[Amended 6-28-2016 by Ord. No. 4157-16]
A.
This article addresses the public interest of stream corridor protection
by prohibiting disturbance to undisturbed natural lands located along
stream corridors since the preservation of undisturbed lands are particularly
critical to protect property from flooding, to reduce land development
impacts on stream water quality and flows, and to provide recreation
and wildlife migration corridors. This article regulates development
by protecting stream corridors from the type and intensity of development
which would be destructive to their special environmental importance,
harmful to the health and welfare of the general public, and harmful
to properties downstream.
B.
All new applications for development, including applications for
major and minor subdivisions and/or applications for site plan approval,
shall be designed so as to minimize, to the maximum degree practicable,
disturbance within stream corridor preservation areas and to avoid
disturbance within undisturbed areas of stream corridor preservation
areas to the maximum degree practicable.
C.
So as not to unduly burden landowners of developed properties located
in proximity to stream corridors, this article expressly exempts from
the requirements of this article activities on portions of land that
have been previously disturbed, while such activities would continue
to be subject to other land development regulations (e.g., applicable,
zoning and stormwater management regulations). Conversely, it is the
express intent of this article to prohibit disturbance to undisturbed
natural lands located along stream corridors. Such additional disturbance
is prohibited under this article. While this article allows the granting
of a waiver if the applicant proves particular hardship, such waiver
should be the minimum necessary to address the hardship and otherwise
meet the requirements of this article.
Stream corridors include four components: stream channels, floodplains,
contiguous slopes of 12% or greater, and associated preservation areas.
These components are regulated by this article. These components are
defined as follows:
A.
Stream channels: Stream channels consist of the bed and banks of
a stream within which is conveyed the normal flow of the stream, as
identified on any one or more of the following:
(1)
Streams identified as such in the NJ-GeoWeb mapping application provided
by the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
(NJDEP) Bureau of GIS.
(2)
The most current Flood Insurance Rate Map prepared by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
for the National Flood Insurance Program.
(3)
Soil maps from the Soil Survey of Somerset County, New Jersey, at
a scale of one inch equals 1,230 feet, prepared by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with the New
Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, January 1972 or most current.
(4)
Category 1 (C-1) waters are designated in the Surface Water Quality
Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.15.
(5)
Additional state "open waters," delineated via letter of interpretation from New Jersey Department of Environment Protection (NJDEP), not delineated per § 112-227A(1) through (4).
(6)
For purposes of delineation, the center line of the stream shall
constitute the stream channel for all watercourses other than the
Raritan River, Millstone River, and Delaware and Raritan Canal. For
the three specified watercourses, the outer edge of the actual stream
bed and banks shall be the stream channel from which setbacks shall
be measured.
B.
Floodplains: The special flood hazard area (i.e., one-percent annual chance flood/one-hundred-year flood) as delineated in Subsection A(2) above.
C.
Critical slopes: Land whose slope exhibits a change in elevation
greater than 12% for a horizontal distance of 10 feet or greater and
where the toe of the slope lies within 50 feet of the stream channel
bank or floodplain shall be deemed critical slopes. The protection
area for critical slopes shall be the lesser of:
D.
Preservation areas: The stream corridor preservation area is required
to be delineated as the most restrictive limit of any of the three
distances established in accordance with the following schedule:
|
Stream Category
|
Minimum Distance from
Stream Channel (§ 112-227A)
|
Minimum Distance from Outer Limit
of Special Flood Hazard Area (§ 112-227B)
|
Critical Slopes as
Defined in § 112-227C
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Millstone River, Raritan River, D&R Canal, C-1 streams as
designated by NJDEP and upstream tributaries within the same HUC-14
watershed
|
300 feet
|
50 feet
|
100 feet or 50 feet
| |
|
Other delineated streams as defined in § 112-227A(1) through (4)
|
150 feet
|
50 feet
|
100 feet or 50 feet
| |
|
Additional state "open waters" per § 112-227A(5)
|
50 feet
|
50 feet
|
100 feet or 50 feet
|
(1)
For C-1 streams, the stream corridor area shall be measured
as defined at N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.5(b), or as defined by this article,
whichever is wider.
(2)
When an activity is also reviewed by the Delaware and Raritan
Canal Commission under N.J.A.C. 7:45-7, Stream Corridor Impact Regulations
for the Review Zone of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park (adopted
February, 1994), or successive regulations and amendments, the result
that is more restrictive, and less permissive, to a landowner or applicant,
shall apply.
A.
DISTURBANCE
UNDISTURBED LAND OR UNDISTURBED AREA
Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
Construction or other human activity that disturbs the surface
of the land, or the soil below the land surface, which modifies the
natural state of the land and/or vegetation, including, but not limited
to: removal of trees or other natural vegetation; clearing and grubbing;
grading; excavations; installation of landscaping and lawns; embankments;
land development; construction of buildings or structure; altering
of watercourses or waterbodies; storage of materials; modifications
to or construction of septic disposal systems; modifications to or
construction of wells; mineral extraction; and, the moving, removal,
depositing, stockpiling, or storing of soil, rock or earth materials.
Land existing in a natural state and that has not been the
subject of "disturbance" as defined herein as of the effective date
of this article (July 18, 2016).
B.
This article shall apply to the disturbance of undisturbed land within a stream corridor component as delineated under § 112-227. Activities occurring in an area of land that had been the subject of disturbance prior to the effective date of this ordinance shall be exempt from the requirements of this article.
C.
Any disturbance to undisturbed land within a stream corridor component as delineated under § 112-227 shall be prohibited.
D.
Hardship waiver.
(1)
Waiver from the requirements of this article may be granted
by the Board/Committee having jurisdiction provided the applicant
demonstrates the following:
(a)
Proof that application of this article will result in a particular
hardship, including demonstration that the disturbance cannot be located
outside the undisturbed area without resulting in an undue hardship;
(b)
That the application has been designed to minimize the extent
of disturbance within the undisturbed area including employment of
methods to minimize the amount of tree removal, grading, fill or deposition
and disturbance to steep slopes within the stream corridor; and, to
minimize impact to the stream including employment of necessary sedimentation
and erosion control measures and nutrient control by vegetation filters
or other mechanisms incorporated to protect the stream;
(c)
That disturbance to the undisturbed area is eliminated where
possible and minimized where not possible by relocating the project
or reducing the size of the project;
(d)
That any temporarily cleared area of vegetation will be replanted
with indigenous, noninvasive vegetation;
(e)
A condition of any waiver shall be submission of proof that
the proposed activity has received all necessary approvals including
those of the NJDEP and Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, as applicable.
(2)
Requests for waiver of any provision of this article shall be
made as follows:
(a)
Any waiver sought in association with activity requiring approval
by the Township Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, including
but not limited to applications for site plan, subdivision and/or
variance approval, shall be reviewed in association with the application
presented to the Board having jurisdiction.
(b)
Any waiver sought in association with activity not requiring
review and approval by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment
shall require administrative site plan approval from the Township
Technical Review Committee.
(3)
Notwithstanding the above, no waiver may be granted for the following uses and activities within a stream corridor component as delineated under § 112-227:
(a)
Disturbance within the floodway unless such activity consists
of a roadway, driveway and/or bridge crossing necessary to provide
access to a site and permitted via general permit issued by the NJDEP.
(b)
Any solid or liquid waste or refuse disposal including but not
limited to sanitary landfills, dumps, transfer stations, and wastewater
lagoons.
(c)
Junkyards, commercial and industrial storage facilities and
the open storage of vehicles and materials.
(d)
Facilities for the storage of hazardous or toxic materials.
(e)
Altering of watercourses (realigning, straightening, damming,
widening, or grading of the streambed), excluding the restoration
of watercourses in cases where restoration to their former natural
channels after diversion by floods is demonstrated to be necessary
to protect individual property or is in the public interest.
B.
Any request for a hardship waiver from the requirements of this article
shall, in addition to the application requirements otherwise required,
also provide the following:
(1)
Detailed hydrologic engineering studies which indicate the effects
on drainage and streams on all adjacent properties as well as the
property in question, including the necessary data to determine whether
the boundaries of the stream corridor would be affected if the application
were granted.
(2)
A grading plan showing existing and proposed topography by dashed
and solid contour lines with such contours being shown at one-foot
intervals where practical but not to exceed two-foot intervals.
(3)
The evaluation of how suitable techniques, including erosion
and soil stabilization measures, sediment traps and nutrient control
by vegetation filters or other mechanisms will be incorporated to
protect the stream.
An approved application for development or use on a lot which
contains a stream corridor or portion of a stream corridor shall provide
a conservation easement delineated by metes and bounds for the continued
protection of the stream corridor. Conservation easements shall be
established by deed if no subdivision map is being filed, or by plat
filed with the county, recording officer in compliance with the Map
Filing Law.
Appropriate monuments shall be set by the licensed land surveyor.
Such markers shall be set at each conservation easement corner not
previously marked by a monument. All boundary markers shall be described
on the survey provided to show their relation to the property or corner
or, if appropriate, to the boundary lines.
