Township of Gloucester, NJ Title and Purpose

It is the purpose of this chapter to exercise the authority delegated to municipalities under the Municipal Land Use Law (P.L. 1975, c. 291; codified as N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.) and to implement the recommendations of the Gloucester Township Master Plan through its provisions. It is the intent of this chapter:

To guide the appropriate use or development of all lands in a manner that will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare;

To secure safety from fire, flood, panic and other natural and man-made disasters;

To provide adequate light, air and open space;

To ensure that the development of the Township of Gloucester does not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities, the county and state as a whole;

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;

To encourage the appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds by the coordination of public development with land use policies;

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;

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 will result in congestion or blight;

To provide a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good civic design and arrangements;

To promote the conservation of historic sites and districts, open space, energy resources and valuable natural resources and to prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use of land;

To encourage planned unit development which incorporates the best features of design and relate the type, design and layout of residential, commercial, industrial and recreational development of the particular site;

To encourage senior citizen community housing construction;

To encourage the coordination of 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;

To promote utilization of renewable energy sources;

To promote the maximum practical 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;

To encourage, within areas identified in the Master Plan, a mixture of land uses that facilitate nonvehicular and pedestrian access;

To maintain traditional architectural forms in higher density housing by utilizing the highest possible design standards;

To plan adequately for the timely provision of new community facilities, including but not limited to:

Firehouses;

Schools;

Community centers;

Parks;

Bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths;

(6)

Municipal facilities; and

(7)

Public transit.

To encourage the redevelopment of existing underutilized or abandoned lands and buildings;

To promote the redevelopment of the commercial core of the Village of Blackwood through coordinated parking, streetscape improvements, signage, and lighting in keeping with the historic character of this district;

To preserve and enhance historic buildings, places and landscapes, encourage the maintenance of traditional architectural forms in buildings, and retain sites designated on State and National Registers of Historic Places;

To establish design standards to encourage the construction of new buildings to complement the style and scale of existing buildings;

To protect environmentally sensitive lands from development or other potentially damaging influences and to control the clearing of land that would adversely affect threatened or endangered plant and animal species;

To promote the preservation of natural features during land development;

To encourage open space dedications in the development review process to maximize the quantity and quality of such land in accordance with the criteria in the adopted Township Master Plan, and provide improved access to existing parks;

To create a Greenway Network to preserve and enhance existing stream corridors, connecting parks and conservation areas and using the Network for pedestrian and bicycling in areas capable of supporting such activity;

AA.

To promote the visual improvement of the Township's major arterials by the coordination of visual design and character of signage, planting additional street trees, and requiring on-site landscaping improvements during the redevelopment review process;

BB.

To encourage the coordination of development through the connection of commercial properties by easement and physical improvement;

CC.

To decrease the visibility and extent of parking lots and access driveways by:

(1)

Requiring the installation of landscaped traffic islands in parking lots;

(2)

Screening parking lots from the traveling public and adjacent residents by a combination of landscaping, berming, walls and fencing; and

(3)

Reducing the required number of parking spaces in pedestrian-oriented development and redevelopment, particularly in traditional centers such as Glendora and Blackwood West;

DD.

To provide, to the greatest extent feasible, the natural control of stormwater from land development while preserving the existing contours and natural features of the site; restrict development on steep slopes to reduce negative impacts on stream bank stability and to control erosion.