This chapter is intended to comprehensively plan, direct, guide and control the development of the Township of Blairstown by:
A. 
Regulating and limiting the uses of land and the uses and the locations of buildings and structures;
B. 
Regulating and restricting the height and bulk of buildings and structures and determining the area of yards and other open spaces;
C. 
Regulating and restricting the density of population;
D. 
Implementing the housing requirements mandated by the "Mt. Laurel II" New Jersey Supreme Court Decision and the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH);
E. 
Dividing the Township of Blairstown into zoning districts and providing for planned developments on certain lands designated for such purposes;
F. 
Adopting a Zoning Map of the Township of Blairstown showing the boundaries and the names of the zoning districts;
G. 
Establishing the rules, regulations and standards governing the subdivision and site development of the lands within the Township;
H. 
Establishing a Land Use Board; and
[Amended 4-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-02]
I. 
Prescribing the penalties for the violation of and the methods for enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
The short title of this chapter shall be the "Land Development Ordinance (LDO) of the Township of Blairstown."
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.) with the following intent and purpose:
A. 
To encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use or development of the lands in the Township of Blairstown, in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare;
B. 
To secure safety from fire, flood, panic, and other natural and man-made disasters;
C. 
To provide adequate light, air and open space;
D. 
To ensure that the development of individual municipalities does not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities, the county and the state as a whole;
E. 
To promote the establishment of appropriate population densities and concentrations that will contribute to the well-being of persons, neighborhoods, communities and regions and preservation of the environment;
F. 
To encourage an appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds by the coordination of public development with land use policies;
G. 
To provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial and industrial uses and open space, both public and private, according to their respective environmental requirements in order to meet the needs of all New Jersey citizens;
H. 
To encourage the location and design of transportation routes which will promote the free flow of traffic while discouraging location of such facilities and routes which result in congestion or blight;
I. 
To promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good civic design and arrangements;
J. 
To promote the conservation of historic sites and districts, open space, energy resources and valuable natural resources in New Jersey and to prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use of land;
K. 
To encourage planned unit developments which incorporate the best features of design and relate the type, design and layout of residential, commercial, industrial and recreational development of the particular site;
L. 
To encourage senior citizen community housing construction;
M. 
To encourage coordination of the various public and private procedures and activities shaping land development with a view of lessening the cost of such development and to the more efficient use of land;
N. 
To promote utilization of renewable energy sources;
O. 
To promote the maximum practicable recovery and recycling of recyclable materials from municipal solid waste through the use of planning practices designed to incorporate the State Recycling Plan goals and to compliment municipal recycling programs; and
P. 
To further the goals and policies of the Master Plan of the Township of Blairstown.
A. 
The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements.
B. 
Where this chapter imposes a greater restriction than is imposed and required by other provisions of law or by other rules, regulations or resolutions, the provisions of this chapter shall control unless they are preempted by such other provisions, in which case the provisions of this chapter shall nevertheless remain a viable and valid expression of the Township of Blairstown's interests and concerns regarding the applicable subject matter.
C. 
Where other laws, rules, regulations or resolutions require greater restrictions than are imposed by this chapter, the provisions of such other laws, rules, regulations or restrictions shall control.
A. 
Unless otherwise specifically permitted by this chapter, no more than one principal use shall be permitted on any one lot.
B. 
Unless otherwise specifically permitted by this chapter, no more than one principal building shall be permitted on any one lot.
C. 
Unless otherwise specifically permitted by this chapter, no more than one dwelling unit shall be permitted on any one lot.
[Amended 9-12-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-19; 7-29-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-06]
Any use not expressly permitted by this chapter is hereby specifically prohibited throughout the Township of Blairstown and the following uses and activities are specifically prohibited in any zoning district throughout the Township of Blairstown:
A. 
Billboards and any signboards, advertising signs or devices not expressly related to the business being conducted on the premises or otherwise specifically permitted by this chapter;
B. 
Boardinghouses;
C. 
Junkyards, any automobile wrecking or disassembly yards, any sorting or bailing of scrap metal, paper, rags, and/or other waste material;
D. 
Unless otherwise permitted by this chapter or by applicable licensing provisions elsewhere in the Code of the Township of Blairstown, the maintenance of any nonregistered, uninspected, inoperable, abandoned, wrecked or junked vehicle;
E. 
Any privately operated dump or the use of land for disposal of garbage, trash, junk, refuse and/or similar material;
F. 
The removal of sand, stone, gravel and/or topsoil from any land and/or the disturbance or clearing of any land area greater than 5,000 square feet, except as specifically related to an agricultural use or to a development which has been approved in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;
G. 
All classes of cannabis establishments or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services as said terms are defined in Section 3 of P.L. 2021, c. 16,[1] but not the delivery of cannabis items and related supplies by a delivery service; and
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 24:6I-33.
H. 
Any and all commercial marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana production or manufacturing facilities, and marijuana testing facilities.
A. 
No building or any other structure shall be erected, enlarged, altered, added to, reduced, moved or changed in use unless in conformity with the applicable requirements of this chapter.
B. 
All applicable requirements of this chapter shall be met at the time a building or any other structure is first erected, enlarged, altered, added to, reduced, moved or changed in use.
C. 
All applicable requirements of this chapter shall apply to the entire structure, whether or not the entire structure was involved in the erection, enlargement, alteration, addition, reduction, moving or change in use.
D. 
No structure or land area in the Township of Blairstown shall be used for any purpose or in any manner other than as specified in this chapter and/or in accordance with a site plan or subdivision plat as specifically approved by the Land Use Board, including any conditions of approval.
[Amended 4-11-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-02]