Borough of Roselle, NJ Design Standards for Subdivisions

Waiver of classification definitions. In those instances where a proposed subdivision abuts an existing subdivision where existing stub or cul-de-sac streets may be extended, the Planning Board may deem such extended streets local in nature for purposes of classification, provided that such extended street is likely to serve traffic having either origins or destinations on the street.

Lots abutting arterial roads. In a subdivision abutting a principal, major or minor arterial, one of the following shall be required:

The frontage shall be reversed so that the lots contiguous to such roadways will front on a minor collector or local street.

A marginal service road shall be provided along such arterial street and shall be separated from it by a raised landscaped divider strip at least 20 feet in width.

Such other means of separating through and local traffic and of providing a suitable buffer shall be provided as the Planning Board may determine to be appropriate.

(4)

The side yard of a lot abutting a designated arterial roadway shall be increased by an additional width of 50 feet as an easement exclusively for planting and screening, to be provided by the developer along the arterial street.

Lots abutting major collector streets. No residential lot shall abut a major collector street only. Access shall be provided by reverse frontage on a minor collector, local street or by a marginal service road, but no additional setback is required. An appropriate landscaped buffer shall be provided on such reverse frontage lots along the collector street, containing a combination of shrubs, trees, conifers or berms conforming to a uniform landscape plan.

Nonresidential streets. The widths of internal streets in business or industrial development designed as a whole in accordance with a comprehensive site plan shall be determined by the Planning Board in each case in light of the circumstances of the particular situation and with a view to assuring the maximum safety and convenience of access for traffic and firefighting equipment, circulation and parking, including provisions for the loading and unloading of goods.

Subdivisions on existing streets.

When a subdivision abuts an existing street, it shall be widened (if necessary) and improved to conform to the standards in this section.

If the subdivision is only a small part of a longer run of a substandard street and such improvement would produce a hazardous saw-tooth arrangement, the municipality, on the advice of the Planning Board, may elect to receive a cash payment in lieu of the improvements and to hold the same in a separate escrow account until continuous improvement of the street can be accomplished.

Curved minor streets. Curved minor streets are preferred to discourage speed and monotony.

Crown slope. The crown or minor streets shall not be less than six inches in order to provide for proper surface drainage.

Cut and fill slopes. To prevent gulleying and erosion, street cuts and streets on fill shall be provided with side slopes no steeper than one vertical to three horizontal or shall be equipped with cribbing, loose concrete blocks or other form of retaining wall. Such slopes, including cribbing and blocks, shall be suitably planted with perennial grasses or other vegetation in accordance with a plan approved by the Planning Board and shall be suitably maintained for a period of three years.

Street names.

Street names and subdivision names shall not duplicate or nearly duplicate the names of existing streets or subdivisions in the municipality or surrounding communities. The continuation of an existing street shall have the same name.

The developer shall submit, in writing, on a form to be provided by the Land Use Administrator, a list of all proposed street names for any new development. This list is to be forwarded by the Borough to the appropriate postmaster serving the particular zip code for review and verification of nonconflicting names within the zip code. The Borough Engineer shall then make final determination and recommendation for accepting new street names and will so notify the Planning Board or Zoning Board (as appropriate) and the developer of the Borough Engineer's decision.

§ 650-47 Street intersections.

Angle of intersections. No more than two streets shall cross the same point. Street intersections shall be at right angles wherever possible, and intersections of less than 60° (measured at the center line of streets) shall not be permitted.

Spacing. Only one point of access and one point of egress may be allowed each property except where large frontages, 1,000 feet or larger, are present. In those latter cases, streets shall not enter the same side of major collector or minor arterial streets at intervals less than 800 feet, major arterial streets at intervals of less than 1,200 feet or principal arterials at intervals of less than 2,000 feet. Streets which enter a minor or major/minor collector street from opposite sides shall either be directly opposite to each other or they shall be separated by at least 200 feet between their center lines, measured along the center line of the intersected street.

Approaches. Approaches of any collector street to any intersection with another collector or an arterial street shall follow a straight line course within 100 feet of the intersection.

Extra widths. Where a nonresidential collector street or a collector/arterial street serving more than 100 residential lots or dwelling units intersects with another collector or arterial, both the right-of-way and the pavement shall be widened by 24 feet for a distance of 200 feet back from the intersection of the right-of-way lines.

Sight triangles. In addition to right-of-way widths required for the full length of streets and wider intersections as specified above, sight triangles shall be dedicated as follows: The area bounded by the right-of-way lines and a straight line connecting sight points on street center lines which are the following distances from the intersection of the center lines:

Where a local street intersects another local street, 90 feet.

Where a local street intersects a collector street or minor arterial, 90 feet on the local and 200 feet on the collector or minor arterial.

Where a local, collector or minor arterial intersects a major or principal arterial street, 90 feet back on the local, collector or minor arterial streets and 300 feet back on the major or principal arterial street.

Sight triangle prohibited obstructions. No fences or any other obstruction nor any planting exceeding 30 inches in height as measured on a horizontal from the center line of the road may be placed in any sight triangle.

Property access. Unless necessary to provide access to a lot in separate ownership existing before the date of this Chapter 650, no driveway access to a property or additional street intersection may be permitted within the extra widths or sight triangles, as specified herein.

Street and neighborhood or directional signs.

Street signs shall have reflectorized white letters on a green background. Letters shall be four inches high, except those marking collector or primary streets, which shall be six inches high. Signs shall be placed in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, latest edition.

At the discretion of the Planning Board, similar neighborhood or directional signs with letters eight inches high may be permitted or required.

§ 650-48 Curbs.

Vertical (straight-face) curbs shall be required. Curb cuts, mountable curbs or ramps shall be provided wherever sidewalks cross streets to accommodate wheelchairs and bicycles in accordance with New Jersey Barrier Free Design Criteria and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Built-up ramps shall not encroach into loading/unloading zones, parking spaces or vehicular traffic lanes. Transitions from ramps to walks, gutters or streets shall be flush and free of abrupt changes. Detectable warnings on ramps shall extend the full width and depth of the ramp to assist the visually impaired in negotiating the change in slope.

§ 650-49 Culverts.

All culverts constructed within public rights-of-way shall be owned by the developer. All culvert designs shall be reviewed and approved by the County Engineer as a condition of preliminary approval.

Culverts shall have headwalls and railings, where necessary, placed on right-of-way lines, unless the stream flow is judged minor by the Planning Board and the Borough Engineer. In this case, at the option of the developer, pipes may be extended no less than 25 feet beyond the right-of-way line and a single headwall may be built to grade on the upstream side without a rolling. Because of traffic hazard, intruding curbs and abutments near the paving lines are forbidden.

§ 650-50 Sidewalks.

Sidewalks shall be installed on both sides of all streets and shall consist of portland cement and concrete unless otherwise approved by the Planning Board at the time of the preliminary hearing. All sidewalks shall be in compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 regarding walkways and curbs.

Sidewalks shall be at least four feet wide.

§ 650-51 Lots.

Lot size. Minimum lot size shall be governed by the provisions of this Chapter 650, based on the zoning district in which the lot is located.

Lot and house numbers. House and lot numbers shall be assigned each lot by the Borough Engineer.

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

Lot frontage and width. Each lot shall front on an approved street accepted by the municipality. Frontage shall be measured along a straight line between points where side lines meet street lines, e.g., the chord of a circle in a cul-de-sac.

Lot line on widened streets. Where extra width is provided for the widening of existing streets, lot measurements shall begin at such extra width line, and all setbacks shall be measured from such line.

Unsuitable lots. All lots shall be suitable for the purpose for which they are intended to be used. In order to prevent the use of lots which are not suitable because of adverse topography, flood conditions, the presence of wetlands or similar circumstances, the Planning Board may require such revisions in the layout of the subdivisions as will accomplish one of the following:

That the area of the unsuitable lots is included in other lots by increasing the size of the remaining lots.

That it is included in an area to be deeded to the municipality and held in its natural state for conservation and/or recreation purposes.

That some other suitable arrangement, such as common ownership made permanent by deed covenants running with the land, is made.

§ 650-52 Structure location and driveway.

All lots shall be such that a structure conforming to the intended use and setback requirements of this Chapter 650 can be constructed in an area of the lot that is in conformity with the provisions of Article XII of this chapter.

Any structure must be accessible by means of a driveway that complies with the provisions of § 650-26 of this chapter. Driveways shall be so laid out that it is possible to turn all vehicles on the lot and that it is not necessary to back any vehicle into a street.

§ 650-53 Easements.

Utility installation easements. Easements for utility installations may be required. Easements for sanitary sewer lines shall be constructed in such a manner so that all manholes have permanent, unrestricted access for highway-type trucks for the purpose of maintaining said sewer lines. Said easements shall be at least 20 feet in width or wider if necessary, of which an area of 12 feet in width by 12 inches in depth shall consist of quarry process with filter fabric with sufficient space for vehicles to turn around located at least every 1,200 feet. Such easement area may be seeded as long as the formation and the same is not diminished.

Utility/landscape planting easements; adjacent streets. Based on field conditions where existing utility placement containing overhead wires would interfere with future street tree plantings' canopy growth, then the Planning Board, upon recommendation of the Borough Engineer, may require an additional five feet for a landscape planting easement to be located outside the public right-of-way and utility easement in a manner compatible with an overall street tree planting plan.

Drainage and conservation easements.

If the property on which a proposed subdivision is to be located is traversed by a watercourse of any kind, including a channel or a stream, the Planning Board may require that a stormwater and drainage easement and right-of-way along said watercourse be provided by the subdivider. The land which is the subject of such easement and right-of-way shall be a strip, which conforms substantially to the floodplain of such watercourse along both sides of the watercourse or extends along both sides of the top of the bank of the watercourse to a width of 15 feet in each direction or is not less than an encroachment line established by a competent higher authority, whichever is the greater; except, however, that if the location of such watercourse is at or near the boundary of the subdivision, the dimension of the easement and right-of-way shall be modified to retain it within the confines of the subdivision. Said easement and right-of-way shall include provisions assuring the following: preservation of the channel of the watercourse; prohibition of alteration of the contour, topography or composition of the land within the easement and right-of-way; prohibition of construction within the boundaries of the easement and right-of-way which will obstruct or interfere with the natural flow of the watercourse; and reservation to the Department of Public Works of a right of entry for the purposes of maintaining the natural flow or drainage of the watercourse, of maintaining any and all structures related to the exercise of the easement and right-of-way and of installing and maintaining storm or sanitary sewer systems or other public utility and the right to add additional utility lines when needed.

Drainage easements provided for the purpose of carrying overland flow or for underground storm drain piping shall include provisions assuring the following: preservation of the drainage swale or piping system contained within the easement, prohibition of construction within the boundaries of the easement and reservation to the Department of Public Works of a right of entry for the purposes of maintaining any and all structures related to the exercise of the easement.

§ 650-54 Sewers.

In the case of all major/minor subdivisions or site plans where sewer lines which will pass in front of existing lots are to be installed, the developer, as a condition of approval, shall provide:

To vacant property: a wye.

To improved property: a lateral to the existing curbline (including cleanout). These laterals shall be provided in accordance with Borough details and shall be installed at locations approved by the Borough Engineer.

§ 650-55 Design standards for single-family houses.

Legislative findings and purposes. Uniformity in the exterior design and appearance of dwellings erected in the same residential neighborhoods tends to adversely affect the desirability of the immediate and neighboring areas for residential purposes and impairs existing residential property in such areas, tends to impair the value of both improved and unimproved real property in such areas and tends to deprive the municipality of tax revenue and destroys a proper balance between the taxable value of real property in such areas and the cost of providing municipal services. It is the purpose of this section to prevent these and other harmful effects of uniformity in design and appearance of dwellings erected in any housing development in the same residential neighborhood and thus to promote and protect the general welfare of the community.

Required minimum distance between dwellings substantially similar in external appearance. Not more than one construction permit shall be issued for any particular single-family detached dwelling unit in any new housing development consisting of two or more detached dwellings when the houses are substantially alike in exterior design and appearance, unless such similar houses either are separated by a distance of at least 200 feet or are situated on individual lots which are themselves separated at all points by a distance of at least 100 feet. In addition, the lots of houses which are substantially alike in exterior design and appearance shall not be next to each other or across the street from each other in whole or in part.

Criteria for determining whether dwellings are substantially similar in external appearance. Houses described in Subsection B, above, shall be considered uniform in exterior design and appearance if they have any one of the following characteristics:

The same basic dimensions and floor plans are used without substantial differentiation of one or more exterior elevations.

The height and design of the roofs are without substantial change in design and appearance.

The size and type of windows and doors in the front elevation are without substantial differentiation.

Number of house designs required. In addition to the foregoing, there shall be not less than one basic house design and two different exterior elevations in every housing development consisting of eight or fewer houses, not fewer than two basic house designs and four different exterior elevations in every housing development consisting of nine to 50 houses, not fewer than four basic house designs and seven different exterior elevations in every housing development consisting of 51 to 77 houses and not fewer than four basic designs and eight different elevations in every housing development consisting of 78 or more houses.

Type and model of house; building elevations and floor plans.

No construction permit shall hereafter be issued for more than one dwelling unit in any housing development until the builder shall post or cause to be posted on each specified lot on the map of the subdivision on file with the Land Use Administrator the type and model of each house for which a construction permit has been or is being issued.