The purpose of this Part 2 is to provide zoning regulations and design standards that are to be used in combination with the open space and circulation plans to promote the creation and sustainability of mixed-use walkable communities and neighborhoods along the Route 322 Corridor and within the Auburn Road area of Woolwich Township, New Jersey. The zoning regulations and design standards address seven development sectors within the Woolwich Regional Center and the Auburn Road Village. Sectors have been identified and are designed to promote stability and sustainability to the concept of the community of the 21st Century as they are designed to accommodate the growth of both regional and local services, some pedestrian-oriented, some automobile-oriented, and provide employment, civic and residential choices for communities of up to 4,246 residential units and roughly five million to six million square feet of retail/commercial space.
A.
B.
The regulations and standards within this Part 2 address location, mixture and intensities of permitted uses, as well as site planning and architectural controls designed to promote vibrant urban form consistent with the visioning process undertaken by Woolwich Township officials, civic leaders and citizens.
C.
This is not a document about architectural style. By style we mean such descriptive terms as "colonial," "victorian," "modern," "post-modern," etc. While each of us may have a collective memory of a place or places where such styles have elicited positive experiences of community, the history of human settlement instructs us that basic design considerations independent of "architectural style" are determinants of successful human scale community building. Good design promotes healthy community of place. The tenets of good design expressed in this document are based on seven principles:
(1)
Scale: the visual arrangement and massing of buildings, voids and landscape elements that promote walkability and other alternative forms of transportation, a sense of place and a human scale rather than auto-oriented suburban sprawl.
(2)
Rhythm: a pattern of facade and streetscape elements that discourages monotony and creates an inviting pedestrian environment and visual compatibility with buildings and places.
(3)
Edges: physical elements that define a place and provide transition to adjacent areas.
(4)
Colors and materials: the visible components of buildings and streetscapes, including siding, trim, doors, windows, gutters, downspouts, roofing and all other architectural and site elements. They must be in context with their environment and must be sustainable, low maintenance, durable and tactile.
(5)
Density: the proximity at which a community lives, works and plays together.
(6)
Choice: the provision of housing, employment, retail, recreation and other services for people of all ages and lifestyles.
(7)
Diversity: a variation of scale, rhythm, materials, density and choice that provides an array of options for all people.
D.
The local visioning process has identified a series of goal statements, as outlined below, which are to be considered in the review of all development applications involving lands located within the mapped Woolwich Regional Center and the Auburn Road Village. Requests for variances, waivers and/or deviations from the ordinance provisions of this code shall be evaluated in the context of the impact the same may have on the following goal statements:
(1)
Promote traditional neighborhood developments where the physical, visual and spatial characteristics are established and reinforced through the consistent use of compatible urban design and architectural design elements. Such elements shall relate characteristics of an individual structure or development to other existing or planned structures or developments in a harmonious manner, resulting in an overall development pattern and streetscape.
(2)
Encourage innovative mixed-use and multiple-use plans so that the housing demand of varying age groups, families and income levels may be met by greater variety of type, design and layout of dwellings and by the construction and more efficient use of open space. To that end, the goal is to create smaller lots than currently exist in Woolwich Township to accommodate a mixture of single-family detached units, twins, townhouses, condominium flats and apartment flats above commercial and office uses which are to be integrated into the plan.
(3)
Promote the creation of neighborhoods and districts that are distinct and identifiable in landscape, architecture and public space elements.
(4)
Encourage the development of "sustainable" community identified by economic and fiscal balance, social integration and maximization of water and energy conservation through the use of passive and active technologies.
(5)
Encourage land development practices that will promote the public health, safety, and welfare by creating neo-traditional land use alternatives to conventional, use-segregated "suburban sprawl," such as larger-lot subdivisions and strip commercial developments.
(6)
Discourage uses and design patterns that tend to contribute to traffic congestion through the dependence on private automobiles.
(7)
Establish a comprehensive street and path network based on the principles of the grid to accommodate an integrated multimodal transportation system with the intent of providing a safe pedestrian environment and pedestrian paths.
(8)
Alleviate undue traffic congestion by reducing excessive sprawl of development and the segregation of land uses which result in the inefficient use of land and which necessitate the use of private vehicles.
(9)
Encourage creative green technologies integrated into public spaces and private development parcels to achieve flood control, stormwater recharge and water filtration in an effort to preserve an indispensable natural resource.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection D(10), regarding directing of additional development through transfer of development rights (TDRs), which immediately followed, was repealed 6-5-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-14.
