[Amended 8-11-1999 by Ord. No. 10-1999]
A.
Block 24, Lot 24, as further described in Schedule A,[1] is a tract of land that is 100.74 acres and located in the easterly portion of the Borough of North Haledon immediately contiguous to the boundary line of the Borough of Hawthorne. The tract is unique in many significant ways. It is a large tract consisting of approximately 100 acres, and it has very limited access for vehicular traffic. Because of the manner in which development has occurred in the Borough of Hawthorne contiguous to the tract on its easterly boundary, direct vehicular access is currently unavailable into Hawthorne. Much of the tract on its southerly boundary as well as its westerly boundary is contiguous to established and developed one-family homes fronting on minor, substandard streets that are not amenable to the influx of significant volumes of traffic. Effectively speaking, in order to make the development of the India Quarry tract compatible with the existing development character of the single-family zones contiguous to it, all of the traffic from the proposed multifamily zones to be generated by development on the tract must be oriented away from the existing road pattern of the Manor Road, Terrace Avenue, and Ridge Road areas. Additionally, the former utilization of the property as an active quarry for many decades has left a pervasive geophysical impact on the tract, with exposed cliff areas in excess of 80 feet running through substantial portions of the tract. Additionally, a man-made lake in the crater of the former quarry consisting of 15.52 acres has remained. Furthermore, the remaining areas of the property have unique attributes and topographic characteristics that further inhibit the options for development on the tract that includes 27.45 acres with slopes of greater than 15%. The India Quarry tract has been zoned for industrial development until December 1992 when the governing body determined that an industrial classification was no longer appropriate. At the time the industrial classification was established for the tract, it was an active quarry and the zone designation was suitable to the actual utilization. The quarry activities bridged the municipal boundary. Part of the quarry was located in Hawthorne and part in North Haledon. Access for vehicular traffic from Hawthorne is no longer available and, if the subject property were developed industrially, it would introduce into the residential areas of North Haledon contiguous to the tract industrial vehicular traffic that would be inappropriate both to the district as well as to the road system. The governing body finds and determines that the site was not realistically amenable nor suitable for industrial development and that its future potential and developability for industrial purposes was less in furtherance of the objectives of the Master Plan of the municipality than its rezoning as hereinafter provided would be. In December 1992, a significant portion of this property was rezoned into an Affordable Housing Townhouse District. Essentially, the portion of the tract so rezoned was the portion that is on the northerly and easterly and northwesterly boundaries of the lake and that portion of the tract that is contiguous to Hawthorne, as further described in Schedule B.[2] The remaining portion of Block 24, Lot 24, on the easterly boundary contiguous to the Ridge Road area is intended to be rezoned to a single-family district classification of RA-1 and on the southerly boundary contiguous to the Manor Road and Terrace Avenue areas was rezoned to a single-family zone district classification of RA-3.
B.
On December 16, 1998, the India Quarry tract was further rezoned. The primary purpose of this rezoning was to include all of Block 24, Lot 24, in the Affordable Housing Townhouse District-1 Zone, except for that portion of the tract in the Ridge Road area consisting of 10.5 ± acres that was to remain in the RA-1 Zone, as further described in Schedule C.[3] This rezoning would not only facilitate development of the India Quarry tract as an affordable housing district but would create a more effective buffer between development within the India Quarry site and the surrounding single-family homes in the Manor Road and Terrace Avenue areas. The overall number of housing units was also reduced. Furthermore, a 3.5-acre ± area of land between proposed road B and the property's westerly boundary as shown on Concept Plan D and as more particularly described in the metes and bounds in Schedule D[4] shall be a buffer area in which no buildings shall be constructed.
C.
The Borough of North Haledon essentially is a one-family developed community. In recent years, our courts and the State Legislature determined that there is a need for a variety of affordable housing throughout the state. The Fair Housing Act was adopted by the Legislature in response to the Mount Laurel decisions of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Pursuant to the Fair Housing Act, the Council on Affordable Housing has been created, and its purpose is to assure that a realistic opportunity for a variety of housing will be provided in municipalities that have an obligation to meet certain regional and local needs. COAH has determined that the Borough of North Haledon has an obligation to provide such a variety of housing. In order to meet, in part, that obligation, the Borough has heretofore adopted an Affordable Housing Townhouse District-1 Zone with Mount Laurel inclusionary units as a component. The governing body determines that, in order to further meet that obligation, the India Quarry site is appropriate for townhouse construction with affordable housing set-aside components. While the governing body finds and determines that the India Quarry site is appropriate for townhouse development, it also finds and determines that this site should be developed as a townhouse development, but in such a way as to not deleteriously affect the existing residential developed character of the areas contiguous to the tract.
D.
Accordingly, the rezoning of the tract for townhouse development provides for disparate zone district treatment of the entire tract so that a portion of it contiguous to the established one-family districts will be zoned for development consistent with and congruent to those existing developed districts and the townhouse development will be limited on the site to those portions of the tract that are appropriate to such use without a deleterious, negative impact upon the established zoning pattern and characteristics of the community. The article, therefore, has as its intent and purpose, and in furtherance of the objectives of the Master Plan, the encouragement and provision for the continuity of the established one-family character of the community. The governing body nevertheless determined and finds that it is appropriate that, on the India Quarry site, townhouse construction should be permitted with set-aside units. The governing body has further determined that the India Quarry site is also appropriate for the inclusion of affordable housing units that meet the spirit and intent of the Fair Housing Act. The governing body, accordingly, has provided in this district an enhanced permitted density factor in order to make it economically feasible for the developer to build Mount Laurel units. At the same time, the governing body determines that the within article should contain appropriate constraints and regulations that will provide for appropriate development of this environmentally sensitive tract.
E.
The Borough of North Haledon adopted an amendment to the Master Plan Housing Element. The amendment to the Master Plan Housing Element determined that the India Quarry tract was a suitable site for townhouse development of 301 units with a Mount Laurel set-aside of 53 units.
F.
The governing body finds that a portion of Block 24, Lot 24, consisting of 90.9 ± acres, as described in Schedule B,[5] shall be included in the Affordable Housing Townhouse District-1 Zone, and the maximum number of appropriate units is 287, of which 53 units shall be Mount Laurel set-aside units.
[5]
Editor's Note: Schedule B is on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.
G.
The governing body further determines that the remaining portion of Block 24, Lot 24, consisting of 10.5 ± acres, as described in Schedule C,[6] shall be included in the RA-1 District, and the appropriate number of single-family homes is 14.
[6]
Editor's Note: Schedule C is on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.
H.
The governing body has provided an enhanced density of the entire Block 24, Lot 24, in order to make it economically feasible for a developer to build Mount Laurel housing. The zoning reclassification of the tract, for a total of 301 units, consisting of 287 townhouse units and 14 detached one-family units, is an inducement to make it realistically possible for this tract to generate 53 affordable housing Mount Laurel set-aside units.
I.
At the same time, the governing body determines that the within article should contain appropriate constraints and regulations that will provide for appropriate development of this tract so as to be compatible with the surrounding single-family home district, while conforming to the rules and regulations of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing.