This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Borough of Raritan
Comprehensive Land Use and Development Ordinance of 1982."
This chapter is enacted in accordance with the provisions of
the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 to 40:55D-92, inclusive,
and the amendments thereof and supplements thereto, in order to:
A. Encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use or development
of all lands in this state in a manner which will promote the public
health, safety, morals and general welfare.
B. Secure safety from fire, flood, panic and other natural and man-made
disasters.
C. Provide adequate light, air and open space.
D. Ensure that the development of individual municipalities does not
conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities,
the county and the state as a whole.
E. Promote the establishment of appropriate population densities and
concentrations that will contribute to the well-being of persons,
neighborhoods, communities and regions and the preservation of the
environment.
F. Encourage the appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds
by the coordination of public development with land use policies.
G. Provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of
agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial and industrial
uses and open space, both public and private, according to their respective
environmental requirements, in order to meet the needs of all New
Jersey citizens.
H. Encourage the location and design of transportation routes which
will promote the free flow of traffic while discouraging location
of such facilities and routes which result in congestion or blight.
I. Promote a desirable visual environment through creative development
techniques and good civic design and arrangements.
J. Promote the conservation of open space and valuable natural resources
and prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through
improper use of land.
K. Encourage planned unit developments which incorporate the best features
of design and relate the type, design and layout of residential, commercial,
industrial and recreational development to the particular site.
L. Encourage senior citizen community housing construction consistent
with provisions permitting other residential uses of a similar density
in the same zoning district.
M. Encourage coordination of the various public and private procedures
and activities shaping land development with a view of lessening the
cost of such development and to the more efficient use of land.
N. Promote utilization of renewable energy resources.
O. Promote the maximum practicable recovery and recycling of recyclable
materials from municipal solid waste through the use of planning practices
designed to incorporate the state recycling plan goals and to complement
municipal recycling programs.
P. Protect and enhance the established character and the social and
economic well-being of both private and public property within the
limits of the Borough of Raritan.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter,
they shall be held to be the minimum requirements to serve the aforesaid
purposes and the community development objectives hereinafter set
forth. Where the provisions of this chapter impose greater restrictions
or higher standards than those of any statute, other ordinance or
regulation, the provisions of this chapter shall govern. Where the
provisions of any statute, other ordinance or regulation impose greater
restrictions or higher standards than this chapter, the provisions
of such statute, ordinance or regulation shall govern.
[Amended 7-26-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
Wherever the requirements of this chapter or parts of this chapter
are inconsistent with all or parts of other ordinances of the Borough
of Raritan, the more stringent of the two requirements shall apply.
The Planning Board shall have the right of decision in the event of
disagreement between an applicant and another board or agency of the
Borough as to which of the two conflicting requirements is the more
stringent.
This chapter may be amended, changed, modified or repealed in
the manner provided by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., and any amendments
and supplements thereto.