This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Land Subdivision
Ordinance of the Township of Montclair."
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the regulation of land
subdivision in the Township and to establish rules, regulations and standards
governing such land subdivision in order to promote the public health, safety,
convenience and general welfare of the Township. It shall be administered
to ensure orderly growth and development, conservation, protection and proper
use of land and adequate provision for circulation, utilities and service.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any public or private way open to public vehicular use less than
21 feet in width.
The Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment of the Township. Where
permitted by the Municipal Land Use Law, P.L. 1975, c. 291,[1] the Board of Adjustment may exercise those functions herein delegated
to the Planning Board.
A short dead-end street not over 600 feet in length with a turnaround
at the end.
The lands required for the installation of stormwater sewers or drainage ditches or required along a natural stream or watercourse for preserving the channel and providing for the flow of water therein to safeguard the public against flood damage in accordance with Chapter 1 of Title 58 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes.[2]
The final map of all or a portion of the subdivision which is presented to the Planning Board for final approval in accordance with this chapter and which, if approved, shall be filed with the proper county recording officer, except in the case of minor subdivisions as set forth in § 301-39B.
Any subdivision not classified as a minor subdivision.
Any subdivision of a tract or parcel of land which does not involve
the creation of more than two lots fronting on a public street, planned development,
any new street or the extension of any off-tract improvement.
The map of a subdivision.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, lane, parkway, viaduct, alley
or other way which is an existing state, county or municipal roadway; or a
street or way shown upon a plat heretofore approved pursuant to the Municipal
Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.); or a street or way on a plat duly
filed and recorded in the office of the county recording officer prior to
the appointment of a Planning Board and the grant to such Board of the power
to review plats. "Street" includes the land between the street lines, whether
improved or unimproved, and may comprise pavement, shoulders, gutters, sidewalks,
parking areas and other areas within the street lines.
Any person commencing proceedings under this chapter to effect a
subdivision of land hereunder.
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 Chair to be for agricultural
purposes where all resulting parcels are five acres or larger in size; divisions
of property by testamentary or intestate provisions; divisions of property
upon court order; and conveyances so as to combine existing lots by deed or
other instrument. The term "subdivision" shall also include the term "resubdivision."
All subdivisions of land within the Township are hereby required to
be effected subject to regulation under this chapter. No plat of any such
subdivision shall be filed by any person with the county recording officer
as purporting to be in compliance with this chapter and with Section 28 of
the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37) unless and until the same
shall be approved by the Planning Board, and such approval, signed by the
Secretary of the Planning Board, shall have been endorsed on such plat.
A.
Subdivision plats shall conform to design standards that
will encourage good development patterns within the Township. The streets,
drainage rights-of-way, school sites, public parks and playgrounds shown on
the Master Plan or Official Map shall be shown on the final plat and shall
be such as to lend themselves to the harmonious development of the Township
and enhancement of the public welfare in accordance with the design standards
set forth in this chapter. The Planning Board shall further require that all
lots shown on the plats be adaptable for the intended purposes without danger
to health or peril from flood, fire, erosion or other menace.[1]
B.
When the Planning Board has adopted portions of a Master
Plan with proposals regarding the street system within a proposed subdivision,
the Board may require that the streets shown conform in design and in width
to the proposals shown on the Master Plan. In acting upon plats, the Planning
Board shall require, among other conditions in the public interest, that the
tract shall be adequately drained; that the streets shall be of sufficient
width and suitable grade and suitably located to accommodate the prospective
traffic and to provide access for fire-fighting equipment to buildings; and
that the streets shall be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system,
conforming to the Official Map or, if there is no Official Map, relating properly
to the existing street system. No street of a width greater than 50 feet within
the right-of-way lines may be required unless said street already has been
shown at the greater width on the Master Plan or the Official Map.
C.
The Planning Board or Subdivision Committee may disapprove
an application for the subdivision of land on which there exists a principal
building if the application proposes to create a lot or lots on which a building,
if erected, could disturb the uninterrupted frontage of the existing building
to the street on which said lot or lots are proposed to front.
A.
The Planning Board, when reviewing applications for approval
of subdivision plats, site plans or conditional uses, shall have the power
to grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Board
of Adjustment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60:
(1)
Variances, pursuant to § 202-21A(3) of the Montclair Code concerning bulk standards.
[Amended 6-8-1982 by Ord. No. 82-22]
(2)
Direction for issuance of a permit for a building or
structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control
basin or public area reserved pursuant to the Municipal Land Use Law.
(3)
Direction for issuance of a permit for a building or
structure not related to a street.
B.
Whenever relief is requested pursuant to this section,
notice of the hearing on the application for development shall include reference
to the request for a variance or direction for issuance of a permit, as the
case may be.