The purpose of this chapter is to establish a general uniform
set of performance and design standards to guide and assist the Township
and future developers in the preparation, submission and review of
all development proposals. Such standards shall be applicable to all
site plans, subdivisions and other development applications to come
before an approving authority in the Township. These general requirements
are supplementary to the site plan and subdivision design standard
previously outlined in this chapter and shall constitute the minimum
performance standards applicable to all future growth and development
in Ocean Township.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1997-10; Ord. No. 2003-50]
A.
Conformance to standards and conditions required. Any application
for development shall demonstrate conformance with design standards
that will encourage sound development patterns within the Township.
Where an official map and/or master plan have been adopted, the development
shall conform to the proposals and conditions shown thereon. The streets,
school sites, etc., shown on the officially adopted master plan shall
be considered in the approval of plats. In accordance with good design
practices, extreme deviations from rectangular lot shapes and straight
lot lines shall not be allowed unless made necessary by special topographical
conditions or other special conditions acceptable to the approving
authority. All improvements shall be installed and connected with
the existing facilities or installed in required locations to enable
future connections with approved systems or contemplated systems and
shall be adequate to handle all present and probable future development.
B.
Development in areas with environmental limitations. Land which is
identified in the master plan as having severe or moderate soil characteristics,
particularly as the land relates to flooding, improper drainage, wetlands,
adverse soil conditions, adverse topography, utility easements or
other features which can reasonably be expected to be harmful to the
health, safety and general welfare of the present or future inhabitants
of the development and/or its surrounding areas shall not be subdivided,
and site plans shall not be approved unless adequate and acceptable
methods are formulated by the developer to solve the problems by methods
meeting this chapter and all other regulations.
C.
Frontage on street. Every principal building shall be built upon a lot with frontage upon a street which has been improved in accordance with the appropriate Township standards or for which such improvement has been insured by the posting of a performance guaranty pursuant to Chapter 340, Subdivision and Site Plan Review, of the Code of the Township of Ocean.
D.
Development on municipal boundaries. Whenever a development abuts
or crosses a municipal boundary, access to those lots within the Township
shall be from within the Township as a general rule. Wherever access
to a development is required across land in an adjoining community
as the exception, the approving authority may require documentation
that such access is legally established and that the access road is
adequately improved.
E.
Principal use. No lot shall have erected upon it more than one principal
permitted use. No more than one principal building shall be permitted
on one lot, except that commercial uses, shopping centers, apartment
and condominium projects and industrial complexes, all receiving site
plan approval, may be permitted to have more than one building on
a lot in accordance with standards of the zoning district in which
they are located.
F.
Local utility services. The provisions of this chapter shall not
apply to utility distribution or collection lines for water, gas,
sewerage, electric and telephone services which are located in a public
street or which provide service to private property.
G.
Moving, selling of topsoil. No persons, firm or corporation shall
strip, excavate or otherwise move topsoil for sale or for use other
than on the premises from which the same shall be taken, except in
connection with the construction or alteration of a building on such
premises and excavating or grading incidental thereto.
H.
Irregularly shaped lots. In the case of irregularly shaped lots,
the minimum lot width requirements as specified in the schedule shall
be measured at the rear line of the required front yard area, provided
that in no case shall the frontage or the distance between side lot
lines be reduced to less than 50% of the minimum frontage requirement.
I.
Front yards. All yard areas facing on a public street shall be considered
as front yards and shall conform to the minimum front yard requirements
for particular district.
J.
Corner lots. Corner lots shall provide the minimum front yard requirements
for the respective zone for both intersecting streets.
K.
Right-of-way widening. Where a building lot has frontage upon a street
which on the master plan or official map of the Township is contemplated
for right-of-way widening, the required front yard shall be measured
from such proposed future right-of-way. Except as otherwise authorized
in this chapter, the extraction or mining of mineral resources other
than sand, gravel, clay, and ilmenite is prohibited.
L.
Protection of natural features. Natural features, such as trees,
brooks, swamps, hilltops and views, shall be preserved whenever possible.
On individual lots, care shall be taken to preserve selected trees
to enhance soil stability and the landscape treatment of the area.
M.
Vision clearance at intersections. At the intersection or interception
of two or more streets, no hedge, fence or wall, other than a single
post or tree not exceeding one square foot in cross-section area,
which is higher than three feet above curb level, nor any obstruction
to vision, shall be permitted in the triangular area formed by the
intersecting street lines and a line joining points each 25 feet distance
from such intersection along the street lines.
N.
Exceptions to height limitations. The height limitations of title
shall not apply to any of the following structures, provided that
such structures are compatible with uses in the immediate vicinity;
antennas which do not exceed a height of 200 feet and which are accessory
to an otherwise permitted use; silos, barns and other agricultural
structures; church spires, cupolas, domes, monuments, water towers,
fire observation towers, electric transmission lines and supporting
structures, windmills, smokestacks, derricks, conveyors, flagpoles
and masts, or aerials, solar energy facilities, chimneys and similar
structures to be placed above the roof level and not intended for
human occupancy.
O.
Energy conservation. In reviewing any application for development,
including applications for site plan, conditional use, variance, and/or
subdivision approval, the municipal agency having jurisdiction shall
also consider the manner in which the plan of the site provides for
or promotes conservation of energy. The applicant shall take conservation
of energy into consideration in his/her proposed development to the
extent practicable or appropriate to the use and location.
P.
Grading and filling.
(1)
General standards. The regulations of grading and filling promote
the protection of environmental interests and protect the rights of
adjacent property owners. All grading and filling operations are to
be closely reviewed to protect the interest stated.
(2)
Regulations. Before fill is applied, topsoil shall be stripped, stored
temporarily on site and redistributed on site. A minimum of four inches
of topsoil shall be applied to all stripped and/or filled areas. Dirt
(i.e., topsoil and fill) added to a site from off-site, shall be approved
by the Township's inspector prior to the depositing of same on the
subject property. If any such dirt is deemed contaminated, or does
not meet the needs for the use intended, the Township's inspector
may require appropriate tests, at the expense of the applicant, developer
or property owner, or any other remedial measures deemed necessary
and/or may not approve the dirt for the intended use. In addition,
the following conditions must also be met:
(a)
The smallest amount of bare ground shall be exposed for the
shortest time feasible.
(b)
Temporary ground cover, such as mulch, shall be used and permanent
vegetative cover such as sod, shall be provided.
(c)
Methods to prevent erosion and trap sediments shall be employed
(silt fence).
(d)
Fill shall be stabilized to accepted engineering standards.
(e)
All federal, state or local permits must be obtained.
(f)
Applicant must provide a justification for the necessity of
requiring fill and/or extensive grading.
(3)
All lots where fill material is deposited shall have clean fill and/or
topsoil deposited which will be graded to allow complete surface drainage
of the lot into local storm sewer systems or natural drainage course.
No regrading of a lot shall be permitted which would create or aggravate
water stagnation or a drainage problem on a tract or adjacent properties
or which will violate the provisions of the soil erosion and sediment
control, soil removal and redistribution and flood plan provisions
of this chapter. Grading shall be limited to areas shown on an approved
site plan or subdivision. Any topsoil disturbed on approved excavation
and grading operations shall be redistributed throughout the site.
Q.
Outdoor display of goods for sale in certain commercial districts.
Commercial uses in the C-1 and C-2 Districts may display goods for
sales purposes or store goods for sale on the premises outside of
the principal structure in which such use is carried on, provided
that such outdoor selling or storage areas shall not encroach upon
the required yard areas or the required off-street parking areas for
the zone in which located, and further provided that the area set
aside for such outdoor selling or storage shall not exceed an area
equal to the gross floor area of the principal building. In the calculation
of the percentage of the lot occupied by buildings and required off-street
parking area, the area of such outdoor selling and storage areas shall
be included in the same manner as the area of the principal building.
The area to be used for any such outdoor selling or storage areas
shall be appropriately set forth in the time of application and such
areas shall be subject to the issuance of a supplementary zoning permit.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit the outdoor
storage of goods in transit or goods intended for sale at other than
the point.
R.
Prohibited uses. The following uses are expressly prohibited in any
zoning district in the Township:
(1)
Any use which emits excessive or objectionable amounts of dust, fumes,
noise, odor, smoke, vibration or waste products.
(2)
The use of any premises or building in such a manner that the health,
morals, safety or welfare of the community may be endangered.
(3)
The following specific uses:
(a)
The manufacture of heavy chemicals, such as, but not limited
to, mineral acids or other corrosives, ammonia, caustic soap and sulfuric
acid; the manufacture of basic or semi-finished chemicals, such as
cellulose products, resins, dye stuffs, glue, vegetable, animal or
mineral fats or oils, explosives combustible gases, soap and detergents,
fertilizers derived from animal origins, asphalt and tar products;
the manufacture or production of metals and alloys in ingot from;
the manufacture or production of cement, plaster, cork and their constituents,
matches, paints, oils, varnishes, lacquer, rubber or like products;
the slaughter or processing of animal or fowl.
(b)
Mobile home parks.
(c)
Junkyards, automobile wrecking yards or disassembly yards, or
the storing of bailing of scrap metal, paper, rags or other strip
material.
(d)
Migrant labor camp.
(e)
Power forge, riveting, hammering, punching, chipping, drawing,
rolling or tumbling, of iron, steel, brass or copper, except as a
necessary incident of manufacture of which these processes form a
minor part, and which are carried on without objectionable noise outside
the plant.
(f)
Hog farm.
(g)
Incineration, reduction, storage or dumping or slaughterhouse
refuse, rancid fats, garbage, dead animals or offal.
(4)
Any resource recovery facility designed, constructed or operated
for the purposes of burning and/or incineration of solid waste for
the purposes of producing electricity and/or thermal energy or for
the recovery of metals and other materials for reuse, within a three-mile
radius of a public school facility within the Township.
S.
Residential dwellings on 3.2 acre lots may be permitted in PA and
FO Zones, provided that:[1]
(1)
The dwelling unit will be the principal residence of the property
owner or a member of the immediate family of the property owner;
(2)
The individual whose principal residence the dwelling unit will be
has not developed a dwelling unit under this chapter within the previous
five years;
(3)
The parcel of land on which the dwelling is to be located has been
in the continuous ownership since February 7, 1979, of the person
whose principal residence the dwelling unit will be, a member of that
person's immediate family, or a partnership or corporation in which
members of that person's immediate family collectively own more than
a majority interest in such partnership or corporation; and
(4)
The person whose principal residence the dwelling unit will be has
resided in the Pinelands for at least five years and that person or
one or more members of that person's immediate family has resided
in the Pinelands for a total of at least 20 different years.
T.
Residential dwelling units on one-acre lots may be permitted in the
PA and FO Zones, provided that:[2]
(2)
The lot to be developed existed as of February 8, 1979, or was created
as a result of an approval granted by the Pinelands Commission pursuant
to the interim rules and regulations prior to January 14, 1981;
(3)
The applicant qualifies for and receives from the Township a variance from the 3.2 acre lot size requirement set forth in Subsection S of this section;
(4)
The applicant purchases and redeems 0.25 Pinelands development credits;
and
A homeowner's association may be established for the purposes
of owning and assuming maintenance responsibilities for the common
open space and common property designed within a development, provided
that the approving authority is satisfied that the organization will
have an equivalent number of members to reasonably expect a perpetuation
of the organization in a manner enabling it to meet its obligations
and responsibilities in owning and maintaining any property for the
benefit of owners or residents of the development. If established,
the organization shall incorporate the following provisions:
A.
Membership by all property owners, condominium owners, stockholders
under a cooperative development and other owners of property or interest
in the project shall be mandatory. The required membership and the
responsibilities upon the members shall be in writing between the
organization and each member, in the form of a covenant, with each
agreeing to liability for his/her pro rata share of the organization's
cost.
B.
The organization shall be responsible for liability insurance, taxes,
maintenance and any other obligations assumed by the organization
and shall hold the municipality harmless from any liability. The organization
shall not be dissolved and shall not dispose of any open space or
property by sale or otherwise, except to an organization conceived
and established to own and maintain the open space or property for
the benefit of such development, and thereafter such organization
shall not be dissolved or dispose of any of its open space or property
without first offering to dedicate the same to the municipality(ies)
wherein the land is located.
C.
The assessment levied by the organization upon each member may become
a lien on each member's property. The organization shall be allowed
to adjust the assessment to meet changing needs.
D.
The organization shall clearly describe in its bylaws all the rights
and obligations of each tenant and owner, including a copy of the
covenant, model deeds and articles of incorporation of the organization
and the fact that every tenant and property owner shall have the right
to use all common properties. These shall be set forth as a condition
of approval and shall be submitted prior to the granting of final
approval.
E.
The articles of incorporation, covenants, bylaws, model deeds and
other legal instruments shall ensure that control of the organization
shall be transferred to the members based on a percentage of the dwelling
units sold and/or occupied and shall clearly indicate that, in the
event that such organization shall fail to maintain the common open
space or common property in reasonable order and condition, the Township
may serve written notice upon such organization or upon the owners
of the development, setting forth the manner in which the organization
has failed to maintain the common open space or common property in
reasonable condition, and said notice shall include a demand that
such deficiencies of maintenance be cured within 35 days thereof and
shall state the date and place of a hearing thereon, which shall be
held within 15 days of the notice. At such hearing, the designated
Township body or officer, as the case may be, may modify the terms
of the original notice as to deficiencies and may give a reasonable
extension of time not to exceed 65 days within which they shall be
cured. If the deficiencies set forth in the original notice or in
the modification thereof shall not be cured within the said 35 days
or any permitted extension thereof, the Township, in order to preserve
the common open space and common property and maintain the same for
a period of one year, may enter upon and maintain such land. Said
entry and maintenance shall not vest in the public any rights to such
common open space and common property except when the same is voluntarily
dedicated to the public by the owners. Before the expiration of said
year, the Township shall, upon its initiative or upon the request
of the organization theretofore responsible for the maintenance of
the common open space and common property, call a public hearing,
upon 15 days' written notice to such organization and to the owners
of the development, to be held by the Township, at which hearing such
organization and the owners of the development shall show cause why
such maintenance by the Township shall not, at the election of the
Township, continue for a succeeding year. If the Township shall determine
that such organization is not ready and able to maintain said open
space and property in a reasonable condition, the Township may, in
its discretion, continue to maintain said open space and property
during the next succeeding year, subject to a similar hearing and
determination in each year thereafter. The decision of the Township
in any such case shall constitute a final administrative decision
subject to judicial review.
F.
The cost of such maintenance by the Township shall be assessed pro
rata against the properties within the development that have a right
of enjoyment of the common open space and common property in accordance
with assessed value at the time of imposition of the lien and shall
become a lien and tax on said properties and be added to and be a
part of the taxes to be levied and assessed thereon and shall be enforced
and collected with interest by the same officers and in the same manner
as other taxes.
[Added by Ord. No. 2005-44]
An environmental impact assessment shall be required for major
subdivisions and/or major or minor site plans where the property for
which an approval is sought contains wetlands or is within 50 feet
of wetlands. In addition, the Planning Board may require an environmental
impact assessment in regard to any application before the board. Where
an environmental impact assessment is required, the applicant shall
provide such a submission in accordance with the requirements of this
section and the Ocean Township Environmental Commission. The environmental
impact assessment shall be required to be prepared and submitted with
the preliminary application, and the application may be deemed incomplete
without it. In those cases where an impact statement is required by
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a CAFRA
permit, such environmental impact statement may be substituted for
the report required in this section. A copy of the same shall be submitted
to the Planning Board for its review. Environmental impact assessments
shall be certified by a licensed professional engineer and shall include
the following:
A.
A composite environmental constraints map at the same scale as the
preliminary plat or site plan. The applicant shall, utilizing existing
map sources, present a plan indicating:
B.
An environmental impact statement containing data reflecting:
(1)
A statement describing and explaining the impact and effect of the
proposed subdivision or site plan upon the ecological systems and
environment of Ocean Township's land and waters, giving consideration
to the applicable natural processes and social values of:
(a)
Geology;
(b)
Aquifers;
(c)
Hydrology;
(d)
Depth of the seasonal high-water table;
(e)
Stormwater runoff;
(f)
Soils;
(g)
Potential soil loss;
(h)
Soil nutrient retention;
(i)
Vegetation;
(j)
Wetland and coastal vegetation;
(k)
Recreation value of vegetation;
(l)
Historic value;
(m)
Scenic features;
(n)
Wildlife: high-value areas;
(o)
Wildlife: rare and beneficial species;
(p)
Water quality;
(q)
Air quality.
(2)
When field investigations are performed to determine existing conditions,
methods used shall be addressed.
(3)
Specific plans proposed by the subdivider or developer to alter,
preserve or enhance and mitigate or minimize adverse impacts on the
natural resources and natural features of the land within the proposed
subdivision or site.
C.
Borings.
(1)
Test boring, percolation rates, water levels and groundwater samples
shall be submitted by a licensed engineer in accordance with the following
standards:
(a)
Up to a two-acre site: one test hole;
(b)
Two-to-three-acre site: three test holes;
(c)
Three-to-five-acre site: six test holes;
(d)
Five-to-ten-acre site: eight test holes;
(e)
Ten-to-forty-acre site: 10 test holes;
(f)
Forty-to-one-hundred-acre site: 16 test holes;
(g)
Over one-hundred-acre site: 10 test holes.
(2)
These borings shall be distributed over the tract to adequately represent
site conditions and shall be to a minimum depth of 10 feet.
D.
Groundwater impact assessment. In addition to Subsections A, B and C of this section, a separate section of the environmental impact statement shall assess the impact of the proposed development on groundwater quality, particularly private and public potable water supply wells. Such assessment shall, at a minimum, provide the following:
(1)
Description of proposed use: type of use or activity; commercial
(trades and services); industrial (manufacturing and processing);
product produced, Standard Industrial Code (S.I.C.), if applicable;
(2)
A complete list of the types and volumes of all hazardous materials
(including fuels) used, stored, processed, handled or disposed, other
than those volumes and types associated with normal household use;
(3)
Description of the types of wastes generated and method of disposal,
including solid wastes, hazardous wastes, sewage and non-sewage wastewater
discharges;
(4)
Location of all private potable water supply wells within 200 feet
of the property line;
(5)
Description of the risks associated with the use, handling and/or
disposal of any hazardous wastes;
(6)
Description of plans to detect and control hazardous material leaks
and spills and plans, inspections and monitoring, emergency notification
and emergency containment and cleanup procedures;
(7)
Description of best available technologies to safely store and handle
any hazardous wastes and to detect releases of any hazardous materials;
