[Added 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 0-10-25]
Pursuant to the recommendations set forth in Section I (St.
Joseph Seminary Development Area) of the Township Master Plan adopted
January 20, 2009, amended on August 2, 2010, the intent and purpose
of these provisions is to redefine the use of a portion of the former
Saint Joseph Seminary property for the creation of a cultural arts
and education campus, in order to utilize the existing high quality
educational buildings and grounds in a sustainable manner that preserves
and protects the character of the property and its buildings and supports
educational and cultural arts opportunities in the community.
The ECA Zone is intended to achieve the following goals:
A.
Provide an appropriate built and natural environment to support educational
and cultural arts uses and activities in a campus-like setting.
B.
Maintain the overall character of the existing property, including
its buildings and open space features.
C.
Preserve as passive open space the portion of 4.2+/- acres of the
St. Joseph's Seminary property that is situated between Mapleton Road
and the Delaware and Raritan Canal.
D.
Preserve and protect the lawn area, referred to in Section I (St.
Joseph Seminary Development Area) of the amended Master Plan as "the
Great Lawn," located on the west side of the Seminary between the
existing buildings and Mapleton Road, in order to preserve the existing
viewshed along Mapleton Road.
E.
Adequately buffer and protect the adjacent residential units within
the community commonly known as "the Windrows."
F.
Encourage any future parking facilities to be constructed in the
area east of the existing buildings and west of the existing active
open space/playing fields. Such facilities, including vehicular and
pedestrian circulation elements, shall be designed in a manner that
promotes efficiency, safety and environmental sensitivity.
G.
Accommodate the construction of new building space, either as additions
or freestanding structures, provided that such construction is made
compatible with and complementary to the existing buildings through
the use of materials and design elements that reflect general architectural
consistency and compatibility with the existing principal buildings
on the property.
H.
Limit accessory site improvements such as signage and lighting to
what is necessary to adequately support the use of the property, utilizing
a coordinated system of high quality signage and lighting fixtures.
I.
Provide for site improvements, including fencing and landscaping,
that are designed to enhance the overall character of the property
and alleviate adverse effects on adjoining properties.
The following principal uses shall be permitted in the ECA Zone.
Any contrary provisions in this Code notwithstanding, property situated
in the ECA Zone may be developed with more than one principal use.
A.
Private or public pre-school, elementary, secondary, post-secondary
and professional schools, including schools that provide room and
board facilities.
B.
Institutions or entities that provide or support cultural arts, entertainment
or fine arts, including instructional services generally.
C.
Student dormitory and staff residential accommodations when associated
with a permitted school use.
D.
Institutions or entities that provide or support educational and
instructional services generally.
E.
Seminaries or other religious education training centers.
G.
Private or public open space.
The following accessory uses shall be permitted in the ECA Zone:
A.
Public and private concerts, including rehearsals and recording sessions.
B.
Indoor and outdoor recreational and cultural arts activities associated
with a principal permitted use.
C.
Office and other administrative uses, as needed, to support the principal
permitted uses listed hereinabove.
D.
Any other use, activity or structure customarily associated with
and incidental to one or more of the principal permitted uses listed
hereinabove, including seasonal recreational, cultural or educational
activities such as summer camps and programs.
A.
The intent of this section is to allow the continued use of the existing
Chapel by the Vincentian Order and others in keeping with its historical
use. To that end, the following specific activities shall be deemed
preexisting uses and shall be permitted to continue within the existing
chapel only:
B.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to allow the establishment or expansion
of a cemetery in the ECA Zone, other than the grandfathered uses in
the chapel as specifically set forth herein.
Any use not expressly permitted in the ECA Zone shall be prohibited.
The minimum lot area for all uses in the ECA Zone shall be 30
acres.
The minimum street frontage shall be 1,000 feet.
A.
Mapleton Road frontage: In order to preserve and protect the Great Lawn, in keeping with the goals set forth in § 101-234D above, no building or other structure shall be located closer than 425 feet from the right-of-way of Mapleton Road, and no parking improvements shall be located closer than 400 feet from same.
C.
All other setbacks:
(1)
No building or structure shall be located closer than 100 feet
from any property line abutting a residential use or senior residential
nursing facility.
(2)
No parking improvement shall be located closer than 50 feet
from any property line abutting a residential use or senior residential
nursing facility.
The maximum permitted building coverage shall be 10%.
The maximum permitted impervious coverage shall be 25%.
The maximum floor area ratio shall be 0.20.
A.
Except as set forth in Subsection C below, the maximum height for all principal buildings and structures shall be three stories, not to exceed 40 feet.
B.
Except as set forth in Subsection C below, the maximum height for all accessory buildings and structures shall be 20 feet.
C.
In order to preserve the architectural character of the existing buildings in the ECA Zone and reasonably accommodate their expansion, where any such building exceeds the height limit set forth in Subsections A and B above, the height of any addition to such building may be increased to match the existing height of the roof of the portion of the building that is being expanded.
A.
All applications for development in the ECA Zone shall require site
plan approval.
B.
Unless otherwise specifically set forth in this article, development
in the ECA Zone shall be subject to all applicable requirements set
forth in the Township's Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance,[1] including, but not limited to, the standards regarding
street design, fire lanes, streetlighting, drainage, stormwater management,
water supply, and sanitary sewers and septic systems.
C.
In addition to the requirements set forth in this article and in
the Township's Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance, the following
matters should be considered by the board of jurisdiction in its review
of any site plan application for development in the ECA Zone. These
are intended to serve as guidelines, not regulations:
(1)
All buildings and structures should be designed to harmonize
with the character of the existing site and principal buildings and
should be located and designed using existing and additional landscaping,
appropriate high quality building materials (e.g., stone, brick, precast
masonry, or high quality wood projects), and color to enhance their
appearance and mitigate any adverse visual impact from both on- and
off-site locations.
(2)
All building additions should utilize traditional sloping roofs
consistent with the general character of the existing buildings, which
roofs should be covered with high quality roofing materials such as
standing seam metal roofing or slate (or comparable) roof shingles.
(3)
To the greatest extent possible, within the context of the proposed
development, existing site characteristics, including unique topographic
features and mature landscaping, should be preserved, and site disturbance
minimized.
(4)
Additional landscaping should be used to enhance the character
of the site, help screen parking areas visible from the street, and
improve the effectiveness of buffer areas near property lines of neighboring
residential areas.
(5)
All fences and walls should be constructed of high quality materials
such as, but not limited to, traditional black wrought iron or similar
metal picket-type fence, stone, brick or similar type of masonry wall.
(6)
Special attention should be given to general interior vehicular
and pedestrian circulation, including by designing and locating walkways,
interior drives, and parking in such manner as to maintain proper
separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and provide parking
areas that promote efficiency, safety, and environmental sensitivity.
