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Borough of Old Tappan, NJ
Bergen County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[Added 6-18-2018 by Ord. No. 1128-18]
The purpose of this district is to encourage the production of low- and moderate-income housing in conformance with the latest procedural and substantive rules for affordable housing as determined by the courts or other applicable authority, by permitting inclusionary townhouse and multifamily development subject to the AH-2 regulations enumerated herein. This article is created in fulfillment of a settlement agreement by and between the Borough of Old Tappan, New Jersey, SMDC, LLC and the Fair Share Housing Center in connection with the Borough of Old Tappan's declaratory judgment action captioned "In the Matter of the Application of the Borough of Old Tappan" bearing docket number BER-L-6086-15 pursuant to in re the Adoption of N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97 by the Council on Affordable Housing, 221 N.J. 1 (2015).
A. 
Townhouses.
B. 
Market-rate units or low- and moderate-income units within townhouse buildings, which may be designed as one-over-one apartment flats or one-over-one for-sale duplexes within a townhouse configuration.
C. 
Townhouse-duplex combination.
D. 
Quadraplexes.
Any use which is ordinarily subordinate and customarily incidental to the principal permitted uses allowed in the AH-2 Zone, including but not limited to decks and patios.
A. 
Maximum density: The total number of units shall not exceed 26 units.
B. 
Townhouse and multifamily area, external yard and bulk requirements.
(1) 
Minimum lot area (acres): three.
(2) 
Minimum lot width (feet): 300.
(3) 
Minimum lot depth (feet): 400.
(4) 
Minimum distance between buildings (feet): 30.
(5) 
Minimum setbacks from external lot lines (feet):
(a) 
Front yard: 50.
(b) 
Side yard: 35*.
(c) 
Rear yard: 50*.
(6) 
Maximum number stories and building height: three stories/35 feet.
(7) 
Maximum building lot coverage: 25%.
(8) 
Maximum impervious lot coverage: 60%.
(9) 
Maximum building length (feet): 220.
(10) 
Minimum landscaped buffer area: As defined by § 255-4, a minimum thirty-foot planted landscape buffer shall be maintained from the side property line and forty-foot planted buffer shall be maintained from the rear property line. No buffer area shall be required in the front yard. Such buffer shall be required to provide year-round visual screening as determined by the Planning Board.
NOTE: *Except porches, balconies and decks may extend into a required side and rear yard by no greater than six feet.
A. 
Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) shall apply.
B. 
Required off-street parking for townhouse or duplex units in combination with affordable housing units in stacked arrangements: At least one of the two stacked affordable units within a townhouse building shall have a minimum of one garage space. One additional parking space for this affordable unit shall be provided in its associated driveway in front of the garage. The second affordable unit, lacking a garage space, shall have one driveway space, with the additional required parking for both affordable units provided per RSIS standards within 150 feet of said units. Required off-street visitor parking for low- and moderate-income units, as required by RSIS, should be located within 150 feet of the units serviced. All exterior parking shall be landscaped, screened, and lighted, where appropriate.
C. 
Each garage space shall be counted as 1.0 parking space. A one-car garage and driveway combination shall be counted as 2.0 parking spaces provided the driveway measures a minimum of 18 feet between the face of the garage door and the internal roadway line [RSIS § 5.21-4.14(d)]. Required visitor parking spaces for market rate units shall be provided no farther than 250 feet of the unit it serves.
A. 
Landscaping.
(1) 
Landscaping shall be provided to promote a desirable visual environment, to accentuate building design, define entranceways, screen parking areas, mitigate adverse visual impacts and provide windbreaks for winter winds and summer cooling for buildings, and enhance buffer areas. The impact of any proposed landscaping plan at various time intervals shall be considered. Plants and other landscaping materials shall be selected in terms of aesthetic and functional considerations. The landscape design shall create visual diversity and contrast through variation in size, shape, texture and color. The selection of plants in terms of susceptibility to disease and insect damage, wind and ice damage, habitat (wet-site, drought, sun and shade tolerance), soil conditions, growth rate, longevity; root pattern, maintenance requirements, etc., shall be considered. Consideration shall be given to accenting site entrances and unique areas with special landscaping treatment. Flowerbed displays are encouraged.
(2) 
Landscaped islands should be at least six feet in width to accommodate plantings.
(3) 
Landscaping within sight triangles shall not exceed a mature height of 30 inches. Shade trees shall be pruned up to an eight-foot branching height above grade.
(4) 
All areas that are not improved with buildings, structures and other man-made improvements shall be landscaped with trees, shrubs, ground cover, street furniture, sculpture or other design amenities.
(5) 
Shade trees should be a 2.5- to three-inch caliper with a canopy height of at least the minimum American Nursery and Landscape Association standards for this caliper.
(6) 
Ornamental trees shall be installed at a minimum size of six feet in height.
(7) 
Shrubs shall be planted at a minimum size of 18 to 24 inches.
(8) 
All plant material shall meet the minimum latest American Nursery and Landscape Association standards.
(9) 
Buffer areas. Buffers shall comply with the following standards:
(a) 
Buffer planting shall provide year-round visual screen in order to minimize adverse impacts from a site on an adjacent property or from adjacent areas. It may consist of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, berms, boulders, mounds, or combinations thereof to achieve the stated objectives as approved by the Planning Board. While fencing may be installed to delineate the property line, the use of fencing or walls shall not be relied upon as the primary source of screening.
(b) 
Where required, buffers shall be measured from property lines and street rights-of-way. Compliance shall be determined by the Planning Board, and any approvals required pursuant to this section shall be obtained at the time of site plan and subdivision review. Buffer areas may overlap required setbacks.
(c) 
The landscaping shall be designed to provide a visual screen along the majority of the buffer area. Planting shall be installed at a variety of sizes which conform to the following minimum sizes:
[1] 
Shade trees: 2 1/2 to three-inch caliper.
[2] 
Evergreen trees: seven to eight feet.
[3] 
Shrubs: 18 to 24 inches.
(d) 
No buildings, structures, accessory structures, parking, driveways, or storage of materials shall be permitted within the required buffer.
(e) 
Existing vegetation within the required transition buffer shall be preserved, as determined appropriate. It shall be supplemented with shade-tolerant naturalistic massed plantings where necessary to provide screening of adjoining land uses.
(f) 
Irrigation shall be provided for all buffer plantings and sodded lawn areas in a manner appropriate for the specific plant species. A growth guarantee of two growing seasons shall be provided and all dead or dying plants shall be replaced by the applicant, as required, to maintain the integrity of the site plan.
(10) 
Landscape plantings. A minimum of 30% of the plantings proposed shall be indigenous to the region.
(11) 
Landscape plan content. A landscape plan shall be submitted with each major site plan or major subdivision application. In addition to the major site plan or subdivision submission requirements, the landscape plan shall include and identify the following information:
(a) 
Existing and proposed underground and aboveground utilities such as site lighting, transformers, hydrants, manholes, valve boxes, etc., existing wooded areas, rock outcroppings and existing and proposed water bodies.
(b) 
Location of individual existing trees noted for preservation within the area of development and 30 feet beyond the limit of the disturbance. Trees four inches in diameter (measured 4 1/2 feet above the existing ground level) shall be located and identified by name and diameter unless the wooded area is shown with a specific limit line. In this case, specimen trees shall be located within 30 feet of the line. Indicate all existing vegetation to be saved or removed.
(c) 
Existing and proposed topography and location of all landscaped berms.
(d) 
Location, species and sizes of all proposed shade trees, ornamental trees, evergreen trees and shrubs and areas for lawns or any other ground cover. Different graphic symbols shall be used to show the location and spacing of shade trees, ornamental trees, evergreen trees, shrubs and ground cover. The size of the symbol must be representative of the size of the plant shown to scale.
(e) 
A plant schedule indicating botanical name, common name, size at time of planting (caliper, height and spread), quantity, root condition and any special remarks (spacing, substitutions, etc.) for all plant material proposed. Plants within the plant schedule shall be keyed to the landscape plan utilizing the first letter of the botanical plant name.
(f) 
Planting and construction details and specifications.
B. 
Lighting.
(1) 
All lighting fixtures and foot-candle standards for parking areas and recreation facilities should be consistent with the standards outlined by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and regulations of the Borough of Old Tappan.
(2) 
A lighting plan prepared by a qualified individual shall be provided with site plan applications.
(3) 
The intensity, shielding, direction and reflecting of lighting shall be subject to site plan approval by the approving authority.
(4) 
All parking areas, walkways, building entrances, and driveways required for uses in this zone shall be adequately illuminated during the hours of operation that occur after sunset. Any adjacent residential zone or use shall be shielded from the glare of illumination from site lighting and automobile headlights.
C. 
Sidewalks.
(1) 
In public rights-of-way. Sidewalks shall be required along adjoining public rights-of-way, as required by RSIS standards or as deemed appropriate by the Board.
(2) 
Within the development, sidewalks shall be required in accordance with the RSIS standards or as deemed appropriate by the Board.
D. 
Relief from any required site design standard enumerated under this section, shall be considered a design standard exception pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:550-51(b)[1] and not a variance.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
A. 
Application requirements.
(1) 
An applicant for development in the AH-2 Zone must submit a site plan indicating the manner in which the site is to be developed. Said plan shall include all the data required by ordinance for site plan review unless otherwise waived by the Board.
(2) 
The application shall contain, in addition to the site plan application checklist provisions, a report detailing the following:
(a) 
The total number of dwelling units by bedroom count and housing type. The density and intensity of use of the entire tract shall be noted.
B. 
Application process. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 255-106A. above, it is the intent of this article for the Planning Board to expedite its review of any application submitted for this zone within the time frames established under N.J.S.A. 40:550-1 et seq.[1] It is further the intent of this article to not require off-site or off-tract improvements for development, unless the need for such improvements arise from the development within the Zone, nor shall the approving authority require items deemed as "cost-generating" as defined by N.J.A.C. 5:93-10.1 et. seq.[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
[2]
Editor's Note: The provisions of N.J.A.C. 5:93-10.1 expired on October 16, 2016.
The following requirements as to the density and distribution of low- and moderate-income dwelling units shall apply.
A. 
Low- and moderate-income (Mount Laurel) housing requirements:
(1) 
Market-rate and minimum low- and moderate-income housing set-aside: The total number of housing units shall not exceed 26 units and shall consist of the following:
(a) 
Market rate units which shall not exceed 20 units.
(b) 
Minimum number of affordable housing units shall be no less than six units, which shall all be rental.
(2) 
All low- and moderate-income housing units shall be in conformance with the latest applicable rules for affordable housing as determined by the Council on Affordable Housing, the courts or other applicable authority, as determined appropriate, including such issues as phasing of building low- and moderate-income units in concert with market rate units.
(3) 
Bedroom distribution of low- and moderate-income housing units. Subject to the most current applicable COAH or other rules, the bedroom distribution of low- and moderate-income units for affordable units constructed in the AH-2 Zone shall be as follows:
(a) 
No more than 20% of the low- and moderate-income units shall be one-bedroom units.
(b) 
At least 20% of the low- and moderate-income units shall be three-bedroom units.
(c) 
At least 30% of the low- and moderate-income units shall be two-bedroom units.
(4) 
Low- and moderate-income unit split. The distribution of inclusionary affordable units to be provided as part of this development shall be in accordance with those requirements as set forth by COAH rules or otherwise deemed appropriate by the court.
(5) 
Procedures regarding affirmative marketing of low- and moderate-income units and other requirements of inclusionary development units are subject to and determined by COAH rules or other rules determined appropriate by the court.