Unless the context otherwise indicates, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of this Chapter.
a. Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number shall include the plural; and the plural the singular; the word "structure" shall include the word "building"; the word "person" includes a corporation as well as an individual; the word "lot" includes the word "plot"; the word "occupied" includes the words "designed or intended to be occupied"; and the word "used" shall include the words "arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented, leased or intended to be used." The word " shall" is mandatory and not optional; and the word "may" is permissive.
b. Definitions. As used in this Chapter:
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER shall mean the administrative clerk for any application before the Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment of the Township.
APPLICANT shall mean a developer submitting an application for development.
APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT shall mean the application form and all accompanying documents required by ordinance for approval of a subdivision plat, site plan, planned development, conditional use, zoning variance or direction of the issuance of a permit pursuant to law.
APPROVING AUTHORITY shall mean the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, as provided in Section 22-3.
BOARD shall mean the Planning Board.
BUILDING shall mean a combination of materials to form a construction adapted to permanent, temporary or continuous occupancy and having a roof.
COMMON OPEN SPACE shall mean an open space area within or related to a site designated as a development and designed and intended for use or enjoyment by residents and owners of the development. "Common open space" may contain such complementary structures and improvements as are necessary and appropriate for the use or enjoyment by residents and owners of the development.
CONDITIONAL USE shall mean a use permitted in a particular zoning district only upon a showing that such use in a specified location will comply with the conditions and standards for the location or operation of such use as contained in Chapter XXIV, Zoning, and upon the issuance of an authorization therefor by the Planning Board.
CONVENTIONAL DEVELOPMENT shall mean development other than planned development.
COUNTY MASTER PLAN shall mean a composite of the Master Plan for the physical development of Bergen County with the accompanying maps, plots, charts and descriptive and explanatory matter adopted by the Bergen County Planning Board pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:27-2 and 40:27-4.
DAYS shall mean the number of calendar days for the purpose of this Chapter.
DEVELOPER shall mean the legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or of any land proposed to be included in a proposed development, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.
DEVELOPMENT shall mean the division of a parcel of land into two (2) or more parcels; the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation or enlargement of any building or other structure or of any mining, excavation or landfill; and any use or change in the use of any building or other structure or land or extension of use of land for which permission may be required.
DIVISION shall mean the Division of State and Regional Planning in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
DRAINAGE shall mean the removal of surface water or groundwater from land by drains, grading or other means; including the control of runoff to minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after construction or development and means necessary for water supply preservation or prevention or alleviation of flooding.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION shall mean a municipal advisory body created pursuant to P.L. 1968, c. 245 (N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1 et seq.).
EROSION shall mean the detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice and gravity.
FORM shall mean an area of land which is actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use, which occupies no less than five (5) acres exclusive of the land upon which the farmhouse is located and such additional land, in conformance with the minimum lot size of the residential zone in which the farm is located, as may actually be used in connection with the farmhouse as provided in N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.3, 54:4-23.4, 54:4-23.5 and 54:4-23.11.
FINAL APPROVAL shall mean the official action of the approving authority taken on a preliminarily approved site plan after all conditions, engineering plans and other requirements have been completed or fulfilled and the required improvements have been installed or guaranties properly posted for their completion or approval conditioned upon the posting of such guaranties.
GOVERNING BODY shall mean the Mayor and Township Council.
HISTORIC SITE shall mean any building, structure, area or property that is significant to the history, architecture, archeology or culture of this State, its communities or the nation and has been so designated.
INTERESTED PARTY shall mean in a criminal or quasi-criminal proceeding, any citizen of the State of New Jersey; and in the case of a civil proceeding in any court or in an administrative proceeding before a municipal agency, any person, whether residing within or without Mahwah Township, whose right to use, acquire or enjoy property is or may be affected by any action taken under this Chapter or whose right to use, acquire or enjoy property under this Chapter or under any other law of this State or the United States has been denied, violated or infringed upon by an action or failure to act under this Code.
LAND shall mean improvements and fixtures on, above or below the ground surface.
LOT shall mean a designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat or otherwise, as permitted by law, and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
MAINTENANCE GUARANTY shall mean security, other than cash, which may be accepted by the Township for the maintenance of any improvements required by this Chapter.
MASTER PLAN shall mean a composite of one (1) or more written or graphic proposals for the development of the Township adopted by the Township Planning Board.
OFFICE BUILDING shall mean under the provisions of Chapter 220 of the Laws of 1975 pertaining to physically handicapped persons, as "office building" means a building or structure of more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet of gross floor area wherein commercial or business activity or service is performed or a profession is practiced or wherein any combination thereof is performed or practiced in all or the majority of such building or structure.
OFFICIAL COUNTY MAP shall mean the map, with changes and additions thereto, adopted and established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Bergen County pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:27-5.
OFFICIAL MAP shall mean a map and accompanying ordinance adopted by the Township Council pursuant to law. Such a map shall be deemed to be conclusive with respect to the location and width of streets and public drainageways and the location and extent of flood control basins and public areas, whether or not such street, ways, basins or areas are improved or unimproved or are in actual physical existence.
OFF-SITE shall mean located outside the lot lines of the lot in question but within the property, of which the lot is a part, which is the subject of a development application or contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
OFF-TRACT shall mean not located on the property which is the subject of a development application nor on a contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
ON-SITE shall mean located on the lot in question.
ON-TRACT shall mean located on the property which is the subject of a development application or on a contiguous portion of a street or right-of-way.
OPEN SPACE shall mean any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved and set aside, dedicated, designated or reserved for public or private use or enjoyment or for use and enjoyment by owners and occupants of land adjoining or neighboring such open space, provided that such areas may be improved with only those buildings, structures, streets and off-street parking and other improvements that are designed to be incidental to the natural openness of the land.
PARTY IMMEDIATELY CONCERNED shall mean any applicant for development, the owners of the subject property and all owners of property and government agencies entitled to notice.
PERFECTED APPLICATION shall mean one that is submitted in a proper and complete form including all required application forms and maps, all required fees submitted and filed within the appropriate time schedules, proof that no taxes or assessments for local improvements are due or delinquent on the property for which approval is sought and other municipal reviews and governmental approvals as provided herein.
PERFORMANCE GUARANTY shall mean any security which may be accepted by the Township, including cash, provided that the Township shall not require more than ten (10%) percent of the total "performance guaranty of in cash.
PERSON shall mean any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation, syndicate, copartnership, trust or other legal entity.
PHYSICAL HANDICAP shall mean a physical impairment which confines a person to a wheelchair, causes a person to walk with difficulty or insecurity, affects the sight or hearing to the extent that a person functioning in public areas is insecure or exposed to danger, causes faulty coordination or reduces mobility, flexibility, coordination and perceptiveness to the extent that facilities are needed for the safety of that person.
PLAN shall mean the provisions for development of a planned development, including a plat of the subdivision; all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures; intensity of use or density of development; public or private streets, ways and parking facilities; open space; and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of the plan," when used in this Chapter, shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
PLANNED COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT shall mean any area of a minimum contiguous size, as specified in Chapter XXIV, Zoning, to be developed according to a plan as a single entity containing one (1) or more structures with appurtenant common areas to accommodate commercial or office uses, or both.
PLANNED DEVELOPMENT shall mean planned unit development, planned residential development, residential cluster, planned commercial development or planned industrial development.
PLANNED INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT shall mean an area of a minimum contiguous size, as specified in Chapter XXIV, Zoning, to be developed according to a plan as a single entity containing one (1) or more structures with appurtenant common areas to accommodate industrial uses.
PLANNED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT shall mean an area with a specified minimum contiguous acreage to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing one (1) or more residential clusters, which may include appropriate commercial or public or quasi-public uses all primarily for the benefit of the residential development.
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT shall mean an area with a specified minimum contiguous acreage to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing one (1) or more residential clusters, or planned residential development and one (1) or more public, quasi-public, commercial or industrial areas in such ranges of ratios of nonresidential uses to residential uses as shall be specified in Chapter XXIV, Zoning.
PLAT shall mean a map or maps of a subdivision or site plan pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter or Chapter XXVI, Land Subdivision.
PRELIMINARY APPROVAL shall mean the conferral of certain rights, pursuant to this Chapter, prior to final approval after specific elements of a development plan have been agreed upon by the approving authority and the applicant.
PRELIMINARY FLOOR PLANS AND ELEVATIONS shall mean architectural drawings prepared during early and introductory stages of the design of a project, illustrating, in a schematic form, its scope, scale and relationship to its site and immediate environs.
PUBLIC AREAS shall mean public parks, playgrounds, trails, paths and other recreational areas, other public open spaces, scenic and historic sites and sites for schools and other public buildings and structures.
PUBLIC BUILDING shall mean under the provisions of Chapter 220 of the Laws of 1975 pertaining to physically handicapped persons, any building, structure, facility or complex used by the general public, including but not limited to theaters, concert halls, auditoriums, museums, schools, libraries, recreational facilities, public transportation terminals and stations, factories, office buildings, business establishments, passenger vehicle service stations, shopping centers, hotels or motels and public eating places constructed by any State, County or Municipal government agency or instrumentality or any private individual, partnership, association or corporation, with the following exceptions: one (1) to four (4) family private residence, warehouse storage areas and all buildings classified as hazardous occupancies. As used herein, "hazardous occupancy" means the occupancy or use of a building or structure or any portion thereof that involves highly combustible, highly flammable or explosive material or which has inherent characteristics that constitute a special fire hazard.
PUBLIC DRAINAGEWAY shall mean the land reserved or dedicated for the installation of stormwater sewers or drainage ditches or required along a natural stream or watercourse for preserving the channel and providing for the flow of water to safeguard the public against flood damage, sedimentation and erosion.
PUBLIC OPEN SPACE shall mean an open space area conveyed or otherwise dedicated to a Municipality, Municipal agency, Board of Education, State or County agency or other public body for recreational or conservational uses.
RESIDENTIAL CLUSTER shall mean an area to be developed as a single entity according to a plan, containing residential housing units which have a common or public open space area as an appurtenance.
SEDIMENTATION shall mean the deposition of soil that has been transported from its site of origin by water, ice, wind, gravity or other natural means as a product of erosion.
SIGHT TRIANGLE shall mean a triangular shaped easement established at the intersection of two (2) streets or a driveway and a street in which nothing shall be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow in such a manner as to obstruct vision between a height of two (2') feet six (6") inches above the centerline grade of the street or driveway. The Township shall have the right of entry to remove any obstruction to vision within the sight easement area not conforming to the standards of this definition following due notice to the property owner. The triangle shall be determined along such street lot lines or edge of driveway thirty (30') feet distant from their joint intersection.
The sight triangle definition/regulation shall not apply to single family residential lots except for corner lots at the junction of and abutting on two (2) or more intersecting streets.
SITE PLAN shall mean a development plan of one (1) or more lots on which is shown the existing and proposed conditions of the lot, including but not necessarily limited to topography, vegetation, drainage, floodplains, marshes and waterways; the location of all existing and proposed buildings, drives, parking spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress, drainage facilities, utility services, landscaping, structures and signs, lighting, screening devices; and any other information that may be reasonably required in order to make an informed determination pursuant to this Chapter.
STREET shall mean any street, avenue, boulevard, road, parkway, viaduct, drive or other way which is an existing State, County or Municipal roadway or which is shown upon a plat heretofore approved pursuant to law or which is shown on a plat duly filed and recorded in the office of the County recording officer prior to the appointment of a Planning Board and the grant to such Board of the power to review plats, and includes the land between the street lines, whether improved or unimproved, and may comprise pavement, shoulders, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, parking areas and other areas within the street lines.
STRUCTURE shall mean a combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy, use or ornamentation, whether installed on, above or below the surface of a parcel of land.
SUBDIVISION shall mean the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land for sale or development. The following shall not be considered subdivisions if no new streets are created or extension of utilities is required:
1. Divisions of land found by the approving authority to be for agricultural purposes where all resulting parcels are five (5) acres or larger in size.
2. Divisions of property by testamentary or intestate provisions.
3. Divisions of property upon Court order.
4. Conveyances so as to combine existing lots by deed or other instrument. (Ord. #595; 1976 Code §145-4; Ord. #1273, §II)
