Municipality of Princeton, NJ Golf Course/Club

[Ord. No. 94-22, § 2.]

A golf course/club approvable as a conditional use must include a minimum of 18 professional holes located on at least 185 acres and available for play to the members and their guests. If the 185 acres in Princeton Township constitutes more than 75% of the combined contiguous acreage in Princeton Township owned by the applicant, then the entire acreage shall be deemed part of the golf course/club development. The golf course/club may include accessory structures for the maintenance and operation of the course and for the lodging of members and guests on an occasional overnight basis. Such support facilities and overnight housing shall, to the extent practicable, be provided within existing and/or renovated structures, if they exist, and are to be located on the tract that accommodates the golf course and accessory facilities. Any new structures built on the tract shall be directly related to the operation of the golf course/club. The total gross floor area (new and existing) for residential and overnight accommodations shall not exceed 60,000 square feet. The total gross floor area (new and existing) for buildings related to the operation and maintenance of the course or for accessory facilities shall not exceed 100,000 square feet.

(b)

In its review of whether a site is appropriate for a golf course/club, the board of jurisdiction shall be satisfied that the application achieves the following:

(1)

The integration of the proposed golf course/club with the existing development and land uses adjacent to the site, including safe locations for golf holes (tees, holes and greens) and practice areas as related to adjacent roads, development and other neighboring site improvements.

(2)

Where a golf course/club is adjacent to or within an open space corridor, including floodplains, open water, waterway corridors, wooded corridors, flyways and associated buffers, linkages and conservation areas as shown and otherwise referenced in the community master plan, the owner shall provide and maintain an adequately designed walking/trail easement within the property open to the public in furtherance of the municipal goal of linking open spaces within the community. The pedestrian easement shall be located so it does not interfere with play and shall be appropriately isolated from the general operation of the golf course/club. In the application approval process, consideration shall be given to providing access to any required walking/trail easements.

(3)

Assurances that the necessary infrastructure and utilities are available from on-site, municipal or private systems including sanitary sewer, potable water and irrigation water. The provision of infrastructure and utilities shall not have a detrimental effect on groundwater or surface water resources.

(4)

The golf course/club shall have two safe and adequate access and egress points from one or more public roads. One of the two accesses may be provided only for emergency access. The two means of access and egress shall be connected internally and this may be achieved by use of a stabilized surface sufficient to allow passage by emergency vehicles.

(5)

Assurances that during a special event, including a tournament event approved by the township, adequate provisions will be made by the golf course/club to handle the crowd generated by such an event and to satisfactorily mitigate off-site impacts including traffic management, transportation services, parking, trash removal, security and safety, sanitary, waste disposal, etc. The golf course/club shall be required to post a performance guarantee for these purposes. All local permissions and permits now or hereafter required for special events shall be obtained prior to the event.

(6)

A sufficient buffer shall be maintained between the golf course/club and accessory uses and the adjacent uses. The centerline of any golf tee, fairway or green shall be no closer than 125 feet from property line or 120 feet from the right-of-way of a road. The golf course shall be designed to minimize the opportunity for golf balls to be hit outside of the property boundary lines. Any structure exclusive of those features associated with playing golf (tees, fairways, greens, cartpaths, practice areas) shall be a minimum of 200 feet from a property line.

(7)

The course shall be designed to the extent possible to preserve the contiguity of existing woodlands and wooded corridors. Clearance of mature woods shall not exceed 15% of the total acreage of land within the tract. Any clearing of woods beyond 10% of the tract acreage shall be replaced elsewhere on the tract by trees and shrubs similar in composition and comparable in area. In no case shall the amount of clearing, excluding the area of replacement planting, exceed 30% of the area of woods as measured from a vegetation map or aerial photographs prepared or taken at the time of adoption of this ordinance or, if none is available at that time, then as shown on the most current maps or photographs available at the time of adoption of this ordinance.

(8)

Improvements related to the golf course/club and accessory facilities/uses affecting existing steep slope areas shall be subject to the steep slope restrictions of section T10B-254.1. Areas of play (tee, greens, bunkers) created for purposes of the golf course and resulting in new areas of steep slope shall be exempt from this section of the Code.

(9)

A vegetative buffer area shall be maintained between any turf area which is to be chemically treated and any nonintermittent stream which shall be of sufficient size and design to protect the stream from chemicals carried by stormwater run-off.

(10)

As part of the application for conditional use approval the applicant shall submit an integrated turf management plan and an integrated pesticide and pest management plan specific to the operation and maintenance of the proposed golf course/club. These plans shall be prepared in accordance with guidelines established by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and shall also take into account guidelines promulgated by the United States Golf Association. These plans will include best management practices (BMPs) to prevent or minimize any adverse impacts of chemical applications on the groundwater and surface water resources associated with the golf course.

(11)

Assurances shall be provided that any adverse impacts on groundwater or surface water quality resulting from the golf course/club will be mitigated by the owner. The applicant shall provide for the monitoring of water quality of the groundwater and surface water resources associated with the golf course. The monitoring program, including the timing and the frequency of testing and the identification of chemical parameters to be tested shall be established at the time the integrated turf management plan and integrated pesticide and pest management plan are approved as part of the conditional use application. The monitoring program shall be consistent with the guidelines established for monitoring plans by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Bureau of Water Quality Analysis. The results and findings of any water quality monitoring shall be submitted by the owner to the township for information purposes.

(12)

Exterior lighting shall be provided on safety as related to support facilities including areas, walkways, access drives and is prohibited on or adjacent to the golf course and related practice areas. Netting, mesh or similar devices to restrict areas of play are prohibited.

(13)

Section T10B-321 of the Township of Princeton Land Use Code shall not apply.

(c)

The only provisions of the chapter which shall be interpreted as conditions of the conditional use are subsection (a) and paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5) and (9) of subsection (b) of section T10B-272.26.