A.
The site in general.
(1)
The proposed location of main and accessory
buildings on the site and their relation to one another, traffic circulation
within the site, height and bulk of buildings, provision of utilities
such as water, sewer, power and telephone, disposition or disposal
of solid and fluid wastes, provision of off-street parking space,
provision of buffer areas and other open spaces on the site and the
display of signs and external lighting shall be such that any development
will adequately handle pedestrian and vehicular traffic within the
site and in relation to the street system adjoining and will harmoniously
and satisfactorily fit in with contiguous land and buildings and adjacent
neighborhoods. Attention shall be paid to the preservation of historic
places and artifacts. In addition, the Joint Planning Board shall
consider the factors of drainage, road alignment and other engineering
aspects of such site plan and may require the review of such factors
by engineering authorities appointed by the Township.
(2)
The location and size of the use, the nature
and intensity of the operations involved in or conducted in connection
with it, the size of the site in relation to it and the location of
the site with respect to streets giving access to it shall be such
that it will be in harmony with the appropriate and orderly development
of the district in which it is located.
B.
Buildings.
(1)
Buildings or structures which are a part of
a present or future group or complex shall have a unity of character
and design. They shall be designed and constructed of materials which
help to achieve visual harmony with the surroundings. All exterior
walls visible to public or adjacent property shall be designed to
create a harmonious whole. Materials shall express their function
clearly and shall not appear as a material foreign to the rest of
the building or artificial to that intended. It is not to be inferred
that buildings must look alike or be of the same style to be harmonious.
Harmony can be achieved through the proper consideration of scale,
proportions, site planning, landscaping, materials and color. Buildings
which are of symbolic design for reasons of advertising and buildings
which are not compatible with the atmosphere and character will not
be allowed. Symbols attached to buildings will not be allowed unless
they are secondary in appearance to the building and are an aesthetic
asset to the building project and the neighborhood. The relationship
of forms to the use, texture and color of materials shall be such
as to create a harmonious whole. When the area involved forms an integral
part of, is immediately adjacent to or otherwise clearly affects the
future of any established section of the Township, the design scale
and location on the site shall enhance rather than detract from the
character, value and attractiveness of the surroundings.
(2)
Exterior lighting may be used to illuminate
a building and its grounds for safety purposes, but in an aesthetic
manner. Lighting is not to be used as a form of advertising in a manner
that is not compatible to the neighborhood or in a manner that draws
considerably more attention to the building or grounds at night than
in the day. Lighting following the form of the building or part of
the building will not be allowed if the overall effect will be garish
or detrimental to the environment. All fixtures used in exterior lighting
are to be selected for functional and aesthetic value.
(3)
All exterior structures, attached or not to
buildings, shall be in harmony with and secondary to the buildings.
Aesthetically, they shall be an asset to the site and to the neighborhood.
All vending machines or any facility dispensing merchandise or a service
shall be confined to a space built into the building or buildings
or enclosed in a separate structure compatible with the main building.
A.
Common recreation areas and open space ownership.
The landowner or developer shall provide for and establish an organization
for the ownership and maintenance of any common recreation areas and
open space, and such organization shall not be dissolved nor shall
it dispose of any of same by sale or otherwise (except to an organization
conceived and established to own and maintain the common recreation
areas and planned development open space) without the written consent
and approval of the governing body of the Township of River Vale.
Before dissolving and before disposing of any open space, the organization
shall first be required to offer to dedicate the open space to the
municipality, in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-43.
B.
Continuous maintenance of common recreation areas
and open space. In the event that such organization shall fail to
maintain the open space in reasonable order and condition, the Joint
Planning Board may serve written notice upon such organization or
upon the owners of the development setting forth the manner in which
the organization has failed to maintain the open space in reasonable
condition, and said notice shall include a demand that such deficiencies
of maintenance be cured within 35 days thereof and shall state the
date and place of a hearing thereon which shall be held within 15
days of the notice. At such hearing, the Joint Planning Board may
modify the terms of the original notice as to deficiencies and may
give a reasonable extension of time, not to exceed 65 days, within
which they shall be cured. If the deficiencies set forth in the original
notice or in the modification thereof shall not be cured within said
35 days or any permitted extension thereof, the municipality, in order
to preserve the open space and maintain the same for a period of one
year, may enter upon and maintain such land. Said entry and maintenance
shall not vest in the public any rights to use the open space except
when the same is voluntarily dedicated to the public by the owners.
Before the expiration of said year, the Joint Planning Board shall,
upon its initiative or upon the request of the organization theretofore
responsible for the maintenance of the open space, call a public hearing
upon 15 days' written notice to such organization and to the owners
of the development, to be held by the Joint Planning Board, at which
hearing such organization and the owners of the development shall
show cause why such maintenance by the Township shall not, at the
election of the Township, continue for a succeeding year. If the Joint
Planning Board shall determine that such organization is ready and
able to maintain said open space in reasonable condition, the Township
shall cease to maintain said open space at the end of said year. If
the Joint Planning Board shall determine such organization is not
ready and able to maintain said open space in a reasonable condition,
the Township may, in its discretion, continue to maintain said open
space during the next succeeding year, subject to a similar hearing
and determination in each year thereafter. The decision of the Joint
Planning Board in any such case shall constitute a final administrative
decision subject to judicial review. If the Joint Planning Board determines
that the proceedings mentioned hereinabove should be referred to the
Township Council, it is empowered to do so, and the Township Council
shall thereafter have the same powers and be subject to the same restrictions
as provided in this subsection.
C.
Cost of maintenance. The cost of such maintenance
by the Township shall be assessed pro rata against the properties
within the development that have a right of enjoyment of the open
space, in accordance with assessed value at the time of imposition
of the lien, and shall become a lien and tax on said properties and
be added to and be a part of the taxes to be levied and assessed thereon
and enforced and collected with interest by the same officers and
in the same manner as other taxes.
An application for preliminary plan approval
of a planned unit development shall require a public hearing. When
a hearing date has been set by the Joint Planning Board, the applicant
shall notify by registered or certified mail, at least 10 days prior
to the hearing, all property owners within 200 feet of the extreme
limits of the proposed planned development area. Said notice shall
state the date, time and place of hearing and that a brief description
of the proposed development has been filed with the Township Clerk
for public inspection. The applicant shall furnish proof of notification
to the Joint Planning Board at the time of the hearing. All notice
and publication requirements of the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A.
40:55D-1 et seq.) shall apply.
Before final approval of a planned development,
the Township shall require, in accordance with the standards and provisions
of Part 8 (Subdivision of Land) and Part 6 (Site Plan Review) the
furnishing of a performance guaranty for all of the proposed improvements
as provided thereby. A maintenance guarantee shall also be required
prior to the release of such bonds.
A.
Upon submission of an application for a planned development,
all applicants shall be required to submit specified fees in accordance
with the following schedule at the office of the Clerk of the Joint
Planning Board: filing fees, $750.
[Amended 8-26-2004 by Ord. No. 0-9-04]
B.
All other fees, costs, expenses and deposits for costs
shall be required as in the case of major subdivision approval under
Part 8 (Subdivision of Land) and Part 1 (Land Use Generally). In addition
to the foregoing, no final approval of a planned residential development
application or of a subdivision or site plan application required
by a planned residential development shall be granted, unless adequate
provision is made for the payment and reimbursement to the Township
of any engineering, inspection, planning and legal costs incurred
or to be incurred by the Joint Planning Board or by the Township Council
in connection with the planned development.
