No building permit shall be issued for any structure and no certificate of occupancy or zoning permit shall be issued for a new use of any existing building until the site plan has been reviewed and approved by the Planning Board, except that the approval of a site plan for detached one- or two-dwelling-unit buildings and their accessory uses on a lot, including customary accessory buildings to a farm such as barns, silos, sheds and the like shall not be necessary. A building permit shall be applied for within one year of the approval date of a site plan, otherwise said site plan shall require resubmission and approval. The Board shall review the proposal, determine whether or not the applicable standards provided by this chapter have been observed, note objections to such parts of the plans that do not meet the standards and may make recommendations for desired changes to effect compliance with the chapter and to provide the most desirable alternative for development to protect the public health, safety and welfare.

The Planning Board may refer the site plan to other individuals, professionals, committees or subcommittees for comments and recommendations. An approved site plan shall be dated and signed by the Chairman of the Planning Board and returned to the applicant. A site plan receiving an approval with conditions or a denial shall not be signed and dated, but the conditions or reasons for denial shall be returned to the applicant in writing.

[Amended 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0-13-23]

A. The applicant shall submit a preliminary site plan to the administrative officer. The administrative officer shall secure a determination from the Zoning Officer as to whether the use is permitted in the district in which it is located and whether there are any deficiencies in lot area, dimension, setback, yard requirements or the like as required by this chapter.

B. Should the Zoning Officer determine that the proposed use is not permitted, the application shall be made to the Board of Adjustment which may process the entire application in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-76, nothing in this section shall prevent an applicant from submitting a separate application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment requesting approval of a use variance with a subsequent application for required site plan approval. The separate approval of any such variance shall be conditioned upon granting of all required subsequent approvals by the Board of Adjustment. Should the plan reveal that the proposed use is a permitted use, then the application shall be made to the Planning Board which shall process the entire application pursuant to this chapter. The applicant shall submit a complete package as documented on the Application Checklist. All items listed under Section 1 - Administrative Completeness Requirements of the Application Checklist must be submitted or the package will be deemed incomplete. The checklist is attached to this chapter.

C. If the said preliminary site plan package is found to be incomplete, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the deficiencies therein by the Board or the Board's designee within 45 days of the date of submission or it shall be deemed properly submitted. Upon the submission to the administrative officer of a complete application for a site plan which involves 10 acres of land or less, and 10 dwelling units or less, the Planning Board shall grant or deny preliminary approval within 45 days of the date of such submission or within such further time as may be consented to by the developer. Upon the submission of a complete application for a site plan which involves more than 10 acres or more than 10 dwelling units, the Planning Board shall grant or deny preliminary approval within 95 days of the date of such submission or within such further time as may be consented to by the developer. Otherwise, the Planning Board shall be deemed to have granted preliminary approval of the site plan.

A. Within three years of securing preliminary approval or simultaneously with an application for preliminary approval, the applicant may apply for final approval of the site plan. Failure to apply for said final site plan approval within said three years of preliminary approval will cause said preliminary approval to be deemed void. The duration of final approvals shall be as set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-52. Final approval shall be granted or denied within 45 days after submission of a complete application for final approval to the administrative officer or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. If the application for final approval is found to be incomplete, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the deficiencies therein by the Board or the Board's designee within 45 days of the date of submission or it shall be deemed properly submitted. Final approval shall be granted or denied within 45 days after submission of a complete application to the administrative officer, or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Planning Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute final approval and a certificate of the administrative officer as to the failure of the Planning Board to act shall be issued on request of the applicant and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence or approval herein requested. [Amended 12-16-2003 by Ord. No. 0-03-43]

B. A completed checklist form as adopted by the Township shall also be submitted.

C. Whenever review or approval of the application by the County Planning Board or the Howell Township Municipal Utilities Authority is required, the approving authority shall condition any site plan approval that it grants upon timely receipt of written evidence of favorable action by the County Planning Board or the Municipal Utilities Authority, or, in the case of the County Planning Board, approval by the County Planning Board by its failure to report therein within the required time period. If the action of either the County Planning Board or Municipal Utilities Authority is negative or attaches conditions which impact upon the design approved by the approving authority, the original action by the approving authority shall be null and void. The applicant shall then make application for reconsideration of its original application which shall take into consideration the action of the County Planning Board or Municipal Utilities Authority.

[Amended 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0-13-23]

No permit shall be issued by the Construction Code Official until receipt of the site plan approval or the expiration of the time period, whichever comes first. In the event the Planning Board disapproves the plans, no permits shall be issued. Any applicant wishing to make a change in an approved application shall follow the same procedure as the original application. Where a new use is proposed for any existing building, the approved site plan for the previous use, if any, may be submitted where no changes are contemplated on the site for the new use. Where more parking or loading may be required, it shall be shown on the site plan or previously approved site plan, together with the extension or enlargement of the existing drainage system where deemed necessary by the Township Engineer prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the new occupant.

[Amended 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0-13-23]

All plans shall be prepared in accordance with the requirements listed on the Application Checklist. Failure to comply with the checklist may be reason for the application to be rejected. If the applicant requires a waiver from an item, he or she must provide a written description and explanation as to why the waiver should be granted.

[Amended 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0-13-23]

All plans shall be prepared in accordance with the requirements listed on the Application Checklist. Failure to comply with the checklist may be reason for the application to be rejected. If the applicant requires a waiver from an item, he or she must provide a written description and explanation as to why the waiver should be granted. Each preliminary site plan submission shall show the following information on one or more maps, and have data that cannot be mapped attached thereto:

A. Building and use plan. The size, height, location, arrangement and use of all existing and proposed structures and signs including proposed total building coverage in acres or square footage and percent of the lot coverage, with an architect's scaled elevations of the front, side and rear of any structure and sign to be erected or modified to the extent necessary to apprise the Planning Board of the scope of the proposed work. Any existing structures on the side shall be identified either to remain or be removed. A written description of the proposed use(s) including the number of employees or members of nonresidential buildings; the proposed number of shifts to be worked and maximum employees on each shift; expected truck and tractor-trailer traffic; emission of noise, glare, vibration, heat, odor, air and water pollution; safety hazards; outdoor storage of materials and the proposed screening thereof; and anticipated expansion plans incorporated in the building design shall be included. Floor plans shall be submitted where multiple dwelling units or more than one use are proposed that have different parking standards.

B. Circulation plan. This plan shall show access streets and street names, acceleration/deceleration lanes, access points to public streets, sight triangles, traffic channelization, easements, fire lanes, driveways, aisles and lanes, curbs, curb cuts with ramps for handicapped persons, number and location of parking and loading spaces including the designated wider spaces for the handicapped, loading berths or docks, pedestrian walks, and all related facilities for the movement and storage of goods, vehicles and persons on the site and including lights, lighting standards, signs and driveways within the tract and within 100 feet of the tract. Sidewalks shall be shown from each entrance/exit along expected paths of pedestrian travel such as, but not limited to, access to parking lots, driveways, other buildings on the site, and across common yard areas between buildings. Plans shall be accompanied by cross sections of new streets, aisles, lanes, driveways and sidewalks. Any expansion plans for the proposed use shall show feasible parking and loading expansion plans to accompany building expansion.

(1) This plan shall show existing and proposed wooded areas, buffer areas including the intended screening devices and buffers, grading at two-foot contour intervals inside the tract and within 50 feet of its boundaries, seeded and/or sodded areas, ground cover, retaining walls, fencing, signs, recreation areas, shrubbery, trees, and other landscaping features. These plans shall show the location and type of man-made improvements and the location, species, and caliper of plant material and trees to be removed or to be located on the tract. The plans shall show how the interior of paved areas such as parking lots shall be landscaped and all portions of the property not utilized by buildings or paved surfaces shall be landscaped utilizing combinations such as landscaped fencing, shrubbery, lawn area, ground cover, rock formations, contours, existing foliage, and the planting of coniferous and/or deciduous trees native to the area in order to maintain or reestablish the tone of the vegetation in the area and lessen the visual impact of the structures and paved areas. The established grades and landscaping on any site shall be planned for aesthetic, drainage, and erosion control purposes. The grading plan, drainage facilities, and landscaping shall be coordinated to prevent erosion and siltation as well as assuring that the capacity of any downstream natural or man-made drainage system is sufficient to handle the water from the site and contributing upstream areas.

(2) A separate, written environmental impact report shall be submitted which shall comply with the environmental impact report section of this chapter and all other applicable ordinances.

C. Facilities plan. This plan shall show the existing and proposed locations of all drainage; open space; common property; fire, gas, electric, telephone, sewerage and waterline locations; and solid waste collection and disposal methods including proposed grades, sizes, capacities, and materials to be used for facilities installed by the applicant. All easements acquired or required on the tract and across adjacent properties shall be shown and copies of legal documentation that support the granting of an easement by adjoining property owner shall be included. The method of sanitary waste disposal shall be shown. All proposed lighting shall be shown including the direction, angle, height, and reflection of each source of light. All utilities shall be installed underground.

D. This plan shall contain a legend setting forth the names and addresses of all individuals or entities who own a 10% or greater interest in the property that is the subject of the development application, as either an owner applicant or a contract purchase applicant. In the event that the applicant or owner is either a corporation or partnership, the names and addresses of all stockholders or individual partners owning at least 10% of its stock of any class or at least 10% of the interest in the partnership shall be listed.

The standards set forth in this section apply only to those uses requiring site plan approval, unless specifically stated otherwise.

A. Access to lots with more than 10 spaces. There shall be a maximum of two access drives to any street with their center lines spaced at least 56 feet apart, with no more than two lanes of traffic each, and with their center lines at least 30 feet from any property line. When the property along a street exceeds 500 feet in length, one access drive may be permitted for each 250 feet of frontage. Driveways with widths exceeding 24 feet shall be approved by the Planning Board giving consideration to the width, curbing, traffic flow, radii of curves, and traffic lane divider.

B. Access to loading and parking spaces. Individual spaces shall be served by interior driveways and be designed for vehicle access without requiring the moving of any other vehicle. Spaces shall not have direct access from public streets, and parking spaces located within a shopping center may not have direct access from major interior access drives. All loading areas and parking lots with more than 10 spaces shall be buffered from adjoining streets, existing residential use, and residential zoning districts in accordance with the buffer section of this chapter. [Amended 6-24-2014 by Ord. No. 0-14-09]

C. Curbing. All parking lots with more than 10 spaces and all loading areas shall have concrete or Belgian block curbing around the perimeter of the parking and loading areas in conjunction with an overall drainage plan. Curbing shall be either depressed at the driveway or have the curbing rounded at the corners with the access drive connected to the street in the same manner as another street. Curbing between vehicular and pedestrian ways shall be designed with periodic ramps from the street or parking grade to the sidewalk which shall be no less frequent than one every 65 feet and located in accordance with a pedestrian circulation plan.

D. Drainage. All parking and loading areas shall be drained in accordance with good engineering practice as approved by the Municipal Engineer. Where subbase conditions are wet, springy, or of such nature that surfacing would be inadvisable without first treating the subbase, these areas shall be excavated to a depth of at least six to 12 inches below the proposed finished grade and filled with a suitable subbase material as determined by the Municipal Engineer. Where required by the Engineer, a system of porous concrete pipe subsurface drains shall be constructed beneath the surface of the paving and connected to a suitable drain. After the subbase material has been properly placed and compacted, the parking area surfacing material shall be applied.

E. Surfacing shall be approved as part of the site plan approval.

F. Ingress and egress. [Amended 8-20-2013 by Ord. No. 0-13-23]

(1) Areas of ingress and egress, loading and unloading areas, major interior driveways and aisles, and other areas likely to experience similar heavy traffic shall be paved with not less than four inches of compacted base course of plant-mixed bituminous stabilized base course constructed in layers not more than two inches compacted thickness, or equivalent, and prepared and constructed in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Transportation Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridge Construction, latest edition, and amendments thereto. A minimum two-inch-thick compacted wearing surface of bituminous concrete, or equivalent, shall be constructed thereon in accordance with those specifications.

(a) All main driveways into commercial and/or industrial areas shall be a minimum of 30 feet wide, or as controlled by outside agencies. On industrial and commercial applications, a thirty-foot-wide circulation aisle must be maintained for emergency purposes.

(b) All aisles other than the main driveways into commercial and/or industrial areas shall be a minimum of 25 feet wide. In the interest of public safety, the Board of Fire Commissioners does not support any waivers to Subsection F(1)(a) and (b).

(c) Residential site plans and subdivisions shall be designed with thirty-six-foot-wide main access roads and thirty-foot-wide parking aisles.

(2) Parking space areas and other areas likely to experience light traffic shall be paved with not less than three inches of compacted base concrete of plant-mixed bituminous stabilized base course, or equivalent, prepared and constructed in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Transportation Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, latest edition, and amendments thereto. At least 1 1/2 inch compacted wearing surface of bituminous concrete, or equivalent, shall be constructed thereon in accordance with those specifications.

G. Landscaping in all loading areas and in and around parking lots for 10 or more vehicles shall be shown on a landscaping plan. There shall be at least one tree and one shrub for every 10 parking spaces. Trees shall be staggered and/or spaced so as not to interfere with driver vision at intersections of driveways and streets and at the ends of parking rows and have branches no lower than six feet. All areas between the parking area and the building shall be landscaped. All landscaped areas within the parking lot or loading area shall be protected by concrete or Belgian block curbing. Any plantings which do not live shall be replaced within one year or one growing season. A majority of the parking area shall be obscured from public streets by buildings, landscaped berms, natural ground elevations, low evergreen or plantings, singularly or in combination. Shrubbery and tree species selected shall be resistant to pollutants typically found in parking areas.

H. Minimum loading requirements. Adequate off-street loading and maneuvering space shall be provided for every use based on the following schedule. Those uses not listed shall provide sufficient spaces as determined under site plan review.

(1) There shall be a minimum of one space per use. When more than one use is located in a building or where multiple uses are designed as part of a shopping center, industrial complex, or similar self-contained complex, the number of loading spaces shall be based on the cumulative number of square feet within the building or complex, shall be dispersed throughout the site to best serve the individual uses, and be part of site plan approval.

(2) There shall be a minimum of one trash/garbage pickup location located either within or outside a building in steel-like, totally enclosed container(s), located and screened to be obscured from view from parking areas, streets and residences. If located within a commercial or industrial building, the doorway(s) may serve both the loading and trash/garbage collection functions. If located outside the building, it may be located adjacent to or within the loading area(s), provided that the container(s) in no way interfere with or restrict the required loading functions.

(3) Where a tract has at least 25 acres and no portion of a loading area, including maneuvering areas, is closer than 200 feet to any property line and where the length of the driveway connecting the loading area to the street is at least 300 feet long, the number of off-street loading spaces may be less than the number required by the above schedule, provided that the applicant shall document on his site plan how the number of spaces to be provided will be adequate to meet the needs of the specified use.

I. Location of parking and loading areas.

(1) No off-street loading and maneuvering area shall be located in any front yard nor require any part of a street.

(2) Loading spaces shall abut the building being served, and be located to directly serve the building for which the space is being provided.

(3) No loading and parking spaces shall be located in any required buffer area.

(4) Parking spaces for apartment/townhouses and for commercial/industrial uses shall be within 150 feet and 300 feet, respectively, of the entrance of the building being served.

(5) No parking shall be permitted in designated fire lanes, streets, driveways, aisles, sidewalks or turning areas.

(6) Parking spaces for shopping centers may be located in any yard. Parking spaces for residential uses may be located in any yard as designated for individual structures, but parking shall be discouraged from being located in the yard space between any public street and any principal building, but when located within this yard area, shall be at least 100 feet from the street.

J. Waiver of parking or loading requirements by the Planning Board. Waivers may be given upon the following terms and conditions:

(1) The variation is no greater than 20% of the requirements set forth herein.

(2) The variation is based on testimony presented on a report prepared by a recognized traffic expert.

(3) The variation is determined after a public hearing on the site plan with the appropriate notice given to property owners within 200 feet of the property in question.

A. Dimensions. Off-street parking spaces shall be 19 feet in length and dimensioned in accordance with the following schedule, except that a minimum of one space, shall be accessible and designed in accordance with Chapter 216. [Amended 3-27-2012 by Ord. No. 0-12-04]

(1) Off-street loading spaces shall have 15 feet of vertical clearance and be designed in accordance with the following schedule: