Borough of Essex Fells, NJ Specific Design Requirements

Minor streets shall be so designed as to discourage through traffic.

Developments abutting primary or secondary arterial streets shall, at the discretion of the Planning Board, provide reverse frontage with a buffer strip or driveways with turnarounds.

The right-of-way and pavement widths shall not be less than the following:

	ROW (feet)	Pavement (feet)
Primary arterial	66	44
Secondary arterial	60	40
Local street	40 to 50	24 to 32

(4)

No development showing reserve strips controlling access to streets shall be approved except where such strips have been deeded to the Borough.

(5)

Grades of arterial and collector streets shall not exceed 4%. Grades on other streets shall not exceed 10%. No street shall have a minimum grade of less than 1/2%.

(6)

Street intersections shall be as nearly at right angles as is possible and in no case shall be less than 60°. The block corners at intersections shall be rounded with a curve having a radius of not less than 20 feet.

(7)

Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 125 feet shall be prohibited.

(8)

A tangent at least 100 feet long shall be introduced between reverse curves on arterial and collector streets.

(9)

When connecting street lines deflect from each other at any one point by more than 10° and not more than 45°, they shall be connected by a curb with a radius of not less than 100 feet for minor streets and 300 feet for arterial and collector streets.

(10)

All changes in grade shall be connected by vertical curves of sufficient radius to provide a smooth transition and proper sight distance.

(11)

Dead-end streets shall not be longer than 600 feet and shall provide a turnaround at the end with a radius of not less than 40 feet and tangent, whenever possible, to the right side of the street. If a dead-end street is of a temporary nature, a similar turnaround shall be provided and provisions made for future extension of the street and reversion of the excess right-of-way to the adjoining properties.

(12)

No street shall have a name which will duplicate, or so nearly duplicate as to be confused with, the name of an existing street. The continuation of an existing street shall have the same name. New streets shall be named by the governing body.

(13)

Developments that include existing streets which do not conform to pavement and/or rights-of-way widths as shown on the Master Plan or as required by this article shall provide for the dedication and improvement to Borough specifications of the additional width. If the development adjoins one side of an existing street which does not meet Borough standards, only 1/2 of the required extra width shall be dedicated and improved to Borough specifications.

(14)

Service features, garages, parking areas and entrances to dwelling units shall, where possible, be located on a side of the individual lot having access to a local street. Walkways should be designed to connect dwelling units with each other and connect each dwelling unit with common open space.

Specific requirements for appurtenances.

Street signs. The location of all street signs shall be approved by the Planning Board.

Sidewalks. Sidewalks shall be required on all streets unless waived by the Planning Board. They shall be concrete and shall have a minimum width of four feet and meet Borough standards.

Traffic signs and control devices. These improvements, such as "Stop," "Yield," and "One Way" signs, etc., shall be designed and installed in accordance with applicable federal, state, county and municipal regulations. Recommendations as to their installation may be made by the police department or other competent agency.

(4)

Guardrails. These shall be designed to prevent cars from leaving the road. They shall be installed where danger exists to the traveling public due to steep topography, narrow roadways, location of drainage ditches, or other similar conditions.

(5)

Curbs. Granite block curbs shall be required on all streets unless waived by the Planning Board.

(6)

Streetlights. Streetlights shall be installed at street intersections, along vertical and horizontal curves, and at the end of dead-end streets. Lights shall be spaced approximately 300 feet apart. Light output shall be appropriate for the specific location in accordance with standards recommended in the current edition of the Illuminating Engineering Society's IES Lighting Handbook.

(7)

Street trees. Shade trees shall not be less than 40 feet apart and located between the setback line and street right-of-way line if possible (including the side street on corner lots) and not closer than 25 feet from any existing or proposed streetlight or street intersection. The trees shall be planted so as not to interfere with utilities, roadways or sidewalks. Trees shall be nursery-grown stock not less than three-inch caliper measured one foot from the root system, with branches commencing not less than eight feet above grade when planted, and staked in an approved manner. The property owner shall be responsible for the maintenance of all shade trees.

(8)

Buffers, fences and walls. Buffers, fences and/or walls may be required where existing or potential nuisances such as noise, aesthetics, air pollution, or safety may adversely affect the environment of the development and surrounding areas.

(9)

Landscaping. All open areas not utilized for parking areas, driveways, streets or roads, recreational facilities, patios or terraces shall be provided with lawns or other suitable growing ground cover, trees and shrubs. Continuous evergreen screening may be required along the tract boundary line, such screening to be no less than four feet high when planted. In addition, the Planning Board may, if conditions warrant, require supplemental screening by a solid fence up to six feet in height. Shade trees shall be provided along walks, driveways, parking areas, streets and roads. Screening or buffers consisting of berms, fencing and/or landscaping may be required around recreation, parking, utility and refuse disposal areas, and around other similar areas at the discretion of the Planning Board. All landscaping shall be maintained in good condition and shall be replaced where necessary. Where yards, patios and gardens are shielded with masonry walls, such walls shall conform architecturally to, and be of similar materials as, the principal building.

§ 170-72 Blocks.

Block length and width or acreage within bounding roads shall be such as to accommodate the size of the lot required in the area by the zoning ordinance and to provide for convenient access, circulation, safety, and the extension of utilities. Blocks of over 1,000 feet in length may be required to have pedestrian easements near the center.

§ 170-73 Lots.

Suitability. Where there is a question of the suitability of a lot or lots for their intended use due to factors such as rock formations, flood conditions, high water table, sewage disposal, excessive grade, configuration or similar circumstances, the Board may, after adequate investigation and with professional assistance if deemed necessary, withhold approval of such lots.

Side lines. Insofar as is practical, side lot lines shall be at right angles to the street and radial to curved streets.

Frontage. Each lot shall front upon an approved and improved street.

Setbacks. All lot measurements and setbacks shall be measured from any proposed street right-of-way as may be set forth in the Master Plan and/or Official Map.

Sight easements. Sight easements required on any lot shall remain free of all obstructions, fences or plantings above two feet in height.

§ 170-74 Conservation easements.

Where a development is traversed or bordered by a watercourse, drainageway, channel or stream, or where it is desirable to preserve other areas within a development because of soil conditions, rock outcroppings, tree masses, wildlife habitat, vistas, or other significant horticultural, environmental or natural features, there shall be provided a drainage and/or conservation easement of sufficient area and width to protect and preserve the aforementioned features and such further width or construction, or both, as will be adequate or required to achieve said purposes. The easements shall carry the following limitations:

No trees or shrubs shall be removed or destroyed on lands in the easement except in accordance with approved forest management practices.

No structures of any description shall be erected unless permitted by the Board.

No fill or excavation of any kind shall be permitted, except as may be permitted by the Board.

§ 170-75 Erosion and sediment control.

Measures used to control erosion and reduce sedimentation shall be approved by the soil conservation district.

§ 170-76 Utilities to be installed underground; refuse storage.

Underground utilities.

In all developments all utility distribution services shall be installed underground. The applicant shall arrange with the serving utility for the underground installation of the utilities' distribution supply lines, in accordance with the provisions of the applicable standard terms and conditions incorporated as part of its tariff, as the same are then on file with the State Board of Public Utilities Commissioners, and shall submit to the Board prior to the granting of final approval a written instrument from each serving utility which shall evidence full compliance with the provisions of this paragraph; except, however, that lots which abut existing streets where overhead electric or telephone distribution supply lines have heretofore been installed on any portion of the street involved may be supplied with electric and telephone service from those overhead lines, but the service connections from the utilities' overhead lines shall be installed underground. All underground utility work which will be under the pavement of the street shall be laid sufficiently in advance to allow for complete settlement of the trenches, and in no event shall construction work be permitted over such excavation which, in the opinion of the Borough Engineer, has not properly settled.

In any particular situation where the applicant can clearly demonstrate that, because of unusual topographic conditions or other unusual conditions having to do with the land, the installation of the utilities underground is impracticable or otherwise not feasible due to such condition, the Planning Board, in its discretion, may waive this requirement for underground installation.

Refuse storage. Refuse storage areas shall be shielded and buffered from any adjacent property.

§ 170-77 Driveway design standards.

Curb openings. Driveways shall be designed to adequately accommodate the volume and character of anticipated vehicles, as shown in Table 170-77A.

Minimum sight distances. Any driveway providing access to a public or private street shall be designed, graded and located so as to permit minimum sight distances, measured in each direction, along the intersecting street (shown in Table 170-77B). Measurement shall be made from the driver's seat of a passenger automobile standing on the exit driveway, with the front of the vehicle a minimum of 10 feet behind the edge of the street pavement.

Table 170-77A
	Curbline Opening (feet)	Driveway Width (feet)
Residence A-1 through Residence A-6 Zones	12 to 15	10 to 14
All other zones	15 to 25	12 to 20

	Table 170-77B
	Maximum Allowable Speed on Road (mph)	Minimum Required Sight Distance (feet)
	25	150
	30	200
	35	250
	40	300

Minimum distances between driveways. Where two or more driveways connect a single site to any public or private road, or individual driveways serve separate and adjoining sites, it is recommended that a minimum clear distance of 50 feet measured along the right-of-way line shall separate the closest of any two such driveways measured from the rights-of-way. A maximum of two driveways is recommended for any single site of 300 feet or less frontage.

Minimum distance to property line or intersecting street. Driveways shall not be located closer than one foot to a side or rear property line in residence districts or five feet in all other districts. No driveway shall be less than 50 feet to the closest right-of-way line of an intersecting street.

Maximum grades. In nonresidential districts, driveways shall not have a grade in excess of 10% over the entire length and not more than 2% for the first 25 feet from the street right-of-way line unless otherwise approved by the Board. Driveway aprons shall not be located where visibility is limited because of curves, topography or other features.

Driveway clearance. Any vertical curve on a driveway connecting a street with a parking lot or area shall be designed to prevent contact of the vehicular undercarriage with the pavement.

Prohibited access in residential zones. No driveway shall be located in any residential zone to provide access to uses other than those permitted in the residential zone.

§ 170-78 Acceleration and deceleration lanes.

The Board in its discretion may require roadway widening or other street improvements, including acceleration and deceleration lanes, to ensure safe ingress and egress, where minimum sight distances cannot be obtained.

§ 170-79 Fences or walls.

[Amended 5-7-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-1016]

General. Unless otherwise specifically noted herein or in another ordinance adopted by the Borough of Essex Fells, the provisions of this section shall apply to all fences, walls, retaining walls, hedges, and other forms of enclosures (and all parts thereof as set forth above) erected or maintained in any zoning district in the Borough. No changes to any currently existing fence, wall, retaining wall, hedge or other form of enclosure or constituent part thereof shall be permitted unless such change is consistent with this chapter or the owner of the land upon which such change is to occur has secured the approval of either the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as may be appropriate.

Permitted as accessory structures. Fences or walls in excess of 18 inches in height shall be considered as accessory structures to a principal permitted use and are permitted in accordance with the standards set forth in this section.

Maximum height and permitted location. The maximum permitted heights for fences and walls and the permitted locations are dependent upon the degree of openness of the material used:

Type	Maximum Height	Location
Solid	6 feet	Rear building line of principal structure to side and rear lot line
Semi-open	3 feet	Front building line to side and rear lot lines
Open	3 feet	Anywhere on lot up to the lot lines

Degree of Openness
Solid (50% or more solid)	Semi-open (25% up to 50%)	Open (up to 25%)
Solid picket	1 x 2 wood screen	Split rail
Board	Contemporary picket	Contemporary rail
Board and batten	Cinder or concrete block laid on side	Wire mesh
Louver panel		Rail and wire mesh
Staggered board panel
1 x 4 wood screen
Brick

Note: "Openness" is defined as the total area of solid elements divided by the total area of fence. Translucent, transparent, or clear plastic or similar materials shall be considered as solid elements.

Corner lots.

In the case of a corner property, both street frontages shall be subject to the front yard limitations except as provided herein.

Notwithstanding the provision above, the owner of a corner property may erect a fence not in excess of four feet in height, not closer than 15 feet from the property line, on one frontage only but not in the portion common to both front yards. Should the owner of a corner property erect a fence as permitted by this subsection, that fence shall be placed such that any line drawn perpendicular to the property line on the frontage where the fence is constructed shall not cross both the fence and the side of the structure facing said property line.

Should a corner property owner erect a fence within a location permitted above, the fence must be buffered by natural shrubbery which shall consist of densely planted evergreens that form a year-round screen and will be sufficient to completely cover the fence within three years. The screen planting shall be maintained, and any plant material which does not live shall be replaced within one year or one growing season. The planted screen shall be such that the fence is not visible from either street.

Prohibited locations.

No fence, wall, retaining wall, hedge or living fence shall be erected or permitted in the public right-of-way by any person or entity without the express written consent and approval of the governing body.

No fence, wall, retaining wall, hedge or living fence shall be located closer than 10 feet to a curbline or to the edge of a paved roadway.

No fence, wall, retaining wall, hedge or living fence shall be erected on any private property in any location which creates any obstruction or interferes with any required sight triangle at the intersection of two or more public roads or in any sight triangle required as a condition of any subdivision or site plan approval. On any corner lot all fences, living fences, walls, retaining walls, and hedges adjacent to the intersection shall not exceed two feet six inches in height, measured above the curb grade within the triangular area formed by connecting with a straight line each of two points situated 30 feet distant along the curbline from the point of intersection of the two streets forming that corner.

(a)

In any triangular area as described in above, the finished grade of any lot shall be not more than two feet six inches in height above the finished grade measured at the curbs to which such triangular area is adjacent. If the finished grade is two feet six inches in height, no shrubbery or other planting shall be permitted within such area, and if the finished grade, created either by natural contours or by the use of a retaining wall, is less than two feet six inches in height above the curb grade, then any plantings within such area shall be kept to a height so that the total height of the plants above finished grade added to the height of the finished grade above curb shall in no case exceed two feet six inches.

(b)

In the event any tree or shrubbery is located within the triangular area described above exceeds two feet six inches in height measured along its main trunk or branch, it shall have no branches nearer than 10 feet to the ground.

Gates.

Gates. No gate shall exceed eight feet in height at its highest point. In addition, no portion of any gate which is not at least 50% open shall extend above the maximum height set forth for fences.

Gate location. No gate providing access to a public road with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or greater shall be located closer than 25 feet to the edge of pavement. No gate providing access to any other public road shall be closer than 20 feet to the edge of pavement. If a gate is constructed on any driveway accessing a public road, the clear travel opening from the road to a point not less than 20 feet from the curbline shall not be less than 13 feet six inches, and there shall be no solid obstructions in the area extending from the curbline to a point 20 feet from the curbline, 25 feet in width at the curbline and 13 feet six inches in width at the twenty-foot point, which area shall be centered on the driveway center line.

Gate control. In the event that a gate is installed which is operated electronically, such gate shall have an opening device approved by the Fire Official in consultation with the Fire Chief and Police Chief and have a provision to automatically open and remain open during alarm activation or power failure to allow emergency services to access the property without delay in the event of an emergency. Any manually operated gate which can be locked or barred shall have a Knox-Box^® or other device approved by the Fire Official in consultation with the Fire Chief and Police Chief providing for emergency opening.

Miscellaneous regulations.

The height of a fence shall be determined by measuring from the lowest point on the undisturbed ground under the fence.

No fence shall be constructed of masonry material, barbed wire or any other material harmful to humans or animals, or of odd-sized material of varying width, thickness or length.

All fences shall be symmetrical in appearance, posts separated by identical distances and constructed of fencing material conforming to a definite pattern or size, and so constructed that the more finished side of the fence shall be facing away from the owners of property.

(4)

All fences and walls having a finished side shall be constructed with the finished side facing outward from the property on which it is constructed and toward adjacent properties or the street. For purposes of this section, the "finished side" shall be defined as the side opposite the posts, rails, supporting boards or piers.

(5)

Certain fences prohibited. In no case shall any barbed-wire, spiked, cloth, chipped-glass, electrically charged or poultry-netting fences, temporary fences, such as snow fences, expandable fences and collapsible fences, or other similar devices be used, except during construction, either by themselves or in conjunction with or as a part of any fence or retaining wall constructed or maintained within the Borough. The foregoing notwithstanding, poultry netting and "deer fencing" shall be permitted on any lot for the purposes of protecting gardens or other plantings in accordance with the standards set forth herein.

(6)

Cheek walls. In the event that a cheek wall is to be constructed as part of a fence, the average height of the cheek wall shall not be greater than the average of the height of the fence (excluding cheek walls, piers, pillars, stanchions and gates) at the point where the fence terminates and the cheek wall begins and the height of the pier, pillar or stanchion to which the cheek wall attaches at the other end. The length of any cheek wall shall not exceed the width of the driveway or other opening in the fence to which it is adjacent. A cheek wall shall be permitted on each side of the opening.

(7)

Piers, pillars, or posts. No pier, pillar, or post forming any part of a fence shall exceed the height of the fence of which it is part (excluding cheek walls, piers, pillars, posts, stanchions or gates) by more than one foot. In no event shall any pier, pillar, or post exceed 8.5 feet in height.

(8)

Ornamentation and lighting. In the event that a decorative ornamentation or lighting is added to the top of a pier, pillar, post or stanchion, the total height of such pier, pillar, post or stanchion inclusive of such ornamentation shall not exceed 8.5 feet in height. Further, no lights shall be installed as part of any fence other than on those piers immediately adjacent to a gate. Any such light shall be limited to a 3000k rating white bulb light.

(9)

Spacing of piers, pillars, posts. Piers, pillars and/or posts shall not be spaced less than 20 feet apart (center line to center line). The horizontal dimension of a pier, pillar, or post shall not exceed 12 1/2% of the distance between such pier, pillar, or post and the closest adjacent pier, pillar, or post.

(10)

Fences and walls shall not be located in any required sight triangle or within any public right-of-way or easement.

Deer fencing.

Open fencing designed for the purpose of repelling or preventing the travel or entry of deer may be installed in rear and side yards only. The control of deer by the construction of deer fencing shall be subject to the following regulations:

(a)

No deer fence shall be erected, constructed or installed which is over eight feet in height;

(b)

Deer fences shall only be constructed of a black polypropylene material or a metal core covered by black polypropylene material only;

(c)

Deer fencing may not be attached to trees, and must be securely supported by black posts or attached to existing fencing, and shall be installed in accordance with manufacturer specifications;

(d)

Deer fencing must be safety staked or secured at ground level and may not have caps or rails or other decorative or nonfencing material at its top edge.

(e)

Deer fencing may not be visible from any street.

In order to construct deer fencing, a permit for said construction shall be required. A sample of the proposed fencing material must be submitted to the Building Inspector for approval as to material strength, durability, warranty, gauge suitability and compliance in order for a permit to be obtained.