[Added 12-13-1990 by Ord. No. 63-90]
Whereas it has been determined that there is a public demand and need for nursing homes, convalescent homes and rehabilitation homes designed to meet the special needs of the aged, the ill and those persons in need of rehabilitation and whereas such homes may be detrimental to the surrounding area, may create traffic problems, may create undue burdens upon municipal services, such as fire, police, hospital, sanitation and other services, and must be peculiarly constructed to meet the needs of the community and for the best protection of the health, safety and welfare of the occupants thereof, it is hereby determined that it is essential that the Township safeguard the community at large and the residents of the homes in particular by permitting the erection of the homes as a conditional use only as hereinafter set forth.
A. The term "nursing home" is used in this section to designate a premises as defined in §
220-4.
B. No nursing home shall be erected in the Township constructed and furnished so as to provide facilities, lodging and care for fewer than 50 nor more than 150 patients, and no nursing home shall be erected having more than 150 patient rooms nor fewer than 50 patient rooms. A "patient room" is defined to be a room housing one or more patients of the nursing home.
C. No nursing home shall be constructed or erected in the Township for the housing or care of the mentally ill, persons addicted to drugs or alcohol or persons suffering from communicable diseases.
D. All nursing homes must be constructed in such manner as to meet the complete approval of the State of New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies and in full compliance with all of the Township regulations governing construction, health and sanitation of buildings.
E. No nursing home shall be permitted or constructed in the Township except in the RSCS Residential Senior Citizen Zone. In addition, no nursing home shall be situated on a site not serviced by water and sewer facilities maintained and operated by a public entity or the municipality.
F. No nursing home shall be constructed on any lot or tract of land in the RSCS Zone unless the lot or tract of land is under one and the same ownership as the nursing home and each lot or tract on which a nursing home is situated must meet all of the following site requirements:
(1) Minimum land area shall be three acres for a fifty-bed nursing home; for one-hundred-bed nursing homes, four acres; and for one-hundred-fifty-bed nursing homes, five acres.
(2) Front lot width: minimum 200 feet.
(3) Building setback: minimum 100 feet.
(4) Side yards: minimum 25 feet each side.
(5) Percent lot coverage by building: 15%.
(6) Off-street parking, 1/2 space per bed and one space per employee, including doctors, nurses, orderlies and management personnel and in no event less than 10 spaces for employees and management personnel.
(7) Rear yard: minimum 50 feet.
(8) Each site plan must show an adequate driveway for unobstructed ambulance entrance to an exit in the building and the driveway shall be such that the ambulance can enter and leave the premises without danger of being blocked by other traffic or parked vehicles with sufficient room provided at the exit for turnaround and loading and unloading of the ambulance. Each nursing home shall have a covered ambulance entrance with an awning or canopy sufficient to fully protect the patient from adverse weather conditions, such as rain or snow, erected in such manner as to permit loading and unloading of the patient without exposure of the patient or the ambulance crew to the elements.
(9) No nursing home shall be erected in the Township in excess of two stories in height exclusive of basement. The basement may be used for utilities, storage and service facilities, excepting kitchen, and the basement under no circumstances may be used for the housing of patients or for recreation area or in any other manner necessitating the keeping of patients therein. The basement, however, may house laboratories, X-rays or other facilities used merely for the purpose of examination of patients not requiring their being in the basement area for more than casual examination or testing.
G. No nursing home shall be permitted to operate as a business in the Township, unless merely for the purpose of examination of patients not requiring their being in the basement area for more than casual examination or testing.
H. Additional standards and regulations.
(1) A safe and convenient system of drives, walkways, access areas and parking facilities must be provided to meet the needs of the employees, doctors, management, visitors, ambulances, delivery vehicles and fire, police or other emergency vehicles.
(2) There shall be adequate lighting to ensure the safety of all persons at all times at the nursing homes.
(3) All nursing homes shall be built of fireproof construction. Such structures shall consist of walls, partitions, stairways, floors, ceilings, roofs and exitways constructed wholly of fireproof materials for fire resistance as specified in Table 5 of the BOCA Code. All such fireproof buildings shall be classified as Type 1A and 1B (as per BOCA Section 215.0 Type 1, Fireproof construction). Structures shall include all exterior and interior walls, floors, ceilings, beams, porches, stairs, doors, windows and main structural features of the building, as well as elevator shafts.
(4) Architectural plans showing a rendering in sufficient detail to indicate floor plan, exits in relation to sidewalk, driveways and service areas, overall dimensions of building or buildings, height, outward appearance, number of rooms, their location and size, elevator locations and fire escape locations shall be submitted with the application for special permit. However, detailed structural drawings and material lists shall be submitted to the Building Inspector after the special permit is granted and prior to any issuance of a building permit by the Building Inspector. At such time, the Building Inspector shall ascertain whether or not the building plans and specifications meet with all the requirements of this chapter as well as other applicable ordinances.
(5) The nursing homes design shall be functional and adequately provide for the health, welfare and safety of the patients, employees, visitors and general public.
(6) Landscaping should be such as may be easily maintained and contribute to the overall appearance and use of the site.
(7) In that kitchens constitute a hazardous area, they shall be isolated insofar as possible from other quarters. No residential or patient rooms shall be permitted from the second floor immediately over the kitchen area.
(8) Kitchen exhaust fans, hoods and metal ducts shall be equipped with Underwriters Laboratories Inc. approved automatic CO2 extinguishers.
(9) Elevators, dumbwaiters, laundry chutes and other service shafts shall be fireproof and all doors in such shafts shall be metal or equivalent as may be approved in writing by the Fire Inspector of the Township.
(10) All nursing homes shall be equipped with an Underwriters Laboratories Inc. approved smoke and fire detector alarm system.
(11) All fire escapes shall be as approved by the Fire Commissions as to location and shall be constructed wholly of steel.
(12) All two-story nursing homes shall have an elevator. The elevator shall be of sufficient size to accommodate a standard wheel-type patient stretcher, together with not fewer than two additional persons and shall be so located as to permit free and easy access to and from the elevator for stretcher borne patients.
(13) The exterior construction and finish of all two-story nursing homes shall be such as to conform to a residential appearance rather than factory or institutional appearance, so as to conform to the residential zone in which they are located. The site plan shall be accompanied by architectural renderings indicating the architectural appearances of the building.
(14) No patients shall be housed on the second floor of a two-story nursing home who are in such bedridden and helpless condition as to be unable to walk from their bed to the farthest fire exit on the floor. All such patients must be housed on the first floor only.