The provisions of this chapter are designed to accomplish the
following:
A. To promote, protect and facilitate any or all of the following: the
public health, safety, morals and the general welfare; coordinated
and practical community development and proper density of population;
emergency management preparedness and operations; the provisions of
adequate light and air, vehicle parking and loading space, transportation,
water, sewerage, recreational facilities, public grounds; the provision
of a safe, reliable and adequate water supply for domestic, commercial,
agricultural or industrial use, and other public requirements; as
well as preservation of the natural, scenic and historic values in
the environment and preservation of forests, environmentally critical
lands, wetlands, aquifers and floodplains;
B. To prevent one or more of the following: overcrowding of land; blight;
danger and congestion in travel and transportation; loss of health,
life or property from fire, flood, panic or other dangers;
C. To preserve prime agricultural, farmland, natural resources, and
environmentally critical lands, considering topography, soil type
and classification and present use;
D. To provide for the use of land within the municipality for residential
housing of various dwelling types encompassing all basic forms of
housing, including single-family and two-family dwellings, and a reasonable
range of multifamily dwellings in various arrangements, mobile homes
and mobile home parks; provided, however, that this chapter shall
not be deemed invalid for the failure to provide for any other specific
dwelling type;
E. To accommodate reasonable overall community growth, including population
and employment growth, and opportunities for development of a variety
of residential dwelling types and nonresidential uses; and
F. To encourage and facilitate the orderly growth and expansion of the
municipality and to protect the character and maintain the stability
of residential, commercial and industrial areas within the Township.
In addition to the general purposes behind adoption of this chapter, as laid out in §
310-2, the following specific community development objectives are identified in the Township of Hampton Comprehensive Master Plan relative to land use, as adopted by Resolution No. 771 on January 25, 2006. The following is a supplementary statement of the purpose and intent of this chapter. The objectives may be used in evaluating any proposed additions or deletions to this chapter and Chapter
280, Subdivision and Land Development.
A. The general objective for the management of growth in the Township
is to provide a pleasant, attractive, healthy, safe and convenient
environment for living, working, education, shopping and recreation.
This objective shall be pursued by the creation and implementation
of land use plans to:
(1) Preserve and improve the natural environment;
(2) Increase property values, employment opportunities, and the economic
base of the community;
(3) Provide for safe, adequate and attractive housing;
(4) Minimize losses from flooding;
(5) Provide the necessary infrastructure of utilities and vehicular transportation
arteries;
(6) Provide for recreational and community facilities;
(7) Provide for ongoing community planning and growth management; and
(8) Provide for safe, adequate and attractive commercial, institutional
and technical uses.
B. The preservation and improvement of the environment shall be pursued
by:
(1) The preservation of natural topography, environmentally critical
areas, wetlands, and wooded areas, including the limiting of hillside
development beyond a reasonable gradient, and the control of floodplains
and watersheds;
(2) The limitation of excess erosion, hazardous rock and soil slippage,
sedimentation and other soil and water management problems;
(3) The regulation and control of the design, construction, quality of
materials, use, location and maintenance of grading, excavation and
fill; and
(4) The promotion and dedication of natural open space and wooded slopeland
in order to link the existing and proposed open spaces and to prevent
ecological problems resulting from extensive cut and fill necessary
to develop wooded slopelands.
C. Recognizing that the Township of Hampton is basically a residential
community with limited opportunities for commercial and industrial
growth, the increase of property values, employment opportunities
and the economic base of the community shall be pursued by:
(1) The promotion of balanced economic growth and employment opportunities;
(2) The concentration of commercial and industrial uses in the areas
where street and utilities can provide the necessary services and
where conflicts with other uses can be minimized through site design
and transitional provisions; and
(3) The responsible redevelopment and productive reuse of brownfield
properties, which include properties that are contaminated or perceived
to be contaminated, as well as properties that are underutilized for
various socioeconomic reasons, obsolescence, tax delinquency and/or
blight.
D. The provision of safe, adequate and attractive housing for the entire
population of the community shall be preserved by:
(1) The provision of a wide range of housing densities, alternatives
and a mix of housing types, correlating residential density and housing
types with topography, environmental conditions, and the capacity
and distance from existing and proposed utilities, streets and community
facilities; and
(2) The promotion of an attractive residential environment through the
implementation of the other objectives set forth herein.
E. The creation and implementation of land use plans shall seek to achieve
the foregoing objectives and:
(1) Avoid incompatible land uses, and protect against the detrimental
effect of incompatible land uses through planting, open space and
natural break in topography; and
(2) Provide site plan control.
F. The provision of recreation and community facilities may be pursued
by:
(1) Using the recreational goals and objectives set forth in the Township
of Hampton Community Leisure Survey and Community Park Master Plan;
and
(2) Providing residential areas with adequate commercial, governmental,
recreational and educational facilities.