A. Purpose. The purpose of the West End Design Overlay District is to establish a framework for infill development with a greater diversity of uses than are generally permitted in the C-3 Neighborhood Commercial District and to recognize the unique architectural and cultural character of the West End C-3 District as more of a "village" within the City of Long Branch.

B. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

INSTITUTIONAL USES ABOVE GROUND-LEVEL RETAIL Buildings with an educational, religious or charitable use on the second floor or above a building that contains retail on the ground floor.

C. Permitted uses.

(1) All uses permitted in § 345-32, C-3 Neighborhood Commercial (C-3) Zone, except that supermarkets are also permitted.

(2) Multifamily units and/or offices above ground-level retail (mixed use) on development parcels less than 20,000 square feet).

(3) Parking structures, subject to the design standards herein.

D. Conditional uses.

(1) Multifamily units above ground-level retail (mixed use) on development parcels of 20,000 square feet or greater.

(2) Institutional uses above ground-level retail (mixed use) on development parcels of 20,000 square feet or greater.

(3) Adaptive reuse of the West End School for one of the following uses:

(a) Visual and/or performing arts educational and performance facility.

[1] Performing arts theater, inclusive of performance venues of varying sizes, such as cabaret or dinner theatre, cafe, intermission concessions and space for receptions before or after performances or for fundraising events, but excluding independent full-service restaurants.

[2] Instruction in performing arts, inclusive of dance, instrumental, vocal, composition, drama, playwriting, musical theater, set design and construction, audio engineering and recording or related arts.

[3] Instruction in the visual arts, inclusive of illustration and rendering, sculpture, filmmaking, screenplay and related arts, as well as display space or galleries for students, faculty and artists-in-residence.

[4] Temporary living accommodations for professional or student performers and artists during periods of performances or special programs, such as performing and visual arts "camps."

(b) Specialty education, such as culinary schools, computer training, secretarial schools, cosmetology schools or similar professional, business or vocational schools.

(c) Professional offices.

E. Permitted accessory uses. Accessory uses and structures are permitted that are customarily incidental and subordinate to, and located on the same lot, or within the same building in the case of mixed use buildings, as a principal permitted use.

F. Height and bulk standards.

(1) Lot and bulk requirements shall be the same as for the C3 Neighborhood Commercial Zone District pursuant § 345-114 except that building height may be permitted to three stories and 35 feet.

G. Conditional uses; conditions.

(1) Mixed-use multifamily units above ground-level retail buildings on development parcels of 20,000 square feet or greater shall conform to the following additional conditions:

(a) Functional entries for upper-floor residential or office units shall be consolidated into an entry lobby located in such a way that it does not interrupt ground-level retail functional entries.

(b) Any street-level retail facade facing a public street or sidewalk shall have clear glass on at least 60% of the facade between three and eight feet above grade.

(c) No more than 40% of the length of any facade, or 50 feet, whichever is less, may be blank (without doors or windows).

(2) Mixed-use institutional uses above ground-level retail buildings on development parcels of 20,000 square feet or greater shall conform to the following additional conditions:

(a) Institutional uses shall be limited to educational, religious or charitable uses.

(b) The ground-level facade and ground-floor lobby area of the upper-level conditional use shall not be greater than 25% of the total ground-level floor area of the building, with not more than 20% of the ground-floor level of the upper-level conditional use with an exterior wall that fronts on Ocean Avenue. The ground-level lobby area may include a reception area, administrative offices and one conference room for meetings or small group assembly for a maximum of 25 persons, but all rooms used or intended for large group assembly shall only be located on the second floor or above.

(c) Any street-level retail facade facing a public street sidewalk or park shall have clear glass on at least 60% of the facade between three and eight feet above grade.

(d) No more than 40% of the length of any street-level facade, or 50 feet, whichever is less, may be blank (without doors or windows).

(e) Functional entries for upper floor institutional uses shall be consolidated into an entry lobby located at the end or at a corner of the building in such a way that it does not interrupt ground-level retail functional entries. Buildings on corner lots or with frontage on public spaces (sidewalk, plaza, park, etc.) shall have the functional entry at the corner of the building.

H. Supplementary parking requirements for all uses. In addition to the requirements in § 345-42, the following standards shall also be applied in the WEDO District:

(1) Off-street parking spaces shall be provided on the same lot as the use which they are intended to serve or on an adjacent lot in common ownership or secured by a long term instrument, such as a lease, acceptable to the Zoning Officer.

(2) Parking areas may be located in any yard other than the required front yard, but shall be visually screened from adjoining public streets and properties, and shall comply with all other requirements of the parking regulations applicable to all zones as provided in this chapter.

(3) Shared parking arrangements among adjacent properties not under common ownership may be permitted if the owners demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Planning Board that the supply of parking spaces will be adequate to service the aggregate demand of the uses sharing the parking based on such factors as alternating peak hours.

(4) Irrespective of any contrary provisions of § 345-42, parking requirements for any adaptive reuse of the West End School and for conditional use institutional over ground-level retail mixed use buildings shall be calculated based an overall ratio of one parking space for 400 square feet of floor area, inclusive of all uses, except that enclosed parking, covered parking, unenclosed rooftop space, and first floor space devoted to educational, religious or charitable uses in accordance with Subsection G(2) above, are exempt from floor area calculation. Additional parking equal to 20% of the parking required for the conditional institutional use shall be provided to allow for occasional assembly demand that exceeds the ratio of one space per 400 square feet for institutional uses. Such additional parking shall be designated and marked for public use when not needed for assembly demands.

(5) No parking space shall impede pedestrian access to any functional entryway.

(6) In no case shall the number of parking spaces exceed the minimum requirements by more than 5%, except as provided in Subsection H(3) above.

I. Design standards. The following design standards are intended to reinforce the West End "village" as a compact, walkable center with active street life and a cohesive built environment where existing and proposed commercial, residential and institutional developments are integrated. These design standards are intended to maximize flexibility of the design to sustain the character and charm of the district. All standards set forth in Chapter 345 of the Code of the City of Long Branch shall continue to apply except when inconsistent with the design standards set forth below.

(1) Pedestrian circulation, bicycle parking and storage.

(a) Off-street parking and service access shall be designed to avoid the backing in and out of streets.

(b) Sidewalks shall be provided to connect new development with the public pedestrian circulation system within the WEDO District. All sidewalks should be durably paved and smoothly surfaced to provide for the free movement of pedestrians. All sidewalks and pathways must be designed to provide access for the physically disabled. Access ramps shall be conveniently placed and sloped to provide easy connection to streets and sidewalks, in conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(c) Structured parking may be contained within, under or attached to buildings. Parking structures or podium-type parking under buildings may not front toward the public space or Brighton Avenue. Where parking structures front on public streets, such may feature liner buildings or ground floor space along the sidewalk designed as retail, commercial or office space.

(d) Every development shall be provided with garbage and refuse storage and collection areas suitable for containerized collection, screened from view by a solid fence on three sides and located away from the fronts of buildings.

(e) Provide at least one secured, enclosed bicycle storage space per residential unit.

(f) Bike racks shall be provided at a rate of one multiloop bike rack per every 20 on-site parking spaces, but not less than the greater of one bicycle space per business or four bicycle spaces per project site for retail or four bicycle spaces per building for nonretail uses.

(g) For office uses, a minimum of one space per 20 off-street parking spaces provided per project will be reserved for parking for shared car services (such as "zip car") or car pool vehicles and be located near functional entryways.

(2) Landscape treatments.

(a) All plants, trees and shrubs shall be installed in accordance with a landscape plan and schedule provided by the developer, subject to the approval of the Planning Board.

(b) Landscape shall be provided throughout the infill development project to create spatial definition or separation, shade, visual interest, seasonal color, visual buffering, microclimatic enhancement, and habitat and to improve safety.

(c) Indigenous (native) plant species shall be primarily specified for planting and invasive exotic species shall be avoided. Any landscaping which is not resistant to the environment, or that dies within two years of planting, shall be replaced by the developer.

(d) In landscaped spaces, passive systems such as cisterns or rain barrels and water gardens that collect rainwater for irrigation or recharge shall be utilized to the extent feasible.

(e) Only soil moisture-sensing irrigation systems using nonpotable water shall be permitted, except that where irrigation is not used, all plant materials shall be drought-tolerant species.

(3) Building orientation, massing and facade composition.

(a) New buildings should be designed to be an integral part of the West End building mix and be developed with appropriate consideration for both proposed and existing buildings with respect to height, mass, location, materials, orientation, signs, lighting and use.

(b) Buildings shall front on and public streets to provide form and function to the streetscape. The streetscape should be continuous and varied through the use of street furniture, landscaping, building articulation, building frontage setbacks and changes in sidewalk types and textures. Long buildings should be divided at a scale comparable to that of other buildings on the rest of the block or adjacent blocks, with a building offset (stepback, bump-out) of at least four feet at least every 75 feet. Driveway intersections with the public street should be minimized to avoid excessive interruptions in the streetwall and conflicts with pedestrians.

(c) Buildings shall be designed so as to present an articulated facade from all vantage points. Parking structures shall not front on the public street unless architecturally integrated into the principal building using techniques such as an exterior clad in a vine-covered trellis, graphic panels, solar panels, a window-like facade treatment, liner building or ground floor space along the sidewalk designed as retail, commercial or office space.

Figure 1: Example of parking structure with integrated architectural treatments and with ground-level retail space.

(d) The architectural treatment of the front facade shall be continued in its major features around all visibly exposed sides of a building with the exception of parking structures or that portion of a building containing a parking structure. All sides of a building shall be architecturally designed to be consistent with regard to style, materials, colors and details. Blank wall or service area treatment of side and/or rear elevations visible from public view shall be avoided.

(e) New or renovated commercial and residential, and the residential and commercial portions of the buildings that include institutional uses permitted by this section, should be designed utilizing base, middle and top forms as the primary method relating buildings to each other.

(f) The base shall be considered the first story of the facade facing a public street, depending on the overall heights of the building. The design of the base, as well as the quality and durability of its materials, should be emphasized to create visual interest and support pedestrian activity. The building's base should be presented to the Planning Board at a larger scale of drawing and greater detail than the remainder of the facade to ensure it meets the building design objectives.

(g) In addition to the base, the exterior design shall include a middle field section and a cap on the top. The middle of the building shall be differentiated from the base by a horizontal transition line. The transition line's specific location shall be determined primarily by the overall height of the building and that of any adjacent buildings. If adjacent buildings are lower than the proposed building, then the transition line should relate to such adjacent building. A horizontal transition line should also be established separating the middle field from the cap or top of the buildings.

(h) The base transition line should range from one-fifth to one-quarter of the overall height. The upper transition line, articulating the cap, should be placed approximately one-eighth of the overall height from the top. Transition lines may consist of a continuous, shallow balcony, a shallow recess, an articulated trim course cornice, fenestration or other appropriate means. The transition should be supported by a change of window rhythm or size and a change in material, color or texture.