The purpose of the Highway Commercial District
is to provide commercial uses along several major highways or major
arteries in the Township which provide services to the general traveling
public and which have a service radius generally wider than the immediate
neighborhood. The provisions are designed to curtail the further evolution
of strip commercial patterns while permitting controlled commercial
growth.
Permitted principal uses shall be as follows:
A.
Retail sales of goods and services
B.
Restaurants, bars, taverns and nightclubs.
C.
Department stores.
D.
Garden centers engaged in the retail sales of living
plant material. Outside storage, sale or display areas shall not exceed
four times the building coverage and shall be used only for the storage,
sale and display of living plant material.
E.
Banks, including drive-in facilities.
F.
Offices and office buildings.
G.
Theaters and bowling alleys.
H.
Automobile sales through franchised new car dealers
as a conditional use.
I.
Car washes.
J.
Service stations.
K.
All neighborhood commercial uses.
L.
Hotels and motels as a conditional use.
Permitted accessory uses in the HC District
shall be as follows:
A.
Off-street parking.
B.
Fences and walls.
C.
Garages to house delivery trucks or other commercial
vehicles.
D.
Temporary construction trailers and one sign not exceeding
100 square feet advertising the prime contractor, subcontractor(s),
architect, financing institution and similar data for the period of
construction, beginning with the issuance of a building permit or
one year, whichever is less, provided that said trailer and sign are
on the site where the construction is taking place.
E.
The operation and use of amusement machines, video
machines, pinball machines, pool tables and similar machines not dispensing
products and providing amusement generally by the insertion of a coin,
token or similar object. No more than 15% of the gross floor area
of the a building shall be devoted to the accessory use of the amusement
machines, with the balance of 85% of the floor area to be devoted
and used for the primary use. There shall be no separate, outside
entrances to the area devoted to the amusement machines.[1]
[Amended 2-5-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1]
Each commercial building shall have a minimum
gross floor area of 1,000 square feet.
A.
A minimum buffer area of 100 feet in width shall be provided along any common property line with a residential district (including the AGR District). Where the area along a common property line with a residential district (including the AGR Zone) contains a natural woodland, the woodland or portion thereof shall be preserved and incorporated into the buffer. In such cases, the width of the buffer may be enlarged by the Planning Board in order to preserve the natural woodland or portion thereof. The buffer shall be designed in accordance with § 91-91 of this Code.
[Amended 2-5-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1; 2-19-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-7; 3-19-2003 by Ord. No.
2003-6; 5-21-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-11]
B.
At least the first 40 feet adjacent to any street
line and 10 feet adjacent to any lot line shall not be used for parking
and shall be planted and maintained in lawn area or ground cover or
landscaped with evergreen shrubbery and separated from the parking
area by poured concrete or Belgian block curbing.
C.
No merchandise, products, waste, equipment or similar
material or objects shall be displayed or stored outside.
D.
All buildings shall be compatibly designed, whether
constructed all at one time or in stages over a period of time. All
building walls facing any street or residential district line shall
be suitably finished for aesthetic purposes which shall not include
unpainted or painted cinder block or concrete block walls.
E.
All portions of the property not utilized by buildings
or paved surfaces shall be landscaped, utilizing combinations such
as landscaped fencing, shrubbery, lawn area, ground cover, rock formations,
contours, existing foliage and the planting of conifers and/or deciduous
trees native to the area in order to either maintain or reestablish
the tone of the vegetation in the area and lessen the visual impact
of the structures and paved areas. The established grades on any site
shall be planned for both aesthetic and drainage purposes. The grading
plan, drainage facilities and landscaping shall be coordinated to
prevent erosion and silting, as well as assuring that the capacity
of any natural or man-made drainage system is sufficient to handle
the water generated and anticipated, both from the site and contributing
upstream areas.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection F, regarding
minimum buffer areas, which immediately followed this subsection,
was repealed 2-5-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1.
Parking areas for individual uses shall be designed
to be interconnected with adjacent properties and shall utilize common
entrance(s) and exit(s), where feasible, to minimize access points
to the street.
Minimum off-street loading shall be provided
as follows:
A.
Each activity shall provide for off-street loading
and unloading, with adequate ingress and egress from streets and shall
provide such area(s) at the side or rear of the building. Each space
shall be at least 15 feet by 40 feet. One space shall be provided
for the first 5,000 square feet of gross floor area or fraction thereof
in each building and one additional space for each additional 7,000
square feet of gross floor area or fraction thereof. There shall be
no loading or unloading from the street.
B.
There shall be at least one trash and garbage pickup
location provided by each building, which shall be separated from
the parking spaces by either a location within the building or in
a pickup location outside the building which shall be a steel-like,
totally enclosed container located in a manner to be obscured from
view from parking areas, streets and adjacent residential uses or
zoning districts by a fence, wall, planting or combination of the
three. If located within the building, the doorway may serve both
the loading and trash/garbage functions, and if located outside the
building, it may be located adjacent to or within the general loading
area(s), provided that the container in no way interferes with or
restricts loading and unloading functions.
C.
All off-street loading areas shall be lighted.
[Amended 2-18-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-2]
The provisions of Article XIX, Signs, are supplemented and modified as follows:
A.
Freestanding signs. One freestanding sign shall be
permitted in accordance with the following:
(1)
Site plan review. Site plan review shall be required
for all new or altered freestanding signs.
(2)
Size. Except for major developments such as large
shopping centers and hotels, sign size shall be limited in accordance
with one of the following standards, at the discretion of the developer:
(a)
Five percent of the first floor portion of the
front facade of the principal building or 100 square feet, whichever
is smaller.
(b)
Size in relation to the linear front footage
of the property, as follows:
|
Linear Front Footage
|
Maximum Sign Area
(sq. ft.)
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Up to 150
|
50
| |
|
151 to 200
|
75
| |
|
201 to 300
|
100
| |
|
301 to 400
|
125
| |
|
401 to 500
|
150
| |
|
500 and over
|
200
| |
|
When a subdivision of a lot containing a freestanding
sign would result in the sign becoming nonconforming or, if already
nonconforming, becoming more nonconforming under the terms of this
section, a bulk variance for the sign shall be required whether or
not the proposed lot(s) would meet other applicable bulk regulations.
In deciding the sign variance application, the Board may, as a condition
of subdivision approval, limit the maximum sign area for any new signs
on any of the new lots to less than the area otherwise permitted by
this section. In reducing the permitted sign size for any new signs,
the Board may consider the degree of nonconformity of the existing
freestanding sign.
| ||
(c)
Double-sided freestanding signs shall be measured
on one side, provided that the message on both sides is identical
and only one side is visible at one time.
(3)
Major developments. Major developments, such as large
shopping centers and hotels, shall be permitted one freestanding sign
of no more than 200 square feet. If the major development has frontage
on more than one public road, one freestanding sign shall be permitted
on each frontage.
(4)
Height. Maximum sign height shall be no higher than
the height of the principal building to which it is related and in
no case higher than 25 feet.
(5)
Setback. Setback shall be a minimum of 10 feet from
the right-of-way line.
(6)
Permanent structures. The supporting frames for all
signs shall be constructed of permanent materials and with a permanent
foundation.
(7)
Service stations. Service stations shall also be permitted
one additional sign advertising fuel prices, located inside the property
line along the street frontage, not exceeding nine square feet.
B.
Attached signs. One sign attached to the principle
facade shall be permitted in accordance with the following:
(1)
Size. The size shall be 5% of the first floor portion
of the front facade or 100 square feet, whichever is less. When there
is a separate canopy structure, the front facade area of the canopy
may be added to the front facade of the principle building in determining
the five-percent calculation.
(2)
Height. Such sign shall not have a vertical dimension
in excess of five feet and shall not project above the roof, cornice,
parapet wall or roofline when there is no cornice or parapet wall,
whichever is lowest, nor beyond the ends of the building.
(3)
Projections. Such sign shall not project more than
12 inches from the building facade to which it is attached.
C.
Sign alteration. Any substantial structural alteration
of an existing sign shall constitute a new sign under the terms of
this section requiring compliance with the standards of this section
and, in the case of a freestanding sign, site plan review. Substantial
alterations shall include any change in size, shape, materials, location
or lighting.
[Amended 10-4-1995 by Ord. No. 1995-24; 2-5-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-2]
The following uses are expressly prohibited in any zone in the Township of Florence, except as a conditional use in the portion of the Highway Commercial Zone located on the westerly side of Route 130, south of the New Jersey Turnpike Extension, and in accordance with the applicable requirements of Article XL (Conditional Uses):
A.
Adult uses, including but not limited to adult bookstores,
adult mini motion-picture/live entertainment theatres and massage
parlors.
B.
ANATOMICAL AREAS
SEXUAL ACTIVITIES
For purposes of this section, the following phrases
shall have the following definitions:
Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals,
pubic region, buttock and/or female breast below a point immediately
above the top of the areola and human male genitals in a discernibly
turgid state, even if completely or opaquely covered.
Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;
or acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy; or fondling
or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock
or female breast.
C.
Adult uses enumerated.
(1)
Adult bookstores. No person, firm, corporation or
other entity shall establish a bookstore, newsstand or book department,
in which a significant or substantial portion of its stock-in-trade
is in books, magazines and/or other written and/or pictorial matter,
which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter
depicting, describing or related to specific anatomical areas or specified
sexual activities, as defined herein.
(2)
Adult movies. No person, firm, corporation or other
entity shall offer for viewing through coin-operated motion-picture
devices any movie or other form of display which has substantial or
significant displays of specified anatomical areas of specified sexual
activities, as defined herein.
(3)
Adult live entertainment. No person, form, corporation
or other entity shall use, feature, permit or offer for view dancers,
strippers, nude or seminude entertainers or other persons engaging
in, showing or exhibiting specified anatomical areas or specified
sexual activity, as defined herein.
(4)
Massage parlors. No person, firm, corporation or other
entity shall use, feature or permit massages or the rubbing down of
persons of one sex by persons of the other sex where the massage includes
specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities, as defined
herein; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to
prohibit the use or giving of massages in a single location, business
or building where the use or business of the massage is an accessory
use to a primary use permitted by this chapter.
(5)
Adult activities generally. Any use not defined above
that demonstrates, uses, exhibits or otherwise involves specified
anatomical areas or specified sexual activities, as defined herein,
is expressly prohibited.
[Added 3-19-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-6]
In order to provide for orderly review of any proposed development and the application of consistent standards for development, Block 160.01, Lots 1.01, 7, 8, 9, 10.01 and 10.02, which are partially located in the HC Highway Commercial Zoning District, shall be included in the HC Highway Commercial Zoning District to the full extent of the lots as they exist upon adoption of this section. Block 160.01, Lots 2.01, 7, 8, 9, 10.01 and 10.02 shall also be included within the SMO Special Manufacturing Overlay District as set forth in the Florence Code Article XLI.
