Definitions. Certain words and terms in this chapter are defined
for the purpose thereof as follows:
ACCESSORY USE OR BUILDING
A subordinate use or building, the purpose of which is incidental
to that of a main use or building on the same lot.
ADULT BOOKSTORE
A retail establishment selling and/or displaying publications
and other material of an obscene nature, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2a,
which is not the type of retail business permitted in the GB Business
Zone.
AGRICULTURE
The production, keeping or maintenance, for sale, lease or
personal use, of plants and animals useful to man, including but not
limited to forage and sod crops; grains and seed crops; dairy animals
and dairy products; poultry and poultry products; livestock, including
beef cattle, sheep, swine, horses, ponies, mules or goats or any mutations
or hybrids thereof, including the breeding and grazing of any or all
such animals; bees and apiary products; fur animals; trees and forest
products; fruits of all kinds, including nuts and berries; vegetables;
or lands devoted to a soil conservation or forestry management program.
ALLEY
A service roadway providing access to residential parking
and garages generally from the rear of residential lots. Such roadway
is not intended for general (public) traffic circulation.
APARTMENT or DWELLING UNIT
A room or suite of two or more rooms which is designed for,
intended for or occupied by one family or household living as an independent
unit doing its own cooking.
AVERAGE LOT AREA
The sum of the areas of all house lots, the area of all lots
to be devoted to common open space, including buffer strips, and all
new roadways to be installed less areas lying within public road rights-of-way
existing prior to development divided by the total number of residential
development lots.
BABYSITTING
An activity provided in an occupied residence in which child
care is provided only for a child or children related to the resident
caregiver or only for a child or children of one unrelated family
or only for a combination of such children; not being a child-care
center or family day care home. Babysitting is a permitted accessory
use in all Township residences.
BASEMENT
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
height above the ground.
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
The Board of Adjustment established pursuant to Article
II, Section 1, of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance of the Township of Plainsboro.
BOULEVARD
A street, typically a major street, with a planted median
island in the center separating lanes of opposing traffic.
BUILDABLE AREA
That central portion of any lot lying between required yards
and/or setback lines.
BUILDING
A combination of materials to form a construction adapted
to permanent, temporary or continuous occupancy or use and having
a roof.
BUILDING HEIGHT
The vertical distance measured from the mean elevation of
the finished grade along the perimeter of the building to the highest
point of the roof for flat roofs, to the mean height level (between
the eaves and ridge) for gable and hip roofs and to the deckline of
mansard roofs. In all cases, the building height shall not include
chimneys, spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, antennas, air-conditioning
equipment and similar projections; provided, however, that such projections
shall be attractively and appropriately shielded.
CARPORT
A covered roof extending from the exterior building wall,
which allows a vehicle to park underneath.
CELLAR
A story partly underground, which has less than half its
height above ground level.
CHILD-CARE CENTER
Any facility which is maintained for the care, development
and supervision of six or more children under the age of six who attend
the facility for less than 12 hours a day and which offers such programs
as day-care centers, drop-in centers, recreation-type centers sponsored
and operated by a county or municipal government, centers serving
mildly sick children, centers that had not been licensed by the New
Jersey Department of Human Services prior to the enactment of the
Child Care Center Licensing Act of 1984, day nursery schools, play schools, cooperative child centers,
centers for children with special needs, infant-toddler programs,
employment related centers and/or kindergartens that are not an integral
part of a private educational institution or system offering elementary
education in grades kindergarten through sixth. A child-care center
shall not offer programs operated by a public or private day school
of elementary and/or high school grade special activity programs for
children, youth camps and/or religious classes.
CIRCULATION
Systems, structures and physical improvements for the movement
of people, goods, water, air, sewage or power by such means as streets,
highways, railways, waterways, towers, airways, pipes and conduits,
and the handling of people and goods by such means as terminals, stations,
warehouses and other storage buildings or transshipment points.
CLUSTER RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Any major subdivision in the R-200 Zone which employed the lot area provisions of Article
V, R-200 Rural Zone Regulations, §
101-31.1, and was approved as a cluster residential development by the Planning Board and was physically developed in accordance with that approval.
COLONNADE
A roof or building structure, extending over the sidewalk,
open to the street and sidewalk except for supporting columns or piers.
Awnings are permitted within a Village Center Zone, but are not considered
colonnades.
COMMON OPEN SPACE
An open space area within or related to a site designated
as a development, and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment
of residents and owners of the development and/or the general public.
"Common open space" may contain such complementary structures and
improvements as are necessary and appropriate for its use or enjoyment.
CONDITIONAL USE
A use permitted in a particular zoning district only upon
a showing that such use in a specified location will comply with the
conditions and standards for the location or operation of such use
as contained in this chapter and upon the issuance of an authorization
therefor by the Planning Board.
CONDITIONAL USE APPROVAL
The authorization to conduct a particular conditional use
in a particular zone. It is issued by the Planning Board upon proof
that all the criteria for the use have been met by the applicant.
Any applications seeking exceptions to that criteria shall be considered
as an application for a use variance and shall be made to the Zoning
Board of Adjustment, which shall have the authority to grant the approval
under those circumstances.
DENSITY
The permitted number of dwelling units per gross area of
land to be developed.
DEVELOPER
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or of any
land proposed to be included in a proposed development, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase or any other person
having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.
DEVELOPMENT
The division of a parcel of land into two or more parcels,
or the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration,
relocation or enlargement of any building or other structures or of
any mining, excavation or landfill, and any use or change in the use
of land, for which permission may be required pursuant to this chapter
or the Subdivision and Site Plan Review Ordinance.
DORMITORY
Any building designed or converted for the accommodation
of five or more persons of the same sex not living as a housekeeping
unit but sharing common sanitary facilities.
DRAINAGE
The removal of surface water or groundwater from land by
drains, grading or other means, and including control of runoff to
minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after construction or
development and means necessary for water supply preservation or prevention
or alleviation of flooding.
DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITY
A facility associated with a use that, by design, physical
facilities, service or by packaging procedures, encourages or permits
customers to receive services and/or obtain goods while remaining
in their motor vehicles.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE
A building or portion thereof used or designed as a residence
for three or more apartment or dwelling units, including apartment
houses, apartment hotels and flats, but not including automobile courts,
or former single-family dwellings converted for occupancy by not more
than three families as permitted herein. Such use may also be referred
to as a "multifamily dwelling." Within an integrated mixed-use neighborhood
development, a manor house shall be considered a multifamily dwelling.
DWELLING, PATIO HOME
A freestanding detached building on one lot, or within a
lot held in common ownership, serving one family, with one wall of
the building separated by at least 10 feet from the adjoining building.
Patio homes shall have at least one blank wall to ensure privacy to
the closest neighbor.
DWELLING, TOWNHOUSE
A building containing three or more connected dwelling units
divided by common party walls or floors, with private entrances to
each dwelling. In an integrated mixed-use neighborhood development,
townhouse dwellings may include two or more connected units, located
side by side, back to back, one over the other, or any combination
thereof. For purposes of this chapter, a townhouse dwelling may include
dwelling units with fee simple, condominium, or cooperative ownership.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A detached or semidetached building where not more than two
individual family or dwelling units are entirely separated by vertical
walls or horizontal floors, unpierced, except for access to the outside
or to a common cellar. Within an integrated mixed-use neighborhood
development, a two-family or semidetached dwelling shall be considered
as a townhouse dwelling.
EASEMENT
A right granted to the Township or other governmental authority
for the use of private land for certain public and quasi-public purposes.
EROSION
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by
water, wind, ice or gravity.
FAMILY
One or more persons living as a single nonprofit housekeeping
unit as distinguished from individuals or groups occupying a hotel,
club, fraternity or sorority house. The family shall be deemed to
include necessary servants when servants share the common housekeeping
facilities and services.
FAMILY DAY-CARE HOME
A private residence in which child care services are provided
in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey on the effective
date of this chapter and as amended hereafter.
FARM
For the purposes of this chapter, agriculture.
FARM BUILDINGS
All structures useful or necessary to conduct agricultural
activity, including but not limited to barns, silos, mechanical equipment
storage sheds, animal pens or other shelters.
FARM STAND
A booth or stall located on a farm from which agricultural
products are sold to the general public.
FARMING
Agricultural activity or the raising of livestock or small
animals as a major source of income and if conducted upon a lot or
plot in single ownership of not less than five acres in area.
FLOOD HAZARD AREA
The relatively flat terrain adjoining a water channel which
has been or may be hereafter covered by floodwater of the channel.
FLOOR AREA RATIO (FAR)
The sum of the area of all floors of buildings or structures
compared to the total area of the site.
FLOOR AREA, GROSS
The total area of all the stories of all the structures on
a lot, measured from the outside faces of the exterior walls or from
the exterior roof edges where a structure has no walls, and including
the following, although not by way of limitation: interior balconies
and mezzanines, roofed areas ,such as porches and carports, and basement
space, but excluding rooftop, roofed or enclosed area that is used
for parking spaces.
GARAGE
Building used for housing or storing of self-propelled motor
vehicles or unit portions thereof designed for use on public highways.
(1)
GARAGE, PRIVATEA garage intended for or used by the motor vehicles of the families resident upon the premises.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any indoor activity carried out by a resident for gain in
a dwelling unit, which is clearly incidental and secondary to the
use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes.
INSTITUTIONAL USE
A nonprofit, religious, community service or public use,
such as a religious building, post office, library, community meeting
hall, cultural-recreational-educational facility, visual and/or performance
arts building or government-owned or -operated building or structure.
JUNKYARD
The use of any lot for the storage, keeping or abandonment
of junk, including scrap metals or other scrap material, or for the
dismantling, demolition or abandonment of structures, automobiles
or other vehicles, equipment and machinery or parts thereof; provided,
however, that this definition shall not be deemed to include any of
the foregoing uses which are accessory and incidental to any agricultural
or industrial use permitted in any zone. The term "junkyard" as herein
defined includes automobile wrecking yards.
LAND
Includes improvements and fixtures on, above or below the
surface.
LIVE-WORK DWELLING UNIT
A dwelling unit on the second floor, occupied by the operator
of a small business (maximum 1,500 square feet) on the first floor,
with a main entrance to the unit that faces a street.
LOT
A designated parcel, tract or area of land, established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law, to be used, developed or
built upon as a unit.
LOT AREA
The total horizontal area included within lot lines. Where
the front lot line is the center line of a street or lies in part
or in whole in the street area, the lot area shall not include that
part of the lot in use or to be used as the street.
LOT DEPTH
The shortest horizontal distance between the front lot line
and a line drawn parallel to the front lot line through the midpoint
of the rear lot line, provided that in triangular lots having no rear
lot line the distance shall be measured to the midpoint of a line
parallel to the front lot line which shall be not less than 10 feet
in length measured between its intersections with the side lot lines.
LOT FRONTAGE
That portion of a lot extending along a street line. In odd-shaped
or triangular-shaped lots in the residential zones, the length of
the frontage may be considered to be the same as the lot width, except
that such length of frontage shall not be less than 1/2 of any minimum
frontage herein required, and that the actual length of the street
line shall be not less than 50 feet.
LOT WIDTH
The horizontal width measured at right angles along the setback
line.
MASTER PLAN
A composite of the mapped and written proposals recommending
the physical development of the municipality, which shall have been
duly adopted by the Planning Board pursuant to Article 3 of the Municipal
Land Use Law.
MAXIMUM IMPROVEMENT COVERAGE
The building coverage and area of all paved surfaces which
cover a lot, such as required parking spaces, including necessary
maneuvering areas, passageways and driveways giving access thereto;
service areas; accessways; streets; walkways; patios; and plazas.
NECESSARY PUBLIC UTILITIES AND SERVICES
Necessary public utilities and services include the provision of public utilities and services which are owned and provided by public or private entities, and which include the facilities and improvements related to such public utilities and services. Such public utilities and services include but are not limited to the provision of electricity; gas; water; sanitary sewer collection and treatment; telephone communications; cable television; internet access facilities; public schools; and municipal, county, or state facilities. Such definition does not include facilities regulated pursuant to Article
XXII, Wireless Telecommunications Facilities, of the this chapter of the Township Code.
NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
Any educational institution of higher learning chartered
by the State of New Jersey, or a private educational institution normally
subject to regulations prescribed by the State of New Jersey, which
institution is operated on a nonprofit basis. This definition shall
be deemed to include all activities secondary or subordinate to the
main activity of any such institution, which activities are a part
of the normal operation of such institution as set forth in its charter.
NURSING HOME
Any building in which more than one room or an area exceeding
400 square feet is used for the accommodation, reception or treatment
of the aged or sick who are residents therein, excluding members of
the resident family.
OFFICIAL MAP
A map adopted by the governing body pursuant to Article 5
of the Municipal Land Use Law.
OPEN SPACE
Any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved
and set aside, dedicated, designated or reserved for public or private
use or enjoyment or for the use and enjoyment of owners and occupants
of land adjoining or neighboring such open space, provided that such
areas may be improved with only those buildings, structures, streets
and off-street parking and other improvements that are designed to
be incidental to the natural openness of the land.
PAD SITE
An area reserved for a freestanding building located within
a shopping center.
PCD PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
An area that is specified on the Zoning Map as having a district classification of PCD Planned Unit Development and which is to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing one or more residential developments or one or more public, quasi-public, business and commercial or office, research, industrial areas in the ranges of ratios of nonresidential uses to residential uses as are specified in Article
XI of this chapter.
PLANNED AGE-RESTRICTED VILLAGE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
A planned residential community having one or more parcels
of land with a contiguous total acreage forming a land mass to be
dedicated for the use of a planned residential development providing
for a range of living accommodations (age-restricted dwelling units)
and support facilities for adults 55 years of age or older or for
couples, one of whom is at least 55 years of age, or as otherwise
permitted by state and federal laws for age-restricted housing.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board established pursuant to Article
I, Section 1, of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance of the Township of Plainsboro.
PLAT
The map of a subdivision or site plan and is used interchangeably
in this chapter with "plan."
(1)
MINOR PLATThe map of a subdivision or site plan of sufficient accuracy to be used for the purpose of discussion and classification and meeting the requirements of this chapter.
(2)
PRELIMINARY PLATThe preliminary map indicating the proposed layout of the subdivision or site plan which is submitted to the Planning Board for Planning Board consideration and preliminary approval and meeting the requirements of this chapter.
(3)
FINAL PLATThe final map of all or a portion of the subdivision or site plan which is presented by the Planning Board for final approval in accordance with these regulations.
PLAZA or SQUARE
A formal open space area which is readily accessible to the
public at all times, predominantly open above, and designed specifically
for use by people as opposed to serving as a setting for a building;
typically designed to include a combination of paving and landscaping
materials and may include sitting areas, public art, a landmark or
monument structure and/or a significant water feature.
PMUD PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT
An area that is specified on the Zoning Map as having a district classification of PMUD Planned Unit Development and which is to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing one or more residential developments or one or more public, quasi-public, business and commercial, office, research, industrial or educational research areas in the ranges of ratios of nonresidential uses to residential uses as are specified in Article
XII of this chapter.
PROFESSIONAL OFFICE
The office of a member of a recognized profession. When conducted
in a residential district, a professional office shall conducted entirely
within a residential building. The issuance of a state or local license
for regulation of any gainful occupation need not be deemed indicative
of professional standing.
PUBLIC AREAS
Public parks, playgrounds, trails, paths and other recreational
areas and public open spaces; scenic and historic sites; and sites
for schools and other public buildings and structures.
PUBLIC DRAINAGEWAY
The land reserved or dedicated for the installation of stormwater
sewers or drainage ditches, or required along a natural stream or
watercourse for preserving the channel and providing for the flow
of water to safeguard the public against flood damage, sedimentation
and erosion.
PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
An open space area conveyed or otherwise dedicated to the
municipality, a municipal agency, the regional Board of Education,
a state or county agency or any other public body for recreational
or conservational uses.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A portable structure, self-propelled or towable by another
vehicle, primarily designated, constructed or modified to provide
temporary living quarters or for recreational, camping, boating or
travel use and not for commercial purposes or for profit.
SEDIMENTATION
The deposit of soil that has been transported from its site
of origin by water, ice, wind, gravity or other natural means as a
product of erosion.
SETBACK LINE
A line within any lot, usually marking the limits of a required
yard space, parallel to any street line, between which and the street
line no building or portion thereof may be erected except as provided
in this chapter.
SHOPPING CENTER
A group of commercial establishments built on a lot or lots that are planned, developed, owned and managed as an operating unit; it provides on-site parking in relationship to the type and total size of the stores. The commercial establishments may be located in one or several buildings, attached or separated, or on separate lots so long as they are in common ownership. Any reference to "lot" contained herein, in Article
VII, for purposes of establishing area, frontage, depth, coverage, improvement coverage or floor area ratio, shall be understood as the aggregate of all lots in common ownership, the use of which are as a shopping center.
SIGN
Any outdoor advertising sign or outdoor advertising structure.
SITE PLAN
A development plan of one or more lots on which is shown
the existing and proposed conditions of the lot, including but not
necessarily limited to topography, vegetation, drainage, floodplains,
marshes and waterways; the location of all existing and proposed buildings,
drives, parking spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress, drainage
facilities, utility services, landscaping, structures and signs and
lighting and screening devices; and any other information that may
be reasonably required in order to make an informed determination
concerning the adequacy of the plan in accordance with the requirements
of this chapter.
(1)
MINOR SITE PLANAny development plan which is limited to the proposed construction of any permitted accessory use(s), such as a sign or off-street parking area, as such accessory uses specifically permitted in this chapter, provided that major site plan approval has previously been granted for the principal use(s). Applications for minor site plan approval shall be reviewed and acted upon by the same municipal agency which acted upon the previously approved major site plan.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling
next above it. No story shall be deemed to be a first story if its
floor level is more than six feet above the level from which the height
of the building is measured. A mezzanine floor shall be counted as
a story if it covers over 1/3 the area of the floor next below it
or if the vertical distance from the floor next below it to the floor
next above it is 24 feet or more. A basement shall be counted as a
story if its ceiling is over five feet above the level from which
the height of the building is measured or if it is used for business
purposes or if it is used for dwelling purposes by other than a janitor
or domestic servants employed in the same building, including the
family of the same.
STORY, HALF
A story of which any two exterior sides meet a sloping roof
not more than two feet above the floor of such story, or that portion
of any structure herein defined as a basement.
STREET
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, parkway, viaduct, drive
or other way that is an existing state, county or municipal roadway,
or that is shown upon a plat heretofore approved pursuant to law,
or that is approved by official action as provided in the Subdivision
and Site Plan Review Ordinance, or that is shown on a plat duly filed and recorded in
the office of the county recording officer prior to the appointment
of a Planning Board and the grant to such Board of the power to review
plats, and includes the land between the street lines, whether improved
or unimproved, and whether or not comprising pavement, shoulders,
gutters, curbs, sidewalks, parking areas and other areas.
STREET LINE
The edge of the existing right-of-way or future street right-of-way
as shown on the Master Plan or Official Map, whichever would result
in the widest right-of-way, and which line forms the division between
the street and lot, or, if there shall be no Master Plan or Official
Map, the dividing line between the lot and the street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS
Any change in the supporting members of a building, such
as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, or in the utility system
or mechanical equipment of a structure, which materially alters its
usability, capacity or function.
STRUCTURE
A combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy,
use or ornamentation, whether installed on, above or below the surface
of a parcel of land.
SUBDIVISION
The division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two or
more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land for sale or
development. The following shall not be considered subdivisions within
the meaning of this chapter if no new streets are created: divisions
of land found by the Planning Board or Subdivision Committee thereof
appointed by the Chairman to be for agricultural purposes where all
resulting parcels are five acres or larger in size; divisions of property
by testamentary or intestate provisions; divisions of property upon
court order, including but not limited to judgments of foreclosure;
consolidation of existing lots by deed or other recorded instrument;
and the conveyance of one or more adjoining lots, tracts or parcels
of land owned by the same person or persons and all of which are found
and certified by the administrative officer to conform to the requirements
of the municipal development regulations and are shown and designated
as separate lots, tracts or parcels on the Tax Map or Atlas of the
municipality. The term "subdivision" shall also include the term "resubdivision."
(1)
MINOR SUBDIVISIONAny division of land containing an aggregate of not more than four lots (three new lots and the remaining parcel), including the number of lots, parcels and lands resulting from any prior subdivisions of the same land and any lands, lots or parcels from which the land sought to be subdivided arose prior to June 28, 1954, each fronting on an existing street or streets; not involving any new street or the installation of any street improvements or the extension of Township facilities; not involving any street(s) requiring additional right-of-way width as specified in the Master Plan or Official Map and the street requirements of this chapter, unless such additional right-of-way width, either along one or both sides of said street(s), as applicable, shall be deeded to the Township or to the appropriate governmental authority prior to classification as a minor subdivision; not adversely affecting the development of the remainder of the parcel or adjoining property; and not in conflict with any provision of the Master Plan, Official Map or this chapter.
TRAILER CAMP OR COURT
An area devoted to or designed for the accommodation of two
or more wheeled vehicles or portions thereof in use as or capable
of use as residential facilities which are commonly known as "house
trailers" or "auto trailers." Any such house trailer which has been
rendered incapable of immediate removal to another site shall be considered
a residential structure and shall meet all requirements of this chapter
for a residential structure.
TRANSCRIPT
A typed or printed verbatim record of the proceedings or
reproduction thereof.
USE
The purpose for which land or a building thereon is designed,
arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
VILLAGE CENTER ZONE
This zoning classification shall permit and promote a full
range of commercial, office, institutional, and residential land uses.
The goal is to create a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use environment
with an emphasis on uses that service local needs.
YARD
An open space, as may be required by this chapter, of uniform
width or depth on the same lot with a building or a group of buildings,
which open space lies between the principal building or group of buildings
and the nearest lot line and is unoccupied and unobstructed from the
ground upward except as herein permitted.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying
between the front or street line of the lot and the nearest wall or
part of the building. The depth of the front yard shall be measured
at right angles to the front line of the lot.
YARD, REAR
A yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying
between the rear line of the lot and the nearest wall or part of the
building. The depth of a rear yard shall be measured at right angles
to the rear of the lot in the same manner as specified herein for
the measurement of lot depth.
YARD, SIDE
An open, unoccupied space between the side line of the lot
and the nearest wall or part of the building and extending from the
front yard to the rear yard, or, in the absence of either of such
yards, to the front or rear lot lines, as the case may be. The width
of a side yard shall be measured at right angles to the side line
of the lot.