An ordinance establishing rules, regulations
and standards governing the site plan review within the Borough of
Norwood, pursuant to the authority and provisions of the Municipal
Land Use Law, Chapter 291 of the Laws of 1975 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et
seq.), and the amendments and supplements thereto, and providing for
the penalties for violations thereof.
This chapter shall be known as the "Site Plan
Ordinance of Norwood."
It is the intent and purpose of this chapter:
A.
Promote orderly development. To protect the character
and maintain the stability of all areas within the borough and promote
the orderly and beneficial development of such areas.
B.
Promulgate rules and procedures. To provide rules,
regulations and procedures to guide the appropriate development of
lands within the municipality in a manner which will promote the public
health, safety, morals and general welfare.
C.
Location and design of streets. To encourage the location
and design of streets and roadways which will promote the free flow
of traffic while discouraging the location of such facilities and
route which will result in congestion, or hazardous conditions for
particular pedestrian traffic.
D.
Prevent overcrowding. To provide adequate light, air
and open space.
E.
Secure safety from hazards. To secure safety from
fire, flood, panic and other natural and man-made disasters.
F.
Limit congestion. To limit congestion in the public
streets and so protect the public health, safety, convenience and
the general welfare by providing for off-street parking of motor vehicles
and the loading and unloading of vehicles.
G.
Promote appropriate densities. 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.
H.
Provide sufficient space. 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.
I.
Creative development techniques. To promote a desirable
visual and aesthetic environment through creative development techniques
and good civic design and arrangement.
J.
Efficient use of land. 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.
K.
Promote conservation of open space. To promote the
conservation of open space and valuable natural resources and to prevent
urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use
of land.
L.
Reduce hazards in steep-sloping areas. To reduce the
hazards which exist in steep-sloping areas by reason of erosion, siltation,
flooding, surface water runoff or pollution of water supplies from
point and nonpoint sources.
M.
Preserve water supply. To preserve streams, watercourses
and wetlands in their natural state wherever possible.
N.
Control runoff. To assure the adequacy of existing
and proposed culverts and bridges; to induce water recharge into the
ground where practical; to lessen nonpoint pollution; to maintain
the integrity of stream channels for their biological functions as
well as for drainage and the means necessary for water supply, preservation
or prevention or alleviation of flooding.
O.
Protect flood hazard areas. To preserve and protect
development within areas of high water table, floodways and flood
hazard areas.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Secretary of the Norwood Planning Board for any application
before the Planning Board and the Secretary to the Norwood Board of
Adjustment for any application before the Board of Adjustment.
A developer submitting an application for development.
The application form and all accompanying documents required
by ordinance for approval of a subdivision plat, site plan, planned
development, conditional use, zoning variance or direction of the
issuance of a permit when provided for by statute, ordinance or regulation.
The Norwood Planning Board or the Norwood Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, as hereinafter provided in Article III.
The Norwood Planning Board.
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. Common open space may
contain such complementary structures and improvements as are necessary
and appropriate to the use or enjoyment of residents and owners of
the development.
An application form completed as specified by ordinance and
the rules and regulations of the approving authority and all accompanying
documents required by ordinance for approval of the application for
development, including, where applicable, but not limited to, a site
plan or subdivision plat, provided that the approving authority may
require such additional information not specified in the ordinance
or any revisions in the accompanying documents, as are reasonably
necessary to make an informed decision as to whether the requirements
necessary for approval of the application for development have been
met. The application shall not be deemed incomplete for lack of any
such additional information or any revisions in the accompanying documents
so required by the municipal agency. An application shall be certified
as complete immediately upon the meeting of all requirements specified
in the ordinance and in the rules and regulations of the approving
authority and shall be deemed complete as of the date it is so certified
by the administrative officer for purposes of the commencement of
the time period for action by the approving authority.
A use permitted in a particular zoning district only upon 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 Chapter 233, Zoning, and upon the issuance of an authorization therefor by the Planning Board.
Development other than planned development.
A composite of the Master Plan for the physical development
of Bergen County, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts and descriptive
and explanatory matter adopted by the Bergen County Planning Board
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:27-2 and N.J.S.A. 40:27-4.
The Bergen County Planning Board.
Calendar days.
Those areas which exist or are created for the temporary
storage of stormwater and control discharge of this water to a receiving
drainage system.
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 other person having
an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.
The division of a parcel of land into two or more parcels,
the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration,
relocation or enlargement of any building or other structure, or of
any mining, excavation or landfill, and any use or change in the use
of any building or other structure, or land or extension of use of
land, for which permission may be required by statute, ordinance or
regulation.
The removal of surface water or underground water from land
by drains, grading or other means, and includes 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.
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by
water, wind, ice and gravity.
The official action of the approving authority taken on a
preliminary approved site plan after all conditions, engineering plans
and other requirements have been completed or fulfilled and the required
improvements have been installed or guaranties properly posted for
their completion or approval conditioned upon the posting of such
guaranties.
The rivers or other watercourses and adjacent land areas
subject to inundation in the event of the design flood of a one-hundred-year-frequency
storm. These areas include the floodway and flood-fringe areas as
delineated on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Boundary Maps,
prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and as adopted
by the Borough of Norwood.
The rivers or other watercourses and the adjacent land areas
to be reserved in order to discharge the design flood of a one-hundred-year-frequency
storm without cumulative increasing the water surface elevation more
than 0.2 feet.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Norwood.
Any building, structure, area or property that is significant
in the history, architecture, archaeology or culture of this state,
its communities or the nation and has so been designated.
Any person, whether residing within or without the municipality,
whose right to use, acquire or enjoy property under this chapter or
any law of this state or of the United States has been denied, violated
or infringed upon by an action or failure to act under this chapter.
To include improvements and fixtures on, above or below the
surface.
A designated parcel, plot, tract or area of land established
by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit.
Any security, other than cash, which may be accepted by the
borough, for the maintenance of any improvements required by this
chapter.
The composite of one or more written or graphic proposals
for the development of the Borough of Norwood by the Norwood Planning
Board pursuant to the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A 40:55D-28).
The Borough of Norwood.
The map, with changes and additions thereto, adopted and
established from time to time by resolution of the Bergen County Board
of Chosen Freeholders pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:27-5.
The map adopted by ordinance of the Norwood Mayor and Council
pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-32 et seq.
Located outside the lot lines of the lot in question but
within the property (of which the lot is a part) which is the subject
matter of a development application or the contiguous portion of a
street or right-of-way.
Not located on the property which is the subject of a development
application nor on a contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
Under the provisions of the Municipal Land Use Law, pertaining
to physically handicapped persons, a building or structure of more
than 10,000 square feet of gross floor area wherein commercial or
building activity or service is performed or a profession is practiced,
or wherein any combination thereof is performed or practiced in all
or the majority of such building or structure.
Located on the lot in question.
Located on the property which is the subject of a development
application or on a contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
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.
For purposes of notice, any applicant for development, the
owners of the subject property and all owners of property and government
agencies entitled to notice under the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12.
One that is submitted in a proper and complete form, including
all required application forms and maps, all required fees are submitted
and filed within the appropriate time schedules, proof is submitted
that no taxes or assessments for local improvements are due or delinquent
on the property for which approval is sought, and other municipal
reviews and governmental approvals as required.
Any security which may be accepted by the municipality, including
cash, provided that the municipality shall not require more than 10%
of the total performance guaranty in cash.
Any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
syndicate, copartnership, trust or other legal entity.
A physical impairment which confines a person to a wheelchair;
causes a person to walk with difficulty or insecurity; affects the
sight or hearing to the extent that a person functioning in public
areas is insecure or exposed to danger; causes faulty coordination;
or reduces mobility, flexibility, coordination and perceptiveness
to the extent that facilities are needed for the safety of that person.
When permitted by ordinance or variance, an area with a specified minimum contiguous acreage to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing one or more residential clusters or planned residential development, and one or more public, quasi-public, commercial or industrial areas in such ranges of ratios of nonresidential uses to residential uses as shall be specified in Chapter 233, Zoning.
When permitted by ordinance or variance, an area with a specified
minimum contiguous acreage of five acres or more to be developed as
a single entity according to a plan containing one or more residential
clusters, which may include appropriate commercial, public or quasi-public
uses, all primarily for the benefit of the residential development.
A map or maps of subdivision or site plan.
The conferral of certain rights pursuant to this chapter
prior to final approval after specific elements of a development plan
have been agreed upon by the approving authority and the applicant.
Architectural drawings prepared during early and introductory
stages of design of a project illustrating in a schematic form, its
scope, scale and relationship to its site and immediate environs.
Under the provisions of the Municipal Land Use Law pertaining
to physically handicapped persons, any building, structure, facility
or complex used by the general public, including but not limited to
theaters, concert halls, auditoriums, museums, schools, libraries,
recreational facilities, public transportation terminals and stations,
factories, office buildings, business establishments, passenger vehicle
service stations, shopping centers, hotels or motels and public eating
places, constructed by any state, county or municipal government agency
or instrumentality or private individual, partnership, association
or corporation with the following exceptions: one- to four-family
private residences, warehouse storage areas and all buildings classified
as hazardous occupancies. As used herein, "hazardous occupancy" shall
mean the occupancy or use of a building or structure or any portion
thereof that involves highly combustible, highly flammable or explosive
material, or which has inherent characteristics that constitute a
special fire hazard.
Land reserved or dedicated for installation of stormwater
sewers or drainage ditches, or required along natural stream or watercourse
for preserving the channel and providing for flow of water to safeguard
the public against flood damage, sedimentation and erosion.
Those areas which exist or are created for the temporary
storage of stormwater and absorption of this water into the ground.
The deposition 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.
A triangular shaped easement established at the intersection
of two streets or a driveway and a street in which nothing shall be
erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow in such a manner as to
obstruct vision between a height of 2 1/2 feet above the centerline
grade of the street or driveway. The municipality shall have the right
of entry to remove any obstruction to vision within a site easement
area not conforming to the standards of this definition, following
due notice to the property owner. Said triangle shall be determined
along such street lines or edge of driveway 30 feet distant from their
joint intersection.
A development plan of one or more lots in which is shown
the existing or 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,
driveways, parking spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress,
drainage facilities, utility services, landscaping, structures and
signs, lighting, screening devices; and any other information that
may be reasonably required in order to make an informed determination
pursuant to this chapter.
The ratio or rise of land to horizontal separation of this
rise. For the purpose of this chapter, a slope shall be determined
by dividing vertical elevation difference on adjacent contour lines
by the scaled horizontal distance perpendicular to these adjacent
contour lines. For the purpose of measurement or calculation on any
map, plat, plan or other document required by the Borough of Norwood,
or any agency or Board thereof, slopes shall be measured from a topographic
map upon a scale of one inch equals 100 feet or larger.
Land area where at least 10% of a given site of one acre
or more has land surface gradients of 15% or greater. Steep slopes
shall also mean steep topography.
Any natural body of water flowing continuously or intermittently,
whether designated as a stream, spring, brook, river or otherwise
and consisting of a bed, bank and water, but not including lakes or
ponds.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, parkway, viaduct, drive
or other way which is an existing state, county or municipal roadway;
or which is shown upon a plat heretofore approved pursuant to law;
or which is approved by official action as provided by the Municipal
Land Use Law; or which is shown on a plat duly filed and recorded
in the Bergen County Clerk's office 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 may comprise pavement shoulders, gutters, curbs,
sidewalks, parking areas and other areas within the street lines.
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.
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 land by testamentary or intestate
provisions.
Divisions of land upon court order, including
but not limited to judgments of foreclosure.
Consolidation of existing lots by deed or other
recorded instrument.
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."
A typed or printed verbatim record of the proceedings or
reproduction thereof.
Any woody perennial plant with one main trunk, such trunk
having a diameter of at least eight inches when measured four feet
above the level of the existing grade.
Rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes and all other bodies
of water, whether public or private, excluding piped drainage systems,
which are contained within, flow through or border on the Borough
of Norwood and which receive or conduct surface water runoff.
Those areas that are inundated by surface or ground water
with a frequency sufficient to support and under normal circumstances
does or would support a prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that
requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil condition for growth
and reproduction. Wetlands include but are not limited to swamps,
marshes, bogs and similar areas, such as sloughs, potholes, wet meadows,
river overflows, mud flats and natural ponds. Wetlands shall include
but not be limited to those shown on the United States Department
of the Interior Wetland Maps or similar maps published by the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
