[Added 3-8-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-7]
A.
Purpose. The purpose of planned developments is to
further the public health, safety, morals and general welfare and
provide for:
(1)
A variety of housing designs;
(2)
Recreational, and other community services conveniently
located to serve the residents of the planned development;
(3)
The planning and building of new neighborhoods, incorporating
the best features of modern design;
(4)
The conservation of agricultural land and more efficient
use of open space;
(5)
An integrated plan for serving traffic to minimize
the burden of traffic on streets and highways;
(6)
A more flexible development of land that shall conserve
farmland and enhance natural resources such as streams, wetlands,
floodplains, groundwater, wooded areas, steeply sloped areas, and
areas of unusual importance to the natural ecosystem.
B.
Enabling act. This article is adopted pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-65 and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39.
C.
Statement of community objectives. In order to achieve
the purpose and to attain the general community objectives set forth
in this article and in consideration of current and projected development
pressures, the Township of Springfield adopts the following community
objectives for planned development districts:
(1)
Planning and design goals. All planned unit residential
developments shall permit and encourage only those uses of the land
permitted which, through the standards adopted in this article, provide
for flexibility in planning and development that respects the natural
character of the land, the drainage system, soil capabilities and
suitabilities, and groundwater and aquifer recharge quality, and to
include only those uses that are compatible with other proposed uses
within the planned development district and existing uses on adjacent
lands.
(2)
Relationship to Township development patterns. All
planned unit residential development(s) shall be planned and designed
to achieve the Township goal of permitting and encouraging a population
density and a development pattern in the Township that facilitates
the provision of public services, including storm drainage systems,
recreation areas, public schools, state, county, and Township roads,
in an orderly, functional and economical manner.
(3)
Conservation of open space. Common open space and
adequate recreation areas shall be set aside in suitable locations
to provide for the recreation needs of the residents and the owners
of the planned unit residential development and those portions of
the project that, because of their natural features, constitute important
visual amenities and environmental resources. Planned unit residential
developments are intended to have continuity of open space resulting
from the integration of upland, wetland, floodplains and surface water
areas within the planned unit residential development and other open
space areas.
(4)
Appearance and aesthetic control. All planned unit
residential developments shall be planned and designed to promote
and achieve aesthetically pleasing views from and to the various land
uses which shall be created by a planned unit residential development.
The creation and promotion of such aesthetic conditions shall strengthen
and preserve the municipality's unique environmental heritage and
promote the civic pride, prosperity, and general welfare of the residents
of the planned unit residential development, the Township, and visitors
thereto.
(5)
Relationship to Township Master Plan. All planned
unit residential developments shall be planned and designed in accordance
with community objectives for planned unit residential developments
as are or may be set forth in the Township Master Plan duly adopted
by the Township Planning Board and those ordinances duly adopted by
the Township to implement the Master Plan.
Planned Development Overlay Districts as designated
on the official Zoning Map, are overlay districts where, if the general
regulations are met, an applicant may file an application for development
under the standards of this article. In the Planned Development Overlay
District (PDOD), the following general regulations shall apply:
A.
Minimum gross acreage of tract: 15 acres.
B.
Minimum developable land area: 10 acres.
C.
Minimum required open space. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XIV (Open Space Regulations) of Chapter 215 (Zoning), a minimum of one acre of the planned development shall be set aside for common open space and recreation or public open space and recreation. At least 0.5 acre shall be uplands.
D.
Private water and sewer. All planned development district(s)
shall be served by private on-site water and septic systems.
Tract requirements in a Planned Development
Overlay District shall be as follows:
A.
Building setback from tract perimeter: 50 feet from
any tract boundary.
B.
Building setback from an overhead utility line or
underground pipe or line easement or right-of-way: 100 feet.
C.
Parking area or internal driveway or street setback
(excluding entrances and exits) from tract perimeter: 35 feet.
The requirements contained in this section and not Article XIV of Chapter 215 govern the provision of open space in the Planned Developments.
A.
Minimum lot size: One acre.
B.
Minimum lot frontage: 100 feet on a public or private
street.
C.
The amount and location of common open space shall
be determined giving due consideration to the following factors:
(1)
The location and construction of adequate active and
passive recreational facilities in appropriate locations throughout
the Township;
(2)
The conservation of stream corridors, including their
associated buffers, throughout the Township for passive recreational
use;
(3)
The protection of environmentally fragile and important
resource land area, including aquatic buffer areas, one-hundred-year
floodplains, wetlands and wooded acreage;
(4)
The preservation of agriculture and prime agricultural
lands and the consolidation of large contiguous agricultural tracts;
(5)
The common open space shall include relatively large
contiguous land areas for open space and/or recreational purposes,
as appropriate for the particular development, and additional common
open space shall be distributed throughout the development so that
as many residential lots as practicable have direct pedestrian access
to the relatively large, contiguous land area;
(6)
The common open space shall include a minimum buffer
area of 50 feet along any tract boundary line, planted with suitable
evergreen screening four feet high, eight feet on center in a staggered
row.
D.
The Planning Board shall review the submitted common
open space plan in the context of the particular development proposal,
the particular characteristics of the subject land area, its environmental
resource value and the ability, desirability and practicality of relating
the proposed open space to adjacent and nearby lands. In any case,
the lands shall be improved as may be necessary to best suit the purpose(s)
for which they are intended, it being understood that the Township's
preference is that all environmentally sensitive lands remain largely
unimproved and be devoted primarily to passive recreational use.
E.
Should the proposed development consist of a number
of stages, the Planning Board may require that acreage proportionate
in size to the stage being considered for final approval be set aside
simultaneously with the granting of final approval for that particular
stage, even though these lands may be located in a different section
of the overall development.
A.
Common open space may be deeded to the Township, another
governmental agency or dedicated to an open space organization or
trust, with incorporation and bylaws to be approved by the Planning
Board. If common open space is not dedicated and accepted by the Township
or another governmental agency the developer shall provide for and
establish an open space organization or trust for the ownership and
maintenance of the common open space. Such organization or trust shall
not be dissolved, nor shall it dispose of any common open space by
sale or otherwise except to an organization conceived and established
to own and maintain the open space for the benefit of such development,
and thereafter such organization shall not be dissolved or dispose
of any of its open space unless the Township agrees to accept a dedication
of such open space.
(1)
If the applicant proposes that the common open space
shall be dedicated to the Township, then the Planning Board shall
forward such request with its recommendation to the Township Council
prior to the grant of preliminary approval of the application for
development.
(2)
All lands not offered to and/or not accepted by the
Township shall be owned and maintained by an open space organization
or trust as provided in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-43 and stipulated herein.
(3)
The developer shall notify the Township Council when
permanent certificates of occupancy have been issued for 51% of the
lots in the planned unit residential development or residential cluster
have sold; at such time the homeowners' association/open space organization
shall assume the responsibility of maintaining the open space and
commonly owned facilities.
B.
In the event that the organization created for common
open space management shall fail to maintain any open space or recreation
area in a reasonable order and condition in accordance with the approved
plan, the Township may serve notice upon such organization or upon
the owners of the development, setting forth the manner in which the
organization has failed to maintain such areas in reasonable condition,
and said notice shall include demand that such deficiencies of maintenance
be cured within 35 days thereof and shall set the date and place of
a hearing thereon, which shall be held within 15 days of the notice.
At such hearing the Township may modify the terms of the original
notice as to the deficiencies and may give an extension of time not
to exceed 65 days in which the deficiencies shall be cured.
(1)
If the deficiencies set forth in the original notice
or in modifications thereof shall not be cured within said 35 days
or any extension thereof, the Township, in order to preserve the common
open space and maintain the same for a period of one year, may enter
upon and maintain such land. Said entry and said maintenance shall
not vest in the public any rights to use the open space and recreation
areas except when the same is voluntarily dedicated to the public
by the owners.
(2)
Before the expiration of said one year, the Township
shall, upon its initiative or upon the request of the organization
theretofore responsible for the maintenance of said areas, call a
public hearing upon 15 days written notice to such organization and
to the owners of the development, to be held by the Township, at which
hearing such organization and owners of the development shall show
cause why such maintenance by the municipality shall not, at the election
of the Township, continue for a succeeding year. If the Township shall
determine that such organization is ready and able to maintain such
open space and recreation areas in reasonable condition, the Township
shall cease to maintain such open space and recreation areas at the
end of said year. If the Township shall determine such organization
is not ready and able to maintain said open space and recreational
areas in a reasonable condition, the Township may, in its discretion,
continue to maintain said open space and recreation areas during the
next succeeding year. Each year thereafter the Township may hold similar
public hearings to determine whether the organization is ready and
able to maintain the open space and recreation areas. The decision
of the Township in any case shall constitute a final administrative
decision subject to judicial review.
(3)
The cost of such maintenance by the Township shall
be assessed pro rata against the properties within the development
that have a right of enjoyment of the open space in accordance with
the assessed value at the time of imposition of the lien and shall
become a lien and tax on said properties and be added to and be part
of the taxes to be levied and assessed thereon and enforced and collected
with interest by the Township in the same manner as other taxes.
(4)
Any open space organization or trust initially created
by the developer shall clearly describe in its bylaws the rights and
obligations of the homeowners and tenants in the residential development,
and the articles of incorporation of the organization shall be submitted
for review by the Planning Board prior to the granting of final approval.
A.
In the case of any open space to be dedicated for
farmland, passive, active recreational or other uses as part of an
application for development, the developer shall be required to demarcate
the boundary lines of the property to be dedicated for the open space
and the non-open space property.
B.
The type of demarcation to be provided by the developer
shall be determined by the Planning Board on a site-by-site basis.
Such demarcation may consist of signage, fencing, monuments or vegetation
as appropriate for the particular parcel in question.
C.
If signage is chosen as the method of demarcation
on open space the Planning Board may specify the composition of the
signs, whether of permanent or temporary materials, or both, subject
to specific site conditions.
D.
Areas shall be marked in locations on the open space
parcel in accordance with the terms of the Planning Board approval.
Additional locations may be required if determined to be appropriate
by the Township Engineer for the particular parcel in question.
E.
The developer of the project shall be responsible
for the cost, physical installation and maintenance of the signage,
fencing, vegetation or other demarcation, until the maintenance period
is satisfied. The cost of such installation and maintenance may be
incorporated in any bonds to be posted with the Township.
F.
The intent of this chapter is to provide for the demarcation
of all open space to be dedicated to the Township or to others, as
part of an application for development.
G.
The demarcation of open space under this chapter shall
be noted on the developer's final plat. In addition, a notice shall
be placed in all deeds for individual lots in the subdivision which
are adjacent to open space to be dedicated to the Township or to another
party (as applicable). The notice shall state that the property abuts
open space dedicated or to be dedicated to the Township or to another
party (as applicable) and that the line of open space has been demarcated
in accordance with the terms of the developer's subdivision approval
and any and all applicable Township zoning ordinances or amendments
thereto.
A.
In addition to following the procedures and satisfying
the standards for general development plan approval and/or subdivision
approval established in this chapter, applications for planned development
must establish the development potential of all parcels proposed for
development in clusters pursuant to the following procedures:
(1)
For each lot whose development potential is proposed to be clustered in a planned development, a sketch plat which meets the requirements of § 185-18 of this chapter shall be supplied, except that soil borings in lieu of percolation tests will be provided for each lot and stream and wetland buffers must also be shown. The Board may require that soil logs be witnessed by the Board Engineer.
(2)
All lots whose development potential is proposed to
be utilized in a planned development must be identified by lot and
block number, by owner's name and, if the applicant/developer is not
the owner of the property, evidence that the applicant developer has
the right to utilize the lot's development potential must also be
supplied.
(3)
The applicant shall provide a title report, or equivalent
evidence certified to the Board establishing that the lot whose development
potential is proposed to be clustered in the planned development is
available for use as proposed.
(4)
To establish the development potential of a noncontiguous
parcel outside the PDOD within each Rural Planning District, the bonus
density standards established for the AR-10 District, see § 215-16A(1)(h),
and the following bulk requirements shall apply:
(5)
To establish the development potential of the parcel to be developed in the Planned Development Overlay District the area and yard requirements of the AR-10 District (§ 215-16) will be applied.
(6)
To establish that the sketch plat accurately represents
the development potential of a parcel in the Rural Planning District
the applicant/developer shall supply sufficient information to demonstrate
that outside agency approvals such as County Planning Board, Health
Department and Soil Conservation approvals as well as N.J. Department
of Transportation approvals, if necessary, could be obtained under
current applicable regulations for the lot layout shown on the sketch
plat.
(7)
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
approvals, such as wetland delineation, letters of interpretation
or stream encroachment permits, must actually be obtained.
(8)
Proposed deed restrictions barring the future development
of the lot or lots whose development potential will be utilized in
the planned development must be provided with the application for
general development plan approval or preliminary major subdivision
approval.
(9)
Absent extraordinary circumstances, land in agriculture
should remain in agriculture. The deed of easement in use by the State
Agriculture Development Committee at the time of the application shall
be utilized to restrict the future use of land to remain in agriculture.
(10)
Parcels not in agriculture at the time of the
application may be deed restricted as open space, provided the applicant
demonstrates that the agricultural use of the property is infeasible.
Proposed deed restrictions shall make adequate provision for maintenance
responsibilities.
(11)
The receipt of proof that the approved form
of deed restriction has been filed in the office of the Burlington
County Clerk shall be a condition of general development plan approval
and/or preliminary major subdivision approval. No final subdivision
plan will be signed by Township officials until a filed copy of the
approved deed of easement/deed restriction is provided to the Land
Use Administrator.
(12)
An application for planned development may propose
to utilize less than the full development potential of a noncontiguous
parcel or determined by this section.
(a)
The Township Clerk and Land Use Administrator
will maintain a registry of all such predetermined unutilized development
potential.
(b)
Such predetermined unutilized development potential
may not be conveyed or otherwise transferred except in connection
with another application for planned development or unless the property
is enrolled in the farmland preservation program or a bona fide open
space program.
(c)
Such predetermined unutilized development potential
may be utilized by an application for planned development in any Planned
Development Overlay District (PDOD), not only the PDOD in the Rural
Planning District from which it originated.
(d)
Notwithstanding that only a portion of a parcel's
development potential is utilized in a planned development, the approved
deed of easement/deed restriction must be provided to the Land Use
Administrator before the final subdivision plan will be signed by
Township officials.
(13)
No application to determine the development
potential of a lot pursuant to this section may be heard or decided
except in connection with an application for planned development,
an application to enroll the property in the farmland preservation
program or an application to enroll the property in a bona fide open
space program.
(14)
The development potential of a lot may not be
conveyed or otherwise transferred except in connection with an approved
planned development utilizing clustering between noncontiguous parcels
or enrollment in the farmland preservation program or a bona fide
open space program.
B.
Provisions for phased planned developments.
(1)
If a phased development is proposed, the initial phase
and all subsequent phases of the planned development must include
at least 25% of the estimated total number of lots in the project.
All infrastructure (roads, lighting, landscaping, stormwater management
systems, etc.) required to serve the initial phase, and all subsequent
phases, of the planned development shall be provided with each approved
phase.
(2)
An open space plan in line with § 185-41, identifying all land proposed to be dedicated as common or public open space within the planned development, shall be submitted with the application for approval of the first phase of the planned development. The Planning Board may require that all or any portion of such open space be dedicated to the homeowner's association or offered to the Township as a condition of approval of the first phase or any subsequent phase of the planned development.
(3)
A proposed developer agreement must be furnished with
the application for approval of the first phase of the development
providing that any infrastructure and/or open space that will not
be dedicated to or accepted by the Township or the homeowners' association
until a subsequent phase or the entire planned development is complete
will be maintained by the developer until such time as the infrastructure
and/or open space is accepted by or dedicated to the Township or the
association. Maintenance guarantees to insure compliance with the
agreement may be required as a condition of any and all phases of
the planned development.
A.
Design guidelines. The following guidelines shall
be used in the design of any planned development:
(1)
Regard for natural features. All housing and supporting
uses shall be designed with regard to the topography and natural features
of the site. The effects of prevailing winds, seasonal temperatures
and hours of sunlight on the physical layout and form of the proposed
buildings shall be taken into account. Special consideration shall
be given to the preservation of natural features, including large
trees, stands of specimen vegetation, groves, waterways, aquifer recharge
areas, scenic, paleontological, archaeological, cultural, and historic
sites and other community assets within the planned development.
(2)
Siting of housing. All housing and supporting uses
shall be sited so as to enhance privacy for residential uses, ensure
natural light for same and, to the greatest extent possible, be designed
to promote passive solar energy technology.
(3)
Relationship to existing areas. All residential uses
shall be located with consideration given to their compatibility with
existing uses on adjacent lots and on lots located across public streets.
(4)
Mounded septic systems. Mounded septic systems may
not be located in front yards or side yards.
(5)
Variations to setbacks. To create identity and interest
in the layout of housing on streets with residential frontage, variations
in setbacks shall be encouraged.
(6)
Access. Principal routes for vehicular access to residential
areas shall be public streets with pedestrian access and off-street
parking located for convenience without creating a nuisance or a traffic
flow and safety problem or detracting from use and privacy.
(7)
Circulation. The internal circulation system shall
be designed to minimize conflicts between pedestrian and vehicular
traffic; to permit safe and easy access for the provision of community
services, including fire and police protection; to separate local
and through traffic; and to minimize additional use of the existing
adjacent local road system.
(8)
Open space. Open space within all planned developments
shall be planned and designed to achieve the Township goal of insuring
that adequate, active and passive recreation areas are set aside in
suitable locations to provide for the recreation needs of the residents
of the planned development district; and that those portions of the
Township that, because of their natural features, constitute important
visual amenities and environmental resources are maintained in accordance
with sound conservation practice.
B.
Design and performance standards. The following design
and performance standards shall apply to any planned development:
(1)
Tree protection. The development shall be designed
and programmed so as to minimize tree clearance and the destruction
of natural amenities.
(2)
Landscaping.
(a)
Perimeter buffer requirements. Landscape buffers
are required along the perimeter property lines of a planned development
to adequately screen the development from adjacent uses. Existing
vegetation which is of high quality and appropriate density shall
be retained. Where existing vegetation is unsuitable, it shall be
augmented or replaced by new plantings in accordance with a landscape
plan submitted to and approved by the Planning Board. The perimeter
buffer shall be a minimum width of 30 feet. Perimeter buffers may
be used to meet lot area and setback requirements.
(b)
Building within a perimeter buffer. Structures
and public roadways affording access to the site may be located within
the required perimeter buffer, provided that such structures are accessory
structures such as buildings necessary to house utility functions,
entrance gate facilities, signs approved as part of the signage plan,
and electrical and other utility elements forming part of an approved
traffic signal or street lighting system. No off-street parking facilities
or principal buildings shall be constructed within the required perimeter
buffer.
(c)
Internal landscape requirements. To the maximum
extent feasible, wooded areas, specimen trees and existing vegetation
suitable for internal landscape screens shall be retained and utilized
as design features within the planned development.
C.
Lighting.
(1)
Residential. Adequate lighting shall be provided for
the outdoor areas used by residents and owners of the development
after dark. Appropriate lighting fixtures shall be provided for parking
areas and walkways and for identification of steps, ramps, directional
changes and signs. Lighting shall be located to avoid shining directly
into habitable room windows or into private outdoor open space that
is associated with dwelling units, and to avoid interfering with vehicular
traffic.
A.
Buildings shall generally relate in scale and design
features to the surrounding buildings, showing respect for the local
context. As a general rule, buildings shall reflect a continuity of
treatment; obtained by maintaining the building scale or by subtly
graduating changes; by maintaining front yard setbacks at the build-to-line;
by maintaining base courses; by use of front porches on residential
buildings; by maintaining cornice lines in buildings of the same height;
by extending horizontal lines of fenestration; and by echoing architectural
styles and details, design themes, building materials, and colors
used in the neighboring area.
B.
As part of the subdivision submission the developer
shall submit schematic architectural plans and elevations to the appropriate
board for review and approval. Although development proposals should
comply with the following specific architectural standards, waivers
may be granted on the basis of architectural merit, site conditions
and/or other extenuating or unusual circumstances.
C.
Building materials.
(1)
Piers and arches shall be built of brick or block
with stucco finish.
(2)
Porches shall be made of wood, composite wood, or
masonry faced on three sides with brick or stone.
(3)
Stoops shall be made of brick or stone. Wood may be
used at secondary entrances.
(4)
Posts, columns, and balustrades shall be built of
wood.
(5)
Railings shall be built of wood, steel or wrought
iron.
(6)
Decks may be built of pressure-treated wood when not
visibly obtrusive from nearby streets.
(7)
Decks and stairs built of pressure-treated wood and
easily visible from nearby streets must be painted with the exception
of the floor and the treads which may be painted, stained or left
unfinished.
(8)
Chimney enclosures shall be brick or stone. Chimneys
two stories or more above grade and not within four inches of an exterior
wall may be simulated brick subject to the approval of the approving
agency. Flues must be tile or metal.
(9)
Roofs may be built of steel standing seam, copper,
cedar shakes, natural slate, artificial slate, fiberglass shingles,
metal shingles or asphalt shingles.
(10)
Gutters, when provided, shall be built of wood,
copper, steel or aluminum.
(11)
Splash blocks shall be stone, brick, gravel,
or concrete.
D.
Design elements.
(1)
Building walls constructed of more than one material
shall only change material along a horizontal line (not a vertical
or diagonal line). Additionally, the heavier material shall always
go beneath the lighter material.
(2)
Front and side facades of any one building on a corner
lot shall be made of the same materials, similarly detailed, etc.
Corner lots are those at the intersection of streets, alleys, paths,
parks, etc.
(3)
House foundation walls of poured concrete which face
a street shall be exposed no more than 18 inches above the ground.
(4)
Decks should generally be located in rear yards and
the scale should be compatible with living unit(s) and with the lot.
(5)
The space below decks and porches easily visible from
nearby streets shall be skirted by wood or vinyl lattice with not
greater than two-inch spaces between the boards.
(6)
Roofs shall be simple and symmetrically pitched, and
only in the configuration of gables and hips. The pitch of the roof
shall be between 4:12 and 14:12.
(7)
Shed roofs (roofs which pitch in one direction) shall
only be permitted when the ridge is attached to an exterior wall of
a building. The pitch shall be between 4:12 and 14:12.
(8)
Flat roofs are permitted only when they are occupiable
and accessible from an interior room at the same floor level and must
be edged by a railing or parapet. The railing pattern is subject to
the approval of the approving agency.
(9)
Roofs should overhang a gable end a minimum of 12
inches.
(10)
Dormers shall be roofed with a symmetrical gable,
hip, barrel or shed roof.
(11)
Skylights shall be flat in profile.
(12)
Walks must be built flush with the ground.
(13)
Driveways opening onto a street shall be no
wider than 15 feet at the property line.
(14)
Patios may be located in side and rear yards
not facing a street or sidewalk.
(15)
The following items shall not be located in
front yards or side yards facing a street or sidewalk: air conditioner
equipment, electrical or gas meters.
