[Ord. #679, S 103; Ord. #679-G, S 1; Ord. #679-M-86-12; Ord.
#92-11, S 1; Ord. No. 2018-06]
As used in this chapter:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
Shall mean a separate, subordinate structure or building
on the same lot with a principal and main structure or building and
devoted exclusively to an accessory use.
ACCESSORY USE
Shall mean a use naturally, normally and customarily incidental
and subordinate to the principal or main use of a structure, building
or lot.
ADMINISTRATOR
Shall mean the Federal Insurance Administrator, to whom the
Secretary has delegated the administration of the Federal Flood Insurance
Program.
ADULT BOOK STORE
Shall mean an establishment, business or use having as a
predominant part of its stock in trade and presented for observation
or purchase by persons therein: books, magazines, photographs, pictures,
films, devices or other periodicals or documents which are distinguished
or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting or relating
to sexual activities.
ADULT MOTION PICTURE THEATER
Shall mean an enclosed building with the capacity for one
or more persons used predominantly for presenting for observation
therein, material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on
matter depicting or relating to sexual activities.
ALTERATION
Shall mean any change in the supporting members of a structure,
to add to or reduce the size of a structure, a change in use from
that permitted in one zone district to a use permitted in another
district, a conversion of a structure or building or part thereof,
or removal of a structure from one location to another.
ANATOMICAL AREAS
Shall mean (a) less than completely or opaquely covered human
genitals, buttocks, pubic regions and female breasts; or, (b) human
male genitals in a discernibly rigid or aroused state, even if completely
and/or opaquely covered.
APARTMENT BUILDING
Shall mean a building designed and used for three or more
dwelling units.
AREA
Shall mean any part of the surface of the land area comprising
the Borough.
ATTIC
Shall mean the open, non-habitable space between the ceiling
beams of the top habitable story and the roof rafters in any building.
BASE FLOOD
Shall mean the flood having a 1% chance of being equaled
or exceeded in any given year.
BASEMENT
Shall mean a portion of the building partly underground and
having more than 1/2 of its clear height above the average level of
the finished grade at the front of the building, or adjoining ground.
(See Cellar.)
BEDROOM
Shall mean a room used, designated for use, or designed for
use by one or more persons for sleeping.
BLOCK
Shall mean the length on one side of the street between two
street intersections.
BOARDER
Shall mean a person who is not related to the head of the
household and who pays for the privilege of boarding.
BOROUGH
Shall mean the Borough of North Plainfield, a municipal corporation
in the County of Somerset, New Jersey.
BUILDING
Shall mean a structure having a roof supported by columns,
piers, walls or similar structural parts, used or intended to be used
for the housing, enclosure or shelter of persons, animals or property
of any kind.
BUILDING LINE OR SETBACK LINE
Shall mean a line set back from a street line in accordance
with certain specified distances as hereinafter set forth.
CABARET
Shall mean an establishment, business or use which features
dancing depicting, describing or demonstrating sexual activities or
anatomical areas by male and/or female entertainers.
CELLAR
Shall mean a portion of a building partly underground, and
having more than 1/2 of its clear height below the average level of
the finished grade at the front of the building or adjoining ground.
(See Basement.)
CLERK
Shall mean the Borough Clerk of North Plainfield.
COMBINED CONVENIENCE STORE AND FUEL DISPENSING FACILITY
Shall mean a retail business in which food and other convenience
related products are sold at retail, along with the retail sale of
motor fuels to usual and customary passenger vehicles and light trucks
with the business being operated under one ownership and operating
entity.
[Ord. No. 2018-06]
COMMON OWNERSHIP
Shall mean the ownership of two or more contiguous lots of
real property by one person or by two or more persons owning such
property in the same form of ownership, i.e., joint tenants, tenants
by the entirety, or tenants in common.
CORNER LOT
Shall mean a lot at the junction of and having frontage on
two or more intersecting streets. A corner lot is also a lot bounded
on two or more sides by the same street. The greater frontage of a
corner lot is its depth, and its lesser frontage is its width.
CURB LEVEL
Shall mean the officially established elevation of the street
curb in front of the mid-point of the front lot line.
DECK
Shall mean an open porch without a roof.
DESIGN STORM
Shall mean that amount and rate of precipitation used in
drainage design calculations.
DWELLING OR DWELLING UNIT OR UNIT OF DWELLING SPACE
Shall mean any room or rooms, or suite or apartment thereof,
whether furnished or unfurnished, which is occupied, or intended,
arranged or designed to be occupied, for sleeping or dwelling purposes
by one or more persons, including but not limited to the owner thereof,
or any of his servants, agents or employees, and shall include all
privileges, services, furnishings, furniture, equipment, facilities
and improvements connected with the use or occupancy thereof.
DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY
Shall mean a detached building designed for and containing
one dwelling unit only occupied exclusively by one family.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
Shall mean a detached building containing two dwelling units
occupied exclusively for two families.
FAMILY
Shall mean a person or any number of persons related by blood,
marriage or adoption, and foster children placed with such families
by the N.J. Board of Child Welfare or duly incorporated child care
agency, including in-servants, living together as single, non-profit
housekeeping unit and using certain rooms and cooking facilities in
common; or a group of not more than four persons not related by blood
living together as a single non-profit housekeeping unit and using
certain rooms and cooking facilities in common.
FLOOR AREA
Shall mean the total area of all floors of a building or
portion thereof computed by using the inside dimensions of the outside
walls of each floor of the building or portion thereof; however, excluding
attic and basement floors, open porches, breeze ways, and garages.
Any basement area in a nonresidential zone that is used for sale or
display and is open to the public.
FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATION
Shall mean a determination by the Administrator of the water
surface elevations of the base flood, that is, the flood level that
has a 1% or greater change of occurrence in any given year.
FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP (FHBM)
Shall mean an official map of a community issued by the Administrator,
where the boundaries of the flood, mudslide, (i.e., mudflow) related
erosion areas having special hazards have been designated as Zone
A.M. and/or E.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM)
Shall mean an official map of a community, on which the Administrator
has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium
zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD PLAIN MANAGEMENT
Shall mean the operation of an overall program of corrective
and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including but not
limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and flood
plain management regulations.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
Shall mean a detached accessory building or portion of the
principal building designed primarily for the storage of passenger
vehicles and not more than one commercial vehicle with a rated capacity
not exceeding three-quarter (3/4) ton owned or used by the occupant
of the principal building to which the garage is an accessory.
GARAGE, PUBLIC
Shall mean a garage, other than a private garage available
to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for sale, storage,
servicing, rental, and/or repair of automobiles, or other motor vehicles,
including the sale of motor parts and accessories, oil and other fuel
incidental to the aforesaid uses; provided, that the aforesaid uses
shall be conducted within an enclosed building.
Automatic car wash operations are included within this definition;
but, it does not include automotive service stations even though some
of the uses herein are the same or similar to automotive service stations.
GARAGE, AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE STATION
Shall mean a place where gasoline or other motor fuel or
lubricating oil or grease for operating motor vehicles is offered
for sale at retail to the public, including sale of accessories, oiling,
greasing, washing, and light motor vehicle repairs on the premises,
but in no case to include major vehicle repairs or rebuilding, or
fender, body or frame straightening, painting or rebuilding.
GARDEN APARTMENTS
Shall mean a building or group of buildings situated on one
lot and containing separate dwelling units for no less than four families.
GASOLINE SERVICE STATION
Shall mean a building or premises in which or upon which
is conducted a business involving the retail sale and direct delivery
to motor vehicles of gasoline and lubricating oil regardless of any
other business on the premises, which business may or may not include
facilities for lubricating, washing or otherwise servicing motor vehicles,
but not necessarily including facilities for body repair work or painting.
HABITABLE FLOOR
Shall mean any floor usable for living purposes, which includes
working, sleeping, eating, cooking or recreation or a combination
thereof. A floor used only for storage purposes is not a "habitable
floor".
HEIGHT OF A BUILDING
Shall mean vertical distance measured, in the case of flat
roofs, from the curb level to the highest point of the roof beams,
adjacent to the street wall, and in the case of pitched roofs, from
the curb level to the average height of the gable. In the case of
both flat roofs and pitched roofs, the measurement shall be made through
the center of the street facade. Where no roof beams exist or there
are structures wholly or partly above the roof, the heights shall
be measured from the curb level to the highest point of the building.
Where the walls of a building do not adjoin the street, the average
level of the ground along the front wall of the building may be taken
in measuring its height instead of the curb level.
IMPERMEABLE SURFACE
Shall mean any condition of the surface area which produces
in excess of 50% of runoff from rainfall as determined by drainage
calculations.
INSTITUTIONAL USES
Shall mean non-profit institutions limited to churches, church-owned
cemeteries, public or private day schools, not operated for profit,
covering grades kindergarten through grade 12, hospitals for humans,
municipally owned or operated buildings or structures used for public
purposes.
LOT
Shall mean a parcel of land, the location, dimensions and
boundaries of which are set forth on the latest Borough Tax Map. Despite
what may be disclosed on the current Borough Tax Map, however, if
contiguous lots, any one of which is substandard and fails to meet
the minimum lot size requirements of the zone in which it falls, are
in common ownership, the entire land area shall, for the purposes
of administering and enforcing this chapter, be construed to be one
lot.
LOT AREA
Shall mean the total area included within the lot lines.
LOT DEPTH
Shall mean a distance between the mean front street line
and the mean rear line of a lot. The greater frontage of a corner
lot is its depth and the lesser frontage is its width and such lesser
frontage shall be the front street line of a corner lot.
LOT FRONTAGE
Shall mean the distance between side lot lines at their foremost
points, (where they intersect with the street line) shall not be less
than the required lot width along the street line.
LOT WIDTH
Shall mean the mean width of a lot measured at right angles
to its depth.
MASSAGE SHOP
Shall mean an establishment, business or use which provides
the service of massage and body manipulation, unless operated by an
athletic trainer, chiropractor, physical therapist, physician or masseuse
licensed by, or registered with, the State of New Jersey.
MINOR SUBDIVISION
Shall mean a subdivision of land that does not involve:
a.
The creation of more than three lots;
d.
Extension of any off-tract improvement.
MIXED USES
Shall mean simultaneous residential and nonresidential uses
of a single lot or building on a single lot.
MOBILE HOMES
Shall mean a structure, transportable in one or more sections
which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with
or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities.
It does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers.
MODELING STUDIO
Shall mean an establishment, business or use which provides
the service of modeling in a manner depicting, describing or demonstrating
sexual activities or anatomical areas for the purpose of reproducing
such depictions, descriptions or demonstrations by means of photographs,
moving pictures, or video recording.
MOTEL
Shall mean one or more structures, each structure consisting
of 20 or more sleeping units, all of which shall be furnished with
furniture, baths, lights, linens and maid service, and to be utilized
to accommodate guests for compensation, together with an office for
registry purposes and such other usual and customary incidental uses
as may be allowed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
NONCONFORMING USE
Shall mean a lawful use of a building, structure or land
in existence at the time of adoption of this chapter, which use is
in violation of the use regulations of the zone in which it is located.
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE
Shall mean a lawful structure in existence at the time of
adoption of this chapter, which is in violation of the height, bulk,
yard, court, or similar regulation of the zone in which it is located.
OCCUPANCY OR OCCUPIED
Shall mean any dwelling unit shall be construed to be occupied
if one or more persons or a family customarily reside in the dwelling
unit overnight. In nonresidential buildings, the installation, storage
or use of equipment, merchandise or machinery in any commercial, public
or industrial building shall be construed as constituting occupancy
of the building.
OFFICE
Shall mean a building or portion thereof used as the place
of business of a person, corporation, firm or public agency for professional
services and/or administrative and executive purposes as distinguished
from a shop or store.
OFF-STREET LOADING SPACE
Shall mean an accommodation for the off-street parking of
a commercial vehicle for the purpose of delivery to or receipt from
a building of goods and materials and having a width of at least 10
feet, a length of at least 25 feet and a clearance above grade of
at least 14 feet.
OFF-STREET PARKING AREA
Shall mean an open area, other than a street or other public
way, used for the parking of motor vehicles and available for use
whether for a fee or as a service or privilege for clients, customers,
suppliers or residents.
OFF-STREET PARKING SPACE
Shall mean an accommodation for the off-street parking of
one motor vehicle. Such parking space shall have an area of not less
than 200 square feet exclusive of access drives or aisles, shall be
a minimum of 10 feet in width measured perpendicular to the axis of
the length and shall have adequate provisions for ingress and egress
on the property.
PARKING AREA
Shall mean an open area other than a street or other public
road or way used for the parking of motor vehicles, including access
drives or aisles for ingress or egress thereto and therefrom.
PATIO
Shall mean a recreation area that adjoins a dwelling at ground
level; a court.
PERCOLATION
Shall mean a test designed to determine the ability of the
ground to absorb storm runoff. The details of the test, including
certification or observation requirements shall be set by the Borough
Engineer and shall be in accordance with accepted engineering standards
and practices.
PERSON
Shall mean and include any person, individual, business entity,
partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of
any kind or nature, including state and local government and agencies.
PORCH (OPEN)
Shall mean a porch which is not fully enclosed with permanent
or semi-permanent material.
PORTICO
Shall mean a colonnade or covered ambulatory.
PREMISES
Shall mean a lot including any buildings or structures thereon.
PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE
Shall mean a structure arranged, adapted or designed for
a predominant or primary purpose for which a lot may be used.
REGULATED USE
Shall mean adult bookstores, adult motion picture theaters,
cabarets, massage shops and modeling studios.
REGULATORY FLOODWAY
Shall mean the channel of a river or other watercourse and
the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge
the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation
more than a designated height.
ROOMER
Shall mean a person who is not related to the head of the
household and who pays for the privilege of rooming.
SEXUAL ACTIVITIES
Shall mean (a) fondling of human genitals, buttocks, pubic
regions or female breasts; (b) acts of oral or sexual intercourse,
autoeroticism, sodomy or the simulation of any of the above acts;
or, (c) stimulation of human genitals.
SIGN
Shall mean a visible device for attracting attention and/or
giving information, through the use of letters, symbols, or any other
means such as, but not limited to, models, flags and pennants. Such
sign shall be deemed to consist of the background to which it is affixed
and if not affixed to a background shall be deemed to include all
of the area within its maximum horizontal and vertical dimensions
which most clearly outline the sign. Not included or restricted are
the flag, pennant, or insignia of the Nation, State, Borough or other
division of government.
SIGN, ADVERTISING
Shall mean a sign concerning objects or matters not directly
related to the premises on which it is located, for example, a billboard.
SIGN, ANNOUNCEMENT
Shall mean a sign identifying the occupant of a structure
or space and his profession or activity.
SIGN, BANNER
Shall mean a flexible sign supported at one or both ends.
SIGN, BUSINESS
Shall mean a sign identifying the business, activity, products,
uses or other matters concerning the parcel or premises on which the
sign is located.
SIGN, GROUND
Shall mean any sign erected, constructed or maintained for
the purposes of displaying outdoor advertising by means of posters,
pictures, pictorial or reading matter, when such sign is supported
by one or more uprights, or braces, placed upon or in the ground and
not attached to any part of the building.
SIGN, ROOF
Shall mean any sign erected, constructed or maintained upon
the roof of any building.
SIGN, WALL
Shall mean any sign or poster on any outside surface or plane
that may be painted or affixed to any exterior wall, surface or window
of any building.
SIGN, PROJECTING
Shall mean any letter, word, model, sign, device or representation
used in the nature of an advertisement, announcement or direction
affixed to any building wall and extending beyond the building wall
to which it is attached.
SINGLE OWNERSHIP
Shall mean ownership by one person or ownership by two or
more persons jointly, in common, or by the entirety, of a separate
lot not adjoining land in the same ownership.
SPECIAL HAZARD AREA
Shall mean an area having special flood hazards and shown
on a FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-99.
STATE COORDINATING AGENCY
Shall mean the agency of the State government or other office
designated by the Governor of the State or by State Statute at the
request of the Administrator to assist in the implementation of the
National Flood Insurance Program in that State.
STORY-HALF
Shall mean a portion of a building situated above a story
with a minimum height of five feet where the walls meet a sloping
roof and having a minimum average height of 7 1/2 feet.
STREET
Shall mean a public or private right-of-way commonly used
by the public for motor vehicle movement and which is approved for
purposes of issuing building permits.
STRUCTURE
Shall mean anything constructed or erected which requires
permanent or temporary location on the ground or attachment to something
having such location, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that
is principally above ground as well as a mobile home.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
Shall mean any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of
a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market
value of the structure either:
a.
Before the improvement or repair is started; or
b.
If the structure has been damaged, and is being restored before
the damage occurred.
TOWNHOUSE
Shall mean one of a series of single-family dwellings attached
by common wall extending from the basement to the roof to a similar
unit or units and having individual front and rear entrances.
TRAILER CAMP OR COURT
Shall mean an area designed for the parking of wheeled vehicles
used or designed to be used for sleeping or other human occupancy.
WAREHOUSE
Shall mean a building used for the temporary storage of goods,
materials or merchandise for later or subsequent distribution or delivery
elsewhere for purposes of processing or sale.
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION
Shall mean the projected heights in relation to mean sea
level reached by floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the
flood plains of coastal or riverine areas.
YARDS
a.
Front Yard shall mean an area, unoccupied except by a use as
hereinafter specifically permitted, extending across the full width
of a lot and lying between the abutting street right-of-way line and
the nearest part of the principal structure on the lot.
b.
Side Yard shall mean an area, unoccupied except by a use as
hereinafter specifically permitted, extending from the front yard
to the rear yard of a lot and lying between the side lot line and
nearest part of the principal structure on the lot.
c.
Rear Yard shall mean an area, unoccupied except by a use as
hereinafter specifically permitted, extending across the full width
of a lot and lying between the rear lot line and the nearest part
of the existing or proposed principal structure on the lot.
ZONING OFFICER
Shall mean the Borough official charged with interpreting
and enforcing the Land Development Chapter unless otherwise specified
herein.
[Ord. #679, S 105; Ord. #679-I-85-1]
Every Borough Agency shall by its rules fix the time and place for holding its regular meetings for business authorized to be conducted by such agency. Regular meetings of the Borough Agency shall be scheduled not less than once a month and shall be held as scheduled unless cancelled for lack of applications for development to process. The Borough Agency may provide for special meetings, at the call of the chairman, or on request of any two of its members, which shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with the provisions of the "Open Public Meetings Act", P.L. 1975, c. 231, and agency regulations. No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present. All actions shall be taken by a majority vote of a quorum except as otherwise required by Section
22-48 and Section
22-14, paragraph e; Subsection
22-27.7, paragraph a; Subsection
22-89.2, paragraph d; and Subsection
22-89.8, paragraph b of this chapter. Failure of a motion to receive the number of votes required to approve an application for development pursuant to the exceptional vote requirements of Section
22-48 or Subsection
22-89.2, paragraph d of this chapter shall be deemed an action denying the application. Nothing herein shall be construed to contravene any statute providing for procedures for governing bodies.
[Ord. #679, S 115]
The Borough Council shall enforce this chapter. In case any
building or structure is erected, constructed, altered, repaired,
converted, or maintained, or any building, structure or land is used
in violation of this chapter, the Borough Council and its agents or
an interested party, in addition to other remedies, may institute
any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent such unlawful erection,
construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance
or use, to restrain, correct or abate such violation, to prevent the
occupancy of the building, structure or land, or to prevent any illegal
act, conduct, business or use in or about such premises.