[Amended 6-18-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-6; 4-21-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-4]
In the COM Commercial District, no lot or structure shall have as a principal use and no structure shall be located, relocated, erected, constructed, reconstructed, enlarged or structurally altered for the purpose of any principal use, except the following:
A. 
Retail sales of goods and services, provided that all goods shall be stored or services shall be performed within a building or buildings, except that services may be performed off the premises of said lot.
B. 
Restaurants, bars, taverns.
C. 
Banks, including drive-in facilities.
D. 
Business and professional offices.
E. 
Theaters and indoor and outdoor commercial recreation areas and facilities.
F. 
Agricultural or garden centers.
G. 
Bed-and-breakfast inns.
H. 
Churches; community centers; buildings used exclusively by federal, state, county and local government for public purposes; clubs, lodges and meeting rooms of nonprofit organizations.
I. 
Personal services.
[Added 3-1-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-02[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former Subsection I as Subsection K.
J. 
Fitness studios and instructional uses.
[Added 3-1-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-02]
K. 
The following conditional uses:
(1) 
Gasoline service stations, provided that:
(a) 
All fuel tanks shall be placed underground.
(b) 
All pumps, lifts and other service facilities shall be located no closer than 35 feet to any lot or street line.
(c) 
No vehicle shall be stored in the open, except those awaiting minor repairs, and then only for a period not to exceed 10 business days.
(d) 
All lubricating, making of minor repairs or similar activities shall be performed in an enclosed building.
(e) 
Separate accessways shall be provided for the safe and convenient egress and ingress of motor vehicles. No accessway shall exceed 35 feet in width nor be less than 15 feet in width.
(f) 
Access to the street shall be physically controlled by a concrete curbing at least eight inches in height.
(g) 
One off-street parking space shall be provided for each full- and part-time employee at maximum shift, plus four additional such spaces for each service bay.
(h) 
Gasoline service stations shall otherwise comply with the regulations for the COM District.
(2) 
Drive-in food stands, provided that:
(a) 
One off-street parking space shall be provided for each full- and part-time employee at maximum shift, plus one additional such space at the rate of 20 such spaces per acre of gross site area.
(b) 
Drive-in food stands shall otherwise comply with the regulations for the COM District.
Customary accessory uses and structures to any of the uses described in § 100-74 are permitted, excluding the following:
A. 
On-site burning or other on-site disposal of refuse.
B. 
Temporary or permanent outdoor storage of goods or products, except in conjunction with a principal use permitted by § 100-74F.
C. 
Solar panels erected on the roof of a building or on the ground, subject to meeting all requirements of § 100-20.1.
[Added 6-1-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-13]
No building or part of a building shall be closer than 100 feet to the nearest street center line.
The following front, side and rear yards shall be provided on each lot, which yards shall not include or be used for parking (except as stated below), buildings, loading or storage:
A. 
Front yard. Front yards shall be at least 50 feet in depth, except that where off-street parking is provided in the front yard, they shall be at least 75 feet in depth.
B. 
Side yard. Side yards abutting on a residential district shall be at least 75 feet in depth. Other side yards shall be at least 25 feet in depth. Buildings shall be at least 20 feet apart, except where two or more adjacent properties in separate ownership are submitted simultaneously for site plan review, in which case buildings may be built to the interior side lines in order to be attached. Proper legal documentation shall be filed showing necessary rights-of-way or easements across the adjacent lots.
C. 
Rear yard. Rear yards abutting on a residential district shall be at least 75 feet in depth. All other rear yards shall be at least 25 feet in depth.
A. 
Height. No structure shall exceed 2 1/2 stories and 35 feet in height.
B. 
Coverage. Not more than 6 1/2% of the lot area shall be covered by structures. Not more than 30% of the lot area shall be covered by structures and paved surfaces.
C. 
Floor area ratio. A floor area ratio of 6 1/2% shall be the aggregate permitted maximum floor area of all structures on the lot.
D. 
Water budget. The foregoing standards in this section shall not supersede the maximum level of development permissible on the lot based on the water supply considerations using the criteria set forth in § 100-90B below.
A. 
A minimum lot depth of 250 feet from one street line shall be required for all corner lots.
B. 
All street lot lines shall be construed to be front lot lines.
C. 
All corner lot lines that are not street lines shall be construed to be side lot lines.
[Amended 6-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-7]
Lots of record in the COM Commercial District existing on March 1, 1993, which do not meet the minimum lot area or dimensional requirements set forth for lots in said district, and which cannot be rendered conforming by merger with adjoining lands in common ownership, shall be permitted to be developed, redeveloped or improved with the uses permitted at § 100-74 in accordance with the following requirements:
A. 
The front, side and rear yards can be reduced in the same proportion as the area of the lot bears to the minimum lot area otherwise established for lots in the COM Commercial District, so long as the building height, coverage and floor area ratio requirements for lots in the COM Commercial District are not violated, and so long as no side or rear yard is less than 20 feet and no front yard is less than 25 feet.
B. 
All other requirements of the COM Commercial District are met, including the requirements pertaining to water supply set forth in § 100-90B below.
In order to facilitate efficient traffic circulation within the lot and to prevent traffic congestion, access and traffic control shall be provided in the following manner:
A. 
No more than two accessways per lot shall be permitted.
B. 
Each accessway shall be not less than 15 feet in width for one-way traffic, and not less than 20 feet nor greater than 35 feet in width for two-way traffic.
C. 
All accessways shall be paved with an asphaltic or concrete material so as to be hard surfaced, dust free, well drained and safe for ingress and egress of motor vehicles.
D. 
Curb cuts shall not exceed 50 feet in width.
E. 
No accessway shall be closer than 20 feet to another accessway or side lot line, or closer than 150 feet to any intersection of street lines.
F. 
Speed change lanes (acceleration and deceleration) may be required by the approving authority when, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, sufficient vehicular volume is generated by the establishment, and traffic flow volume and patterns on the primary access street justify such requirement.
G. 
Access to the street shall be physically separated by a curb, planting strip or other suitable barrier against unchanneled traffic.
H. 
All two-way accessways shall have appropriate lane markings and directional indicators.
I. 
Lighting facilities shall be installed to light accessways adequately and shall be installed so as to reflect light downward and away from any adjoining lots and from any street.
J. 
Traffic-directing signs may be required by the approving authority where large traffic volumes could create congestion and unsafe conditions.
K. 
The use of common accessways by two or more permitted uses shall be encouraged to reduce the number and closeness of access points along public streets.
L. 
Conforming corner lots shall be allowed two accessways per street, provided that adequate means of discouraging through traffic are employed.
A. 
The minimum number of required off-street parking spaces per establishment (except for gasoline service stations and drive-in food stands, whose requirements are set forth in § 100-74I) shall be as follows:
[Amended 3-1-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-02]
(1) 
Retail sales establishments and banks shall provide one space for each 250 square feet of floor area of such establishment.
(2) 
Business and professional offices shall provide one space for each 300 square feet of floor area of such establishment.
(3) 
Restaurants, bars and taverns shall provide one space for each three seats/stools and one space for each two employees at maximum shift.
(4) 
Theaters and indoor or outdoor commercial recreation areas and facilities shall provide one space for every three seats, or 300 square feet of gross floor area or fraction thereof, whichever is greater, in the largest area of assembly, of all churches, community centers, businesses used exclusively by the government for public purposes, clubs, lodges and meeting rooms of nonprofit organizations.
(5) 
Personal services shall provide one space for each 200 square feet of such establishment.
(6) 
Instructional uses shall provide one space for each 120 square feet of such establishment.
(7) 
Fitness studios shall provide one space for each 150 square feet of such establishment.
B. 
Off-street parking spaces shall be located on the same lot as the use they are intended to serve.
The following regulations shall apply to all lots having a use permitted in § 100-74:
A. 
Landscaping. All areas not devoted to buildings or structures, parking, accessways, barriers, screening, loading or drives, streets or pedestrian walks shall be landscaped with grass, trees or shrubs.
B. 
Screening. Lots in the COM District which adjoin or abut a residential district shall be permanently screened by a wall, fence, evergreen hedge or other suitable planting of a minimum height of four feet to shield adjacent residential districts from parking lot illuminations, headlights, fumes, blowing papers, noise and dust, and to reduce the visual encroachment of nonresidential architecture, signs and activity on residential privacy and residential neighborhood character. There shall be no signs or advertising permitted on the facades of screening visible from adjoining residential districts.
C. 
A minimum of 15% of the area of all special flood hazard areas as designated on the applicable Federal Insurance Administration Flood Hazard Boundary Map shall be planted with a coverage of suitable trees or shrubs designed to prevent erosion in the event of flooding. The remaining area within such floodplains shall be planted with grass or other suitable ground cover or left in a state of natural vegetation.
Signs shall be permitted in the COM Commercial District under the following conditions:
A. 
Signs for permitted noncommercial uses, provided that such signs conform to the sign regulations at § 100-52.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
Signs for permitted commercial establishments [meaning those with uses permitted by § 100-74A through J and K(1) and (2)], provided that such signs conform to the following regulations:
[Amended 3-1-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-02]
(1) 
Signs shall only advertise the use, activity, establishment, product, and/or services which are sold, produced, manufactured, available or furnished on the lot on which such signs are located.
(2) 
Signs shall be stationary and shall not contain any visible moving or movable parts. Any lighting on a sign shall be continuous, indirect and installed in a manner that will prevent direct light from shining into any street or adjacent lot.
(3) 
Signs shall be attached to the facades of buildings and then only to the street-facing facades, shall be permanently attached to the building and shall not project farther than six inches from the building wall. The total area of all signs on any street-facing facade shall not exceed 10% of the area of the facade in question, or 50 square feet, whichever is less, regardless of the number of signs or the number of establishments within the building. No more than one sign shall be permitted for each establishment in the building, except that where a building has more than one street-facing facade, an establishment having entrances from both street-facing facades may be permitted to have a sign on each street-facing facade on which it has an entrance, up to a maximum of two such signs per establishment.
(4) 
Instead of an attached sign, a business may have one freestanding monument sign per street frontage, subject to the following requirements:
(a) 
The maximum height of a freestanding monument sign shall be six feet.
(b) 
A freestanding monument sign shall not be greater than 45 square feet.
(c) 
Freestanding monument signs shall not be located within or encroach upon sight triangles and shall be set back at least 10 feet from all property lines.
(d) 
Freestanding monument signs may be illuminated. All illumination shall be shielded. Illuminated signs shall not interfere with motorist vision. Sign illumination shall not exceed five footcandles at the property line.
(5) 
The following additional signs shall be permitted at gasoline service stations:
(a) 
Directional signs or lettering displayed on the building wall over individual entrance doors or bays, consisting only of the words "washing," "lubrication," repair," "mechanic on duty" or other words closely similar in import, provided that there shall be not more than one such sign over each entrance or bay, and the letters thereof shall not exceed 12 inches in height, and such lettering shall be limited to one line.
(b) 
Customary lettering or other insignia which are a structural part of, or attached to, a gasoline pump, consisting only of the brand name of gasoline sold, lead warning signs, price indicators and signs required by law and not exceeding a total of three square feet on each pump.
(c) 
Canopy lettering, if a canopy exists, identifying the company or brand name or the insignia or emblem of the company or brand sold on the premises, provided that such lettering shall be permitted on two sides of the canopy only and shall not exceed a total area of 12 square feet per side.
Off-street loading shall be provided for each commercial establishment (as defined above in § 100-74) in accordance with the following requirements:
A. 
All off-street loading shall take place on the lot on which the establishment is located and shall not occupy any required off-street parking space. No loading shall be allowed from any curb, sidewalk or street.
B. 
A minimum of one off-street loading space shall be required for up to the first 7,000 square feet in each establishment, plus one space for each additional 10,000 square feet of the same.
C. 
The minimum dimensions of an off-street loading space shall be 15 feet in width, 40 feet in depth and 16 feet in overhead clearance.
D. 
Truck loading facilities shall be designed so that trucks will not back in or out of a street.
E. 
Each building shall have at least one designated trash and garbage pickup location separated from customer parking areas.
A. 
All exterior lighting fixtures on a lot shall conform in character to each other.
B. 
All parking areas, loading areas, accessways and pedestrianways shall be lighted when in use, so as to provide safe, glare-free conditions with a minimum of light directed off the site.
A. 
Sanitary sewer. Every sanitary sewage disposal system on each lot shall be connected to and discharge its sanitary sewage into an adequate public sewage system approved by the Township Engineer as well as the New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection.
B. 
Water.
(1) 
If water is to be supplied to the site from a well or wells (whether through a private, semiprivate or public system), the preliminary site plan submitted to the approving authority for approval shall comply with all of the requirements of § 100-73H and I with respect to submissions and standards. Water demand for commercial development shall be calculated from Appendix A annexed thereto;[1] provided, however, that the minimum demand for water shall not be less than the following:
Type of Use
Gallons per day
Retail
0.125 gallons per square foot of floor area
Office
0.125 gallons per square foot of floor area or 15 gallons per employee, whichever is greater.
Restaurant
10 gallons per patron
Drive-in restaurant
With no sanitary facilities
5 gallons per patron
With sanitary facilities
10 gallons per patron
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is located at the end of this chapter.
(2) 
Where information is available as to actual water usage in an existing water supply system, in lieu of the above, the average daily water usage over the prior one-year period by already existing development may be used.
C. 
Fire protection. The provisions of § 100-173 shall apply to developments within the COM District.
All lots having as a principal use a use described in § 100-74, except buildings used exclusively by federal, state, county and local government for public purposes, shall be subject to site plan review as set forth in § 100-73.
The design of all buildings on the same lot shall be coordinated to complement one another and to reflect a unified architectural theme. Such design theme shall address, but not by way of limitation, facades, rooflines, building materials and colors, details, lighting fixtures, amenities and street furniture.