The purpose of this chapter is to require approval of proposed site plans within the Township of Woolwich by the Planning Board or, in appropriate cases, by the Board of Adjustment, for the purposes set forth in the Municipal Land Use Law[1] and to exercise the power of site plan review and approval granted to municipalities of the State of New Jersey.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Woolwich Township Site Plan Ordinance of 1978."
A. 
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
The application form and all accompanying documents required by ordinance for approval of a subdivision plat, site plan, planned development, conditional use, zoning variance or permit to build in a mapped area or for a structure not related to a street.
BLOCK
An area bounded by streets.
CARTWAY
The portion of a street or alley intended for vehicular use.
CLEAR SIGHT DISTANCE
A line of unobstructed vision from a point 3.75 feet above the center line of a street to a point on the same center line.
CLEAR-SIGHT TRIANGLE
A triangular area at a street intersection with another street, an alley or a driveway, where vision from an automobile is unobstructed, formed by the intersecting street lines and a line drawn between points on the street center lines located a required distance in feet from the intersection of the center lines.
CUL-DE-SAC
A residential street with access closed at one end by a vehicular turnaround.
DAYS
Calendar days.
DEVELOPER
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or of any land proposed to be included in a proposed development, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.
DRAINAGE RIGHT-OF-WAY
The lands required for the installation of stormwater sewers or drainage ditches or required along a natural stream or watercourse for preserving the channel and providing for the flow of water therein to safeguard the public against flood damage.
[Amended 3-15-1999 by Ord. No. 99-6]
HIGH DENSITY
Those residential and zoning districts in which the density is equal to or greater than five or more dwelling units per acre.
LOT
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
LOW DENSITY
Those residential and zoning districts in which the density is equal or less than three dwelling units per acre.
MAINTENANCE GUARANTY
Any security, other than cash, which may be accepted by a municipality for the maintenance of any improvements required by this chapter.
MEDIUM DENSITY
Those residential and zoning districts in which the density is between three and five dwelling units per acre.
OBLIGOR
One that places himself under a legal obligation.
OFFICIAL MAP
A map adopted by ordinance pursuant to Article 5 of the Municipal Land Use Law.
ON-TRACT
Located on the property which is the subject of a development application or on a contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
OWNER
Any individual, firm, association, syndicate, copartnership or corporation having a proprietary interest in the land sought to be subdivided.
PERFORMANCE GUARANTY
Any security, which may be accepted by a municipality, including cash, provided that the municipality shall not require more than 10% of the total performance guaranty in cash.
PLANNED DEVELOPMENT
Planned unit development, planned unit residential development, residential cluster, planned commercial development or planned industrial development.
PLANNING BOARD
The Township Planning Board.
PRELIMINARY FLOOR PLANS AND ELEVATIONS
Architectural drawings prepared during early and introductory stages of the design of a project illustrating, in a schematic form, its scope, scale and relationship to its site and immediate environs.
REVIEWING BOARD
The Planning Board or Board of Adjustment, whichever Board has jurisdiction over the particular application.
SITE PLAN
A development plan of one or more lots on which is shown:
(1) 
The existing and proposed conditions of the lot, including but not necessarily limited to topography, vegetation, drainage, floodplains, marshes and waterways.
(2) 
The location of all existing and proposed buildings, drives, parking spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress, drainage facilities, utility services, landscaping, structures and signs, lighting and screening devices.
(3) 
Any other information that may be reasonably required in order to make an informed determination pursuant to this chapter.
STREET
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, lane, parkway, viaduct, alley or other way that is an existing state, county or municipal roadway, or a street or way shown upon a plat heretofore approved pursuant to law or approved by official action of the township or a street or way on a plat duly filed and recorded in the office of the County Recording Officer prior to the appointment of the Planning Board and the grant to such Board of the power to review plats, and includes the land between the street lines whether improved or unimproved and may comprise pavement, shoulders, gutters, sidewalks, parking areas and other areas within the street lines. For the purpose of this chapter, streets shall be classified as follows:
(1) 
ALLEYSMinor service streets used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of abutting properties.
(2) 
COLLECTOR STREETSThe street intended to move traffic between local streets to and from secondary arterials. A collector street serves a neighborhood or large subdivision.
(3) 
LOCAL STREETA street intended to provide access to other streets from individual properties and to provide right-of-way beneath it for sewer, water and storm drainage pipes.
(4) 
MAJOR ARTERIALSA street intended to move through traffic to and from such major attractors as Central Business Districts, regional shopping centers, colleges and/or universities, military installations, major industrial areas and similar traffic generators within the governmental unit; and/or as a route for traffic between communities or large areas. They should be designed so that no residential properties face onto them.
(5) 
MINOR ARTERIALSA street intended to collect and distribute traffic in a manner similar to primary arterials, except that these streets service minor traffic generating from areas such as community-commercial areas, primary and secondary educational plants, hospitals, major recreational areas, churches and offices, and/or designed to carry traffic from collector streets to the system of primary arterials. They should be designed so that no residential properties face onto them.
(6) 
SERVICE ROADSLow-volume roads parallel to and adjacent to arterials and highways that provide access and frontage to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
B. 
Whenever a term is used in this chapter which is defined in Chapter 203, Zoning, or in P.L. 1975, c. 291,[1] such term is intended to have the meaning set forth in the definition of such term found in such ordinance or statute, unless a contrary intention is clearly expressed from the context of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
A. 
Site plan review and approval shall be required before any change of use or before any excavation, removal of soil, clearing of a site or placing of any fill on lands contemplated for development, and, except as hereinafter provided, no building permit shall be issued for any building or use, or relocation or enlargement in size or other alteration of any building or change in use, of any building, including accessory structures, unless a site plan is first submitted and approved by the reviewing board, and no certificate of occupancy shall be given unless all construction and development conforms to the plans as approved by the reviewing board.
B. 
Subdivision or individual lot applications for detached one- or two-dwelling-unit buildings or any uses accessory thereto, such as a private garage or storage shed incidental to residential uses, shall be exempt from site plan review and approval, but this shall not limit the requirements for submission and approval of subdivision plats as otherwise required by municipal ordinances.
C. 
Site plan review and approval shall not be required for the construction, relocation, enlargement or other alteration of any nonresidential building to be used for agriculture purposes of a nonretail nature, provided that it will not normally be open to the public and provided that the site of said building is contiguous to farmland under the same ownership which is qualified for farmland assessment, but this shall not limit the requirement for submission and approval of subdivision plats as otherwise required by municipal ordinances.
D. 
The reviewing board may by resolution waive site plan approval requirements in any case where the board finds that the construction or alteration or change of occupancy or use does not affect existing circulation, drainage, relationship of buildings to each other, landscaping, buffering, lighting and other considerations of site plan review.
E. 
Site plan approval shall not be required for soil excavation governed by the township ordinance regulating soil excavation and sale.
F. 
Site plan review and approval shall not be required if exempted by law.
G. 
In the event any single property owner or consortium of property owners owns property located within the Woolwich Regional Center and Auburn Road Village, as defined in Part 2 of the Zoning Ordinance,[1] entitled "Woolwich Regional Center and Auburn Road Village Regulations and Design Standards," consisting of 15 acres or more, he/she or it may apply to the Joint Land Use Board for General Development Plan (GDP) approval for its portions of either Center and shall be subject to the provision of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-45 et seq. regarding GDP review and approvals. Both property owners or consortiums of property owners who obtain GDP approval and those who do not obtain a GDP approval for their property shall be required to obtain site plan and/or subdivision approval as may be required by law in addition to complying with the conditions of Part 2 of the Zoning Ordinance.[2]
[Added 12-15-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-17]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 203, Zoning, Part 2.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 203, Zoning, Part 2.
In reviewing any site plan, the Board shall consider:
A. 
Pedestrian and vehicular traffic movement within and adjacent to the site with particular emphasis on the provision and layout of parking areas, off-street loading and unloading, movement of people, goods and vehicles from access roads, within the site, between buildings and between buildings and vehicles. The Planning Board shall ensure that all parking spaces are usable and are safely and conveniently arranged. Access to the site from adjacent roads shall be designed so as to interfere as little as possible with traffic flow on these roads and to permit vehicles a rapid and safe ingress and egress to the site.
B. 
The design and layout of buildings and parking areas shall be reviewed so as to provide an aesthetically pleasing design and efficient arrangement. Particular attention shall be given to safety and fire protection, impact on surrounding development and contiguous and adjacent buildings and lands.
C. 
Adequate lighting shall be provided to ensure safe movement of persons and vehicles and for security purposes. Lighting standards shall be a type approved by the Planning Board. Directional lights shall be arranged so as to minimize glare and reflection on adjacent properties.
D. 
Buffering shall be located around the perimeter of the site to minimize headlights of vehicles, noise, light from structures, the movement of people and vehicles and to shield activities from adjacent properties when necessary. Buffering may consist of fencing, evergreens, shrubs, bushes, deciduous trees or combinations thereof to achieve the stated objectives.
E. 
Landscaping shall be provided as part of the overall site plan design and integrated into building arrangements, topography, parking and buffering requirements. Landscaping shall include trees, bushes, shrubs, ground cover, perennials, annuals, plants, sculpture, art and the use of building and paving materials in an imaginative manner.
F. 
Signs shall be designed so as to be aesthetically pleasing, harmonious with other signs on the site and located so as to achieve their purpose without constituting hazards to vehicles and pedestrians.
G. 
Storm drainage, sanitary waste disposal, water supply and garbage disposal shall be reviewed and considered. Particular emphasis shall be given to the adequacy of existing systems and the need for improvements, both on site and off site, to adequately carry runoff and sewage and to maintain an adequate supply of water at sufficient pressure.
H. 
Garbage disposal shall be adequate to ensure freedom from vermin and rodent infestation. All disposal systems shall meet municipal specifications as to installation and construction.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection I, pertaining to environmental elements, which immediately followed this subsection, was deleted 3-15-1999 by Ord. No. 99-6.
I. 
Chapter 203, Zoning, shall be complied with in all respects unless a variance is obtained.
J. 
Environmental considerations. Environmental elements relating to soil erosion, preservation of trees, protection of watercourses, topography, soil and wildlife shall be reviewed and the design of the plan shall minimize any adverse impact on these elements. Whenever possible, the natural features of a site are to be preserved, floodplains respected and excessive cut or fill avoided. In reviewing a site plan, the reviewing authority shall take into consideration the effect of the development upon all aspects of the environment as outlined in the environmental impact statement requirements, as well as the sufficiency of the applicant's proposal in his environmental impact statement for dealing with any immediate or projected adverse environmental effects. The reviewing authority may require, as a condition of approval of the application, that steps be taken to minimize the adverse environmental impact during and after construction, and no final approval shall be issued until all such requirements shall have been complied with or compliance is guaranteed by a performance guaranty meeting the standards, requirements and procedures set forth in § 149-13 of this chapter.
[Added 5-1-1989 by Ord. No. 89-8; amended 8-21-1989 by Ord. No. 89-16]