This Article shall be known and be cited as
the "Design Criteria Ordinance" and shall be applicable to all applicants
requesting site plan approval. All applicants for site plan approval
shall comply with the hereinafter design criteria set forth in this
Article before approval of their plans shall be granted, unless, for
good cause, the approving authority waives all or part of the requirements
set forth in this Article.
Within any zone, other than a single-family
residential zone, in which the development submitted for site plan
approval abuts a residential zone, the following buffer area and landscaping
requirements shall apply. The buffer area shall consist of, be designed
and planted as follows:
A. A strip of land 10% of the average width of the property
when a nonresidential use abuts a residential zone on the side and/or
10% of the average depth of the property when a nonresidential use
abuts a residential zone at the rear shall be designated as a buffer
area and so indicated on the plat. Buffer areas will be contiguous
with residential property lines and shall be of uniform width. In
no case should the width of the buffer exceed 30 feet. If the buffer
is less than 15 feet wide, the applicant may be required to erect
a five-foot high stockade fence within the buffer area parallel to
the lot line of the abutting residential lot and set back a distance
appropriate for the landscaping treatment in the buffer area.
B. Requirements for planting in the buffer area. Buffer
areas shall consist of a landscaped area consisting of massed evergreen
and deciduous trees and shrubs. Evergreen trees shall be planted 10
feet apart in two staggered rows that will provide a continuous visual
screen throughout the entire year within a period of two full growing
seasons following the planting of the buffer. Evergreen trees should
be six to eight feet in height at the time of planting. Evergreen
and deciduous shrubs shall have a minimum height of three feet when
planted and shall be of varieties which normally grow to a minimum
height of six feet within two full growing seasons. The height of
shrubs planted in buffer areas shall be measured from the ground level
around the base of the shrub to the topmost part of the shrub once
the shrub has been properly planted in the ground. In such cases as
the ground elevation of the location at which the screen is to be
planted is less than the elevation of the edge of an adjacent parking
area, the required height of the screen shall be increased in an amount
equal to said difference in elevation.
(1) Required buffers may be used for no other purposes
than as a buffer. The only structures which may be erected within
buffer areas are fences, as elsewhere regulated in this Article.
(2) Where an area required for a buffer is already wooded,
it may be left in its natural state, and the existing growth shall
be supplemented with additional plant material, at the discretion
of the appropriate approving authority, to bring the buffer area up
to the minimum requirements of this Article.
(3) Where a particular use, at the discretion of the appropriate
approving authority, cannot be adequately screened from an adjacent
residential use or zone through proper grading and/or landscaping
with natural plant material, a solid, continuous fence of not less
than five feet in height shall be erected within the designated buffer
zone. The finished side of the fence shall face outward towards the
adjacent lot.
(4) In the event that any tree, shrub or other planting
required by the landscape and buffer provisions of this Article or
of any other provisions of this chapter shall not live, they shall
be replaced immediately, or, if they shall die at a time which is
not appropriate for planting, then they shall be replaced in the next
planting season.
C. The approving authority shall have the power to waive
any of the requirements or details specified above if it determines
an adequate buffer can be provided in less than 15 feet while maintaining
the purposes of this Article. The approving authority, when considering
waiving any of the buffer requirements, shall review the proposed
plat and the standards and purposes of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1, et seq.,
and, to these ends, shall consider the location of buildings, parking
areas, outdoor illumination and other features of the topography of
the area and existing features such as trees, streams; the efficiency,
adequacy and safety of the proposed layout of driveways, streets,
sidewalks and paths; the adequacy and location of existing green areas
and buffer areas; the adequacy and location of screening and parking
areas; structures and uses; and such other matters as may be found
to have a material bearing on the above standards and objectives.
Within any zone in which development submitted
for site plan approval requires landscaping and screening, all portions
of the property not utilized by buildings or paved surfaces shall
be landscaped, utilizing combinations such as landscaped fencing,
shrubbery, lawn area, ground cover, existing foliage and the planting
of coniferous and/or deciduous trees native to the area. The landscape
plan and screening plan shall be designed so as to lessen the visual
impact of the structures and shall be planned for aesthetic, drainage
and erosion control purposes.
In any zone wherein site plan approval is requested,
all structures and containers used for solid waste collection and
disposal shall be entirely enclosed or adequately screened for aesthetic
purposes.