A comprehensive ordinance regulating and limiting the uses of
land and the uses and locations of buildings and structures; regulating
and restricting the height and bulk of buildings and structures and
determining the area of yards and other open spaces; regulating and
limiting the density of population; dividing the Township of Gloucester
into districts for such purposes; adopting a map of said Township
showing boundaries and the classification of such districts; establishing
rules, regulations and standards governing the subdivision of land
within the Township; establishing a Planning Board and Zoning Board
of Adjustment; and prescribing penalties for the violation of its
provisions.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Land Development
Ordinance of the Township of Gloucester."
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:
A. To guide the appropriate use or development of all lands in a manner
that 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 the Township of Gloucester does
not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring
municipalities, the county and 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 the 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 will result in congestion or blight;
I. To provide 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 and to prevent
urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use
of land;
K. 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;
L. To encourage senior citizen community housing construction;
M. 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;
N. To promote utilization of renewable energy sources;
O. 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;
P. To encourage, within areas identified in the Master Plan, a mixture
of land uses that facilitate nonvehicular and pedestrian access;
Q. To maintain traditional architectural forms in higher density housing
by utilizing the highest possible design standards;
R. To plan adequately for the timely provision of new community facilities,
including but not limited to:
(5)
Bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths;
(6)
Municipal facilities; and
S. To encourage the redevelopment of existing underutilized or abandoned
lands and buildings;
T. 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;
U. 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;
V. To establish design standards to encourage the construction of new
buildings to complement the style and scale of existing buildings;
W. 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;
X. To promote the preservation of natural features during land development;
Y. 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;
Z. 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.
The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be the minimum
requirements for the protection of the public health, safety, and
welfare. Where this chapter imposes a greater restriction than is
imposed and required by other provisions of the Code of the Township
of Gloucester, county, state, or federal government, the provisions
of this chapter shall control. Where such other laws, ordinances,
rules, regulations, or resolutions require greater restrictions than
are imposed by this chapter, the provisions of such other laws, ordinances,
rules, regulations, or resolutions shall control.
All uses not expressly permitted in this chapter are hereby
prohibited.
All applicable requirements shall be met at the time of erection,
enlargement, alteration, moving or change in use of the principal
use and shall apply to the entire structure or structures whether
or not the entire structure or structures were involved in the erection,
enlargement, alteration, moving or change in use.
Approval of final plans by the Planning Board or Zoning Board
of Adjustment, as the case may be, shall constitute an acceptance
of proposed dedications for streets, parks, and other public uses
or purposes. Nonetheless, such approval shall not constitute an acceptance
of physical improvements on such dedicated land and shall not impose
on the Township any obligation of jurisdiction or maintenance of such
improvements. The acceptance of such physical improvements shall only
be by action of the Township Council in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.