than nine feet wide nor less than 18 feet deep, exclusive of passageways. In addition, there shall be provided adequate interior driveways to connect each parking space with a public right-of-way. In the case of parallel parking spaces, each space shall be not less than nine feet wide nor less than 22 feet long. Aisle space shall be not less than 24 feet wide for two-way ninety-degree parking; not less than 16 feet for one-way sixty-degree parking; and not less than 13 feet for forty-five-degree one-way parking.

Provision for proper drainage and maintenance. All off-street parking, off-street loading and service facilities shall be graded and drained so as to dispose of all surface water accumulation in a safe manner while preventing damage to abutting properties and/or public streets and shall be surfaced with asphaltic, bituminous cement or other properly bound pavement which will assure a surface resistant to erosion. Such drainage and materials shall be installed as required by the Planning Board and as recommended by the City Engineer. All such areas shall be at all times maintained, at the expense of the owners thereof, in a clean, orderly and dust-free condition.

Separation from walkways and streets. All off-street parking, off-street loading and service areas shall be separated from walkways, sidewalks, streets or alleys by curbing or other protective device approved by the Building Inspector.

(4)

Private walks adjacent to business buildings. A walkway, if provided, adjacent to a business building shall not be less than four feet in width and shall be in addition to the other requirements of this section.

(5)

Site plan. Location and dimensions of pedestrian entrances, exits, walks and walkways shall be indicated on submitted site plans.

(6)

Connection to a public right-of-way. Each off-street parking, loading or service area shall be connected to a public street right-of-way by means of a driveway constructed in accordance with at least the minimum standards required by this chapter.

(7)

Size of driveways. A driveway exclusive of curb return radii shall be not less than 10 feet in width in all residential zones and not less than 15 feet in all other zones. A curb return radius for a driveway at its entrance to a public street shall not exceed 15 feet unless required. The maximum width of a driveway, exclusive of curb return radii, shall not exceed 30 feet, except for unusual circumstances.

(8)

Location of curb cuts. At the intersection of streets, a curb cut shall be not less than 25 feet from the intersection of two curblines in all zones, except the I-L and I-H Zones, where they shall be 50 feet from the intersection. Between the curb cuts for any two driveways serving the same property, there shall be at least 50 feet. Curb cuts shall be located at least two feet from abutting property lines in all B-1 and B-4 and the B-5 Zones and all residential zones. Curb cuts shall be located at least 10 feet from abutting property lines in all B-2 and B-3 Zones and all industrial zones.

(9)

Off-street parking space within buildings. Garage space or space within buildings, in basements or on the roofs of buildings may be used to meet the off-street parking requirements of this chapter, provided that all requirements regarding this section are met.

(10)

Pavement markings and signs. Each off-street parking space shall be clearly marked, and pavement directional arrows or signs shall be provided wherever necessary. Markers, directional arrows and signs shall be properly maintained so as to ensure their maximum efficiency.

(11)

Lighting for night use. All parking areas, walkways thereto and appurtenant passageways and driveways serving commercial, public, office, industrial, or other similar uses having off-street parking and loading areas, and building complexes requiring area lighting shall be illuminated adequately during the hours between sunset and one hour after business hours. The lighting plan in and around the parking areas shall provide for nonglare, color-corrected lights, focused downward. The light intensity provided at ground level shall be a minimum of 0.3 footcandle anywhere in the area to be illuminated, shall average a minimum of 0.5 footcandle over the entire area and shall be provided by fixtures with a mounting height not to be more than 20 feet measured from the ground level to the center line of the light source or the height of the building, if attached, whichever is lower, and spacing not to exceed five times the mounting height. Any other outdoor lighting, such as building and sidewalk illumination, driveways with no adjacent parking and ornamental light, shall be shown on the lighting plan in sufficient detail to allow determination of the effects to adjacent properties, traffic safety and overhead sky glow. The objective of these specifications is to minimize undesirable off-premises effects. No light shall shine directly into windows or onto streets and driveways in such manner as to interfere with or distract driver vision. To achieve these requirements, the intensity of such light sources, light shielding and similar characteristics shall be subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board.

(12)

Required off-street parking area shall not be reduced. No off-street parking area shall be reduced in size or encroached upon by building, vehicle storage, loading or unloading or any other use where such reduction or encroachment will reduce the off-street parking and loading spaces that are required by these regulations.

(13)

Joint parking facilities. The off-street parking requirements for two or more neighboring uses may be satisfied by the allocation of the required number of spaces for each use in a common parking facility, provided that the number of off-street parking spaces is not less than the sum of individual requirements; provided, further, that there be compliance with all other provisions of these regulations.

(14)

Parking provided on same lot as the main building. Off-street parking spaces for all uses shall be located on the same lot as the main building to be served.

(15)

Sharing of parking facilities. Off-street parking facilities for one use shall not be considered as providing the required facilities for any other use, except that 1/2 of the off-street parking space required by any use whose peak attendance will be at night or on Sundays, such as churches, theaters and assembly halls, may be assigned to a use which will be closed at night or on Sundays. This provision will only apply with approval of the Planning Board.

(16)

Computing number of employees. For the purpose of this section, the number of employees shall be computed on the basis of the maximum number of persons to be employed on any one shift, taking into consideration day, night and seasonal variations.

(17)

Fractional spaces required. When units of measurements determining the number of required off-street parking and off-street loading spaces result in the requirement of a fractional space, any fraction up to and including 1/2 shall be disregarded. Any units over 1/2 will require an additional space.

(18)

Off-street parking and loading space within a required front setback. In any business zone, parking shall be permitted in the front yard, provided that a five-foot landscaped area is provided along the front and side lot lines. Within that area, low shrubs, fences or any combination of screening material shall be utilized to buffer those areas from public view. No parking shall be permitted in the required front yard in any residential zone; however, the width of the driveway shall not exceed the following schedule:

	Lot Width (feet)	Maximum Width (feet)
	Up to 49	10
	50 and over	20

(19)

Paving location restrictions. Paving for parking, loading or access thereto, unless otherwise restricted, except for entrance or exit drives crossing perpendicular to property lines, shall not be permitted within five feet of any property line, except in the B-4 and B-5 Zones.

(20)

Parking area site layout. Parking areas shall be divided into lots separated by appropriate landscaping where possible. In addition, driveways and internal roads shall be separated from parking areas by curbed landscaped islands where possible. Landscaping for parking areas shall be subject to approval as part of submitted site development plans.

(21)

Visitor off-street parking facilities. Visitor parking in industrial zones may be located in the front yard area, subject to the approval of the site plan by the Planning Board. No employee parking shall be allowed in the front yard.

(22)

Shared access. Nothing in this chapter is intended to prohibit the sharing of access by adjacent uses, provided that the common facility is a service drive.

Minimum off-street parking spaces.

Off-street parking spaces for the storage or parking of passenger vehicles of occupants, employees and patrons of main buildings and structures hereafter erected or enlarged shall be provided and kept available in amounts not less than specified in this section.

Residential uses. The minimum required number of parking spaces to be provided in connection with residential uses in any given zone shall be in accordance with the following regulations:

(a)

Required spaces.

	Use	Minimum Number of Spaces
	High-rise apartment:
	0-bedroom	0.8
	1-bedroom	1.3
	2-bedroom	1.9
	3-bedroom	2.0
	Low-rise apartment:
	1-bedroom	1.8
	2-bedroom	2.0
	3-bedroom	2.1
	Residential health care facility or nursing home:
	All units	0.5
	Senior citizens housing:
	Studio or 1-bedroom	0.75
	2-bedroom	1.0
	Single-family detached:
	All units	2.0
	Three-family unit:
	All units	6.0
	Townhouse or row house:
	1-bedroom	1.8
	2-bedroom	2.3
	3-bedroom	2.4
	Two-family unit
	All units	4.0

(b)

For single-family residential uses, parking spaces provided in the driveway leading to an enclosed garage shall count toward the required number of parking spaces. For all other uses, if the garage space is to be counted toward the required parking area, unobstructed access must be provided between the street and garage, and driveway area within that unobstructed shall not be counted as parking space.

[Amended 3-13-2017 by Ord. No. O-10-17]

Nonresidential uses. The minimum required number of parking spaces to be provided in connection with nonresidential uses in any given zone shall be in accordance with the following regulations:

(a)

Required spaces:

	Use	Minimum Number of Spaces
	Amusement centers	1 per 50 square feet of gross floor area
	Animal hospitals or veterinary clinics	1 per 400 square feet of gross floor area
	Automobile service or repair station or body shop	6 off-street parking spaces for the first lift, wheel alignment pit or similar work area, and an additional 3 spaces for each additional work area. For service stations also dispensing fuels, 1 additional space for every 2 pumps
	Automotive sales	1 per 200 square feet of indoor sales plus 1 per 1,000 square feet of outdoor sales area
	Automobile washes	5 spaces, plus 3 spaces per washing bay
	Banks	1 per 200 square feet of gross floor area
	Bars and taverns	1 per 2 seats
	Billiard or pool halls	2 per table
	Bowling alleys	4 per lane
	Club	1 for each 100 square feet of floor area available to members and guests
	City Hall, police and fire stations	1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area
	Commercial recreation centers	1 per 200 square feet of gross floor area
	Community buildings, social halls or places of public assembly	1 per 3 seats
	Drive-through banks	1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area
	Fast-food restaurants	1 per 2 seats
	Fast-food restaurants with a drive-through	1 per 2 1/2 seats
	Funeral home	1 per each 25 square feet in main chapel or parlor
	Furniture store	1 per 500 square feet of gross floor area
	General or business or municipal or governmental office	1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area
	Hardware or automobile supply stores	1 per 400 square feet
	Home professional offices	4 spaces plus one per nonresident employee
	Hotel or motel	1 per guest room
	Hospitals	1 per 300 square feet of gross floor area
	Medical offices	1 per 150 square feet of gross floor area
	Places of worship	1 per 3 seats
	Professional offices	1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area
	Quasi-educational facilities such as ballet, dance studios, or martial arts schools	1 per 100 square feet of gross floor area
	Research laboratories	1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area
	Restaurants and eating and drinking establishments	1 per 3 seats, plus 1 per 2 seats in lounge or bar areas
	Retail trade, including bakeries	1 per 200 square feet of gross floor area
	Schools, elementary or junior high schools	1 per 10 students based on design capacity
	Schools, high school	1 per 5 students based on design capacity
	Service retail, including travel agencies	1 per 200 square feet of gross floor area
	Shopping centers	4 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for shopping centers under 100,000 square feet; 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet for shopping centers over 100,000 square feet
	Sports or health clubs or gyms	1 per 200 square feet of gross floor area
	Storage establishment	1 per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area
	Theaters, including movie theaters	1 per 4 seats
	Vehicle rental business	1 per rental vehicle on site, plus 1 per employee
	Vocational, technical or business school	1 per 100 square feet of gross floor area
	Warehousing, wholesaling and manufacturing	1 per 750 square feet of gross floor area

(b)

For other uses not specifically listed, the minimum parking requirement shall be the same as for the most similar listed use, as determined by the Building Inspector.

(c)

For mixed uses, the total requirement shall be the sum of the requirements of the component uses computed separately.

§ 349-6 Off-street loading.

Size of space. All required spaces shall be at least 14 feet in width and 55 feet in length and shall have a minimum vertical clearance of 15 feet. Additional space for maneuvering, depending on the arrangement of the loading facilities, shall be provided.

Number of spaces. Loading and unloading not otherwise adequately provided for shall be provided according to the following schedule:

	Gross Floor Area (Square Feet)	Spaces Required
	0 to 25,000	1
	25,001 to 60,000	2
	60,001 to 76,000	3
	76,001 to 100,000	4
	Each additional 50,000	1

Location. Loading and unloading areas shall be permitted only in the rear yard.

Screening. At or above-grade loading facilities shall be screened from public view by a solid fence or evergreen shrubs not less than six feet high.

§ 349-7 Landscaping and buffering.

Purpose. The intention of these requirements is to enhance the aesthetic and environmental appeal and character of buildings and sites being developed within the City by ensuring the compatibility of uses, thereby maintaining the health, safety and general welfare of the community, while preserving property values.

General regulations for all zones.

Landscape area. All areas in a development not used for construction of buildings, roads, accessways, parking or sidewalks shall be fully landscaped in accordance with these regulations.

Site considerations. Natural site features, such as existing trees, streams, rock outcroppings, etc., shall be preserved wherever possible. Whenever such natural features are absent or insufficient or have been destroyed during the development of the site, additional new plantings shall be established to provide environmental protection to beautify the buildings and grounds and to provide privacy, shade and the screening out of objectionable features created on the site.

All landscaped areas shall be covered with a minimum of four inches of topsoil prior to sowing of seed or sod or planting of trees or shrubs. Topsoil shall consist of natural fertile agricultural soil of good texture, free from subsoil, and it shall be taken from an area which has never been stripped. Topsoil shall be of uniform quality, free from roots, sods, rubbish, Japanese beetle and other dangerous insect larvae and shall have come from arable areas with good normal drainage.

Additional regulations for business, industrial and multifamily zones.

A minimum landscaped area five feet wide shall be provided along all property lines, including public streets, except in the B-4 Service Business and B-5 Central Business Zones.

All buffers and landscaped areas shall be protected from adjacent parking areas by curbs or concrete, metal or wood bumpers at least six inches in height and securely anchored into the ground.

Service areas, parking areas, transformer compounds and other strictly utilitarian improvements shall be screened as fully as practicable. In general, it is intended that possible objectionable or unsightly features within a given development shall be screened from passing traffic or abutting residential properties.

(4)

In the case of a repetition of building designs, as in apartment house developments, care shall be exercised to avoid monotony in the planting design by introducing sufficient variety in the planting layout to lend interest and aesthetic appeal. By the same token, excessive variety shall be avoided, and all shall be represented as a balanced design with the proper accent in the appropriate places.

(5)

Provision of trees and shrubs. The following quantities of trees and shrubs shall be provided in required buffer areas:

(a)

Trees.

[1]

In all residential, commercial and industrial developments, a minimum of 15 trees shall be provided for each acre of development, excluding required buffer areas. No fewer than 30% of the trees shall be evergreen, and no fewer than 30% of the trees shall be deciduous. Evergreen trees shall be a minimum height of six feet at planting. Deciduous trees shall have minimum heights of 15 feet at planting and a mature height of at least 30 feet. They shall be a minimum caliper of 2 1/2 inches measured at a height of one foot above the base of the tree at planting, except that a minimum of two deciduous trees per acre shall be not less than six inches' caliper measured one foot above the base of the tree. Existing trees that meet the above conditions may be counted towards providing the requirements. The number of trees provided shall be prorated for fractions of an acre, except that not less than one six-inch-caliper deciduous tree shall be provided.

[2]

Deciduous trees that do not have mature heights of 30 feet or greater may be provided but shall not be counted towards meeting the above minimum requirement.

(b)

Shrubs. For residential developments, a minimum of one shrub shall be provided for each 50 square feet or fraction thereof of building coverage. A minimum of 50% of all shrubs shall be evergreen. For this purpose, at least 50% of all shrubs shall have a mature height of not less than 30 inches, and no shrub shall have a mature height of less than 18 inches. All shrubs shall be in canvas or balled and burlapped and shall have a minimum height or breadth of 18 inches. Ground covers and plants with mature heights of less than 18 inches are permitted but shall not be counted towards meeting the above minimum requirement.

(6)

Buffer planting requirements. Planting in all required buffer areas shall consist of a minimum of two staggered rows of evergreen trees spaced 10 feet apart and planted 10 feet on center. Additional planting materials and/or fencing may be used to supplement the two rows of evergreen trees but shall not replace them. The requirement for two rows of evergreen trees may be modified by the municipal agency if substantial existing vegetation is located within the buffer area and the strict enforcement of this section would result in the loss of or damage to the existing vegetation or would be impractical, as determined by the agency.

(7)

Areas required for buffers shall not be cleared or graded prior to site plan approval.

(8)

Retaining walls shall not be permitted within buffer areas unless approved as part of site plan approval.

(9)

In all zones where a multifamily, commercial or industrial development zone line abuts a single-family residential zone, a twenty-foot buffer must be established and maintained.

(10)

In all zones where a multifamily development zone line abuts an existing business, commercial or industrial zone, a twenty-foot buffer must be established and maintained by the multifamily developer unless such a buffer is already established along the neighboring boundary of that zone.

(11)

In all zones where a business or industrial development line abuts a multifamily residential zone, a twenty-foot buffer must be established and maintained unless such a buffer is already established and maintained along the neighboring boundary of that zone.

(12)

Off-street parking or loading shall not be permitted in any buffer area.

Landscaped area required.

In calculating landscaped areas, the areas of plazas, open or enclosed pedestrian shopping malls, sitting areas, pools and fountains shall be included. Landscaped areas within and between parking areas shall also be included.

In all zones except the B-4 and B-5 Zones, a minimum of 15% of the site shall be devoted to landscaped areas in addition to all required buffers.

§ 349-8 Fences and hedges.

Purpose. The intention of these requirements is to provide standards for the protection of the health, safety and aesthetic values of adjacent property.

Permit required. A fence three feet or higher shall require a building permit.

Specific requirements.

Intersections. At the intersection of two or more streets, no wall, fence, hedge or other structure shall be erected to a height in excess of 2 1/2 feet above curb level, nor shall any other obstruction to vision shall be permitted, within the triangular area formed by the intersecting street lines at points which are 25 feet distant from the point of intersection, measured along said street line. Trees whose branches are trimmed away to a height of at least 10 feet above curb level shall be permitted.

Height. Subject only to the exceptions set forth in Subsection C(9), hereof, on any lot in any residential district, no wall or fence shall be erected or altered so that said wall or fence shall be over four feet in height in the front yard nor over six feet in any other yard. Chain-link fences, which must be vinyl-coated, are allowed only in the rear yard. Fences in the front yard must be picket or split-rail fencing only with a minimum of 50% open area.

[Amended 4-11-2005 by Ord. No. O-10-05; 11-20-2017 by Ord. No. O-31-17; 7-9-2018 by Ord. No. O-11-18]