The subdivider shall observe the following requirements and principles of land subdivision in the design of each subdivision or portion thereof as set forth hereafter in the various sections of this Article.
A. In acting upon plats, the Board shall require, among other conditions in the public interest, that the tract shall be adequately drained and the streets shall be of sufficient width and suitable grade and suitably located to accommodate the prospective traffic, to provide access for fire-fighting equipment to buildings and to be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system conforming to the Official Map or, if there is no Official Map, relating properly to the existing street system. Where the Board, after hearing, has adopted portions of the Master Plan with proposals regarding the street system within the proposed subdivision, the Board may require that the streets shown conform in design and in width to the proposals shown on the Master Plan. No street of a width greater than fifty (50) feet within the right-of-way lines may be required unless said street already has been shown on such Master Plan at the greater width or already has been shown in greater width on the Official Map.
B. The Board shall further require that all lots shown on the plats shall be adaptable for the intended purposes without danger to health or peril from flood, fire, erosion or other menace.
C. If the Master Plan or the Official Map provides for the reservation of designated streets, public drainageways, flood control basins or public areas within the proposed development, before approving a subdivision, the Board may further require that such streets, ways, basins or areas be shown on the plat in locations and sizes suitable to their intended uses. The Board may reserve the location and extent of such streets, ways, basins or areas shown on the plat for a period of one (1) year after the approval of the final plat or within such further time as may be agreed to by the developer. Unless during such period or extension thereof the municipality shall have entered into a contract to purchase or institute condemnation proceedings according to law for the fee or a lesser interest in the land comprising such streets, ways, basins or areas, the developer shall not be bound by such reservations shown on the plat and may proceed to use such land for private use in accordance with applicable development regulations. The provisions of this section shall not apply to streets and roads, flood control basins or public drainageways necessitated by subdivision or land development and required for final approval.
D. The developer shall be entitled to just compensation for actual loss found to be caused by such temporary reservation and deprivation of use. In such instance, unless a lesser amount has previously been mutually agreed upon, "just compensation" shall be deemed to be the fair market value of an option to purchase the land reserved for the period of reservation, provided that determination of such fair market value shall include but not be limited to consideration of the real property taxes apportioned to the land reserved and prorated for the period of reservation. The developer shall be compensated for the reasonable increased cost of legal, engineering or other professional services incurred in connection with obtaining subdivision approval caused by the reservation.
A. The arrangement of streets not shown on the Master Plan or Official Map shall be to provide for the logical extension of existing streets and to provide for future access for remaining land areas.
B. Minor streets shall be so designed as to discourage through traffic.
C. Subdivisions abutting arterial streets shall provide a marginal service road or shall front buildings upon a minor street parallel to the arterial street and removed from it by the depth of a lot with a buffer strip for planting or some other means of separation of through and local traffic as the Planning Board may determine appropriate.
D. Minimum right-of-way width.
(1) The minimum right-of-way width shall be measured from lot line to lot line and shall be in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) Arterial streets: eighty (80) feet.
(b) Collector streets: sixty (60) feet.
(c) Minor streets: fifty (50) feet.
(d) Marginal access streets: forty (40) feet..
(2) The right-of-way width for internal roads and alleys in multifamily, commercial and industrial developments shall be determined on an individual basis and shall in all cases be of sufficient width and design to accommodate safely the maximum anticipated traffic, parking, emergency vehicle and loading needs.
E. No subdivision showing reserve strips controlling access to streets shall be approved.
F. Subdivisions that adjoin or include existing streets that do not conform to street widths as shown on the Master Plan or Official Map or that do not conform to the street width requirements of this chapter shall dedicate additional width along either one (1) or both sides of such streets of substandard width. If the subdivision is along one (1) side only, one-half (1/2) of the required extra width shall be dedicated.
G. Grades of arterial and collector streets shall not exceed four percent (4%). Grades on other streets shall not exceed ten percent (10%). However, the Planning Board shall have the right to require grades of less than ten percent (10%) where special conditions exist, provided that such special conditions are set forth in writing upon the minutes of the Board. No street shall have a grade of less than one-half of one percent (1/2 of 1%).
H. Street intersections shall be as nearly at right angles as circumstances will allow and in no case shall be less than sixty degrees (60). The block corners at intersections shall be rounded at the curbline with a curve having a radius of not less than twenty (20) feet.
I. A street intersection shall not be less than one hundred twenty-five (125) feet removed from the nearest other street intersection.
J. The center line of a street shall cross an intersecting street as a straight line.
K. A tangent at least one hundred (100) feet long shall be introduced between reverse curves on arterial and collector streets.
L. When connecting street lines deflect from each other at any one (1) point by more than ten degrees (10), they shall be connected by a curve with a center-line radius of not less than one hundred (100) feet for minor streets and three hundred (300) feet for arterial and collector streets.
M. All changes in grade shall be connected by vertical curves of sufficient length to provide a smooth transition and proper sight distance.
N. Streets designed to dead-end permanently more than one hundred (100) feet from an intersection shall provide a circular turnaround at the end with a right-of-way radius of fifty (50) feet. Such streets shall not be longer than four hundred (400) feet from the intersection to their dead end. Streets designed to dead-end temporarily shall be improved to the boundary of the subdivision.
O. No street shall have a name which duplicates the name of an existing street so as to be easily confused with it. The continuation of an existing street shall have the same name.
A. Block length and width or acreage within bounding roads shall be such as to accommodate the size of lot required in the area by the Zoning Ordinances and to. provide for convenient access, circulation control and safety of street traffic.
B. In blocks over one thousand (1,000) feet long, pedestrian crosswalks may be required in locations deemed necessary by the Board. Such crosswalks shall be ten (10) feet wide. Lots abutting such a crosswalk shall be treated as a corner lot.
C. For commercial, group housing or industrial use, the block size shall be sufficient, in the judgment of the Board, to meet all area and yard requirements for such use.
A. All lots created by subdivision shall conform strictly to the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance as to area and dimensions and as to adequacy of space and grade to provide off-street parking requirements or other requirements specified by the Zoning Ordinance.
B. Insofar as is practical, side lot lines shall be at right angles to straight streets and radial to curved streets.
C. Where extra width has been dedicated for widening of existing streets, lots shall begin at such extra-width line, and all setbacks shall be measured from such line.
D. Each lot must front upon a public street which is at least fifty (50) feet in width, except lots fronting on streets described in
E. Where there is a question as to the suitability of a lot or lots for their intended use due to factors such as rock formations, drainage, flood conditions or similar causes, the Board may, after adequate investigation, withhold approval of such areas.
A. In large-scale developments, easements along rear property lines or elsewhere for utility installations may be required by the Planning Board. Such easements shall be of the width and location determined by the Board after consultation with the public utility companies or municipal departments concerned.
B. Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, drainageway channel or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way conforming substantially with the lines of such watercourse and such further width or construction, or both, as the Board may deem adequate for the purpose.
Curbs, gutters, sidewalks, street pavements, fire hydrants, shade trees, monuments, water mains, storm sewers, sanitary sewers and any other improvement that may be required shall be designed and constructed to conform to the specifications of the municipality.
A. All electric, telephone, television and other communication facilities, both main and service lines servicing new develop- ments, shall be provided by underground wiring within easements or dedicated public rights-of-way, installed in accordance with the prevailing standards and practices of the utility or other companies providing such services.
B. Lots which abut existing easements or public rights-of-way where overhead electric or telephone distribution supply lines and service connections have heretofore been installed 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. In the case of existing overhead utilities, should a road widening or an extension of service or other such condition occur as a result of the subdivision and necessitate the replacement or relocation of such utilities, such replacement or relocation shall be underground.
C. Where overhead lines are permitted as the exception, the placement and alignment of poles shall be designed to lessen the visual impact of overhead lines as follows:
(1) Alignments and pole locations shall be carefully routed to avoid locations along horizons; clearing swaths through treed areas shall be avoided by selective cutting and a staggered alignment.
(2) Trees shall be planted in open areas and at key locations to minimize the view of the poles and the alignments.
(3) Alignments shall follow rear lot lines and other alignments.
D. Year-round screening of any utility apparatus appearing above the surface of the ground, other than utility poles, shall be required.
A. Design and placement of traffic signs shall follow the requirements specified in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, published by the United States Department of Transportation and adopted by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
B. At least two (2) street name signs shall be placed at each four- way intersection and one (1) at each T-intersection. Signs shall be installed under light standards and free of visual obstruction. The design of street name signs should be consistent, of a style appropriate to the community, of a uniform size and color and erected in accordance with local standards.
C. Site information signs in planned developments shall follow a design theme related and complementary to other elements of the overall site design.
A. Topsoil preservation. Topsoil moved during the course of construction shall be redistributed on all regraded surfaces so as to provide at least six (6) inches of even cover to all disturbed areas of the development and shall be stabilized by seeding or planting.
B. Removal of debris. All stumps and other tree parts, litter, brush, weeds, excess or scrap building materials or other debris shall be removed from the site and disposed of in accordance with the law. No tree stumps, portions of tree trunks or limbs shall be buried anywhere in the development. All dead or dying trees, standing or fallen, shall be removed from the site. If trees and limbs are reduced to chips, they may, subject to approval of the Construction Official, be used as mulch in landscaped areas.
C. Protection of existing plantings. Maximum effort should be made- to save fine specimens (because of size or relative rarity). No material or temporary soil deposits shall be placed within four (4) feet of shrubs or ten (10) feet of trees designated to be retained on the preliminary and/or final plat. Protective barriers or tree wells shall be installed around each plant and/ or group of plants that are to remain on the site. Barriers shall not be supported by the plants they are protecting, but shall be self-supporting. They shall be a minimum of four (4) feet high and constructed of a durable material that will last until construction is completed. Snow fences and silt fences are examples of acceptable barriers.
Street trees shall be installed on both sides of all streets. Trees shall either be massed at critical points or spaced evenly along the street at intervals of fifty (50) feet.
If there exist exceptional topographic conditions or other extraordinary and physical condition of the land being subdivided that make full compliance with the standards established by this chapter physically impossible, the Board may, by resolution, make a special exception and modify the above standards in their application to the land in question, provided that the findings of the Board are noted in its minutes and, further, that such modification does not endanger the public health, safety and welfare.
