Any restrictions or requirements with respect to buildings or land, which appear in other ordinances of the Township or are established by law and which are greater than those set forth herein, shall take precedence over the provisions of this Chapter.

Except as herein otherwise provided:

A. No building or structure shall be erected and no existing building shall be moved, structurally altered, added to or enlarged, nor shall any land or building be designed, used, or intended to be used, for any purpose or in any manner other than as specified among the uses hereinafter listed as permitted in the zone in which such building or land is located and meeting the requirements as set forth in the Schedule of Regulations.

B. No building shall be erected, no existing buildings shall be altered, enlarged or rebuilt, nor shall any open space surrounding any building be encroached upon or reduced in any manner, except in conformity to the yard, lot area, building location, percentage of lot coverage, off-street parking space, and such other regulations hereinafter designated in this Chapter for the zone in which such building or open space is located.

C. No off-street parking area, loading or unloading area provided to meet the minimum off-street parking, loading or unloading requirements for one (1) use or structure, shall be considered as providing off-street parking, loading or unloading area for a use or structure on any other lot, unless specifically permitted elsewhere in this Chapter.

D. No subdivision may be approved unless each lot contained in said subdivision complies with all the requirements of the zone in which said lot is located, or unless a variance has been granted therefrom.

E. No use shall be considered a permitted use or a conditional use in a zone district unless included as such in the particular zone district.

Wherever the depth of lots is established by existing street patterns in any residential zone, the depth requirements of the zone shall be waived as long as all setback lines are maintained.

A. Every principal building shall be built upon a lot with frontage upon a public street improved to meet the Township requirements or for which such improvement has been guaranteed by the posting of a performance guarantee pursuant to this Chapter unless relief has been granted under the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36.

B. Where a building lot has frontage on a street, which the Master Plan or the Official Map of the Township indicates is proposed for right-of-way widening, the required front yard setback shall be measured from such proposed right-of-way line.

A. No yard or other open space provided around any building for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this Chapter, shall be considered as providing a yard or open space for any other buildings, and no yard or other open space on one lot shall be considered as providing a yard or open space for a building on any other lot.

B. All yards facing a public street shall be considered front street side or street rear yards for the purpose of establishing required setbacks for main and accessory buildings.

C. Every part of a required yard shall be open and unobstructed from its lowest level to the sky, except for the ordinary projections allowed by the State Uniform Construction Code including, but not limited to, sills, belt courses, chimneys, flues, buttresses, ornamental features, and eaves, provided, however, that none of the aforesaid projections shall project into the minimum required yards more than twenty-four (24") inches, unless otherwise permitted by this Chapter. Unroofed entrance porches or terraces, which do not rise above the height of the floor level of the ground floor, may extend into any yard providing the total area of all such porches, which extend into such yards, does not exceed one thousand (1,000) square feet.

A. On all corner lots, the depth of all required street side setbacks shall not be less than the fifty (50%) percent of the required front setback within the zone. The following method shall be used to determine front, side and rear lot lines on corner and through lots:

1. On corner lots in single and two-family residential zones the street which the front door faces or is proposed to face shall be the front yard. Where this cannot be determined due to a diagonal or rear facing dwelling, the Zoning Officer shall determine which shall be considered the front yard.

2. On corner lots in nonresidential and multi-family residential zones, the front yard shall be that which faces the street with the higher roadway classification. Where the roadway classifications are the same, the front yard shall face the street where the primary access is located or proposed, as determined by the Zoning Officer.

3. On all through lots, both yards facing a public street shall be considered front yards for the purpose of determining required setbacks for main and accessory buildings, except as otherwise provided in this Chapter.

4. In no case can the front yard on a lot with more than one (1) street frontage be that frontage which abuts an unimproved street.

B. The yard abutting a street, other than the front yard as established herein, shall be considered as either a street side yard or a street rear yard.

C. Each street frontage of a lot created as a result of a subdivision approved after the effective date of this Ordinance fronting on more than one (1) street shall conform to the minimum required street frontage for such a lot in the applicable zone district as specified in the schedule of yard area and building requirements.

Unless more stringent regulations are provided by other provisions of this Chapter, at the intersection of two (2) or more streets, no hedge, fence, screening strip or wall higher than thirty (30") inches above curb level, nor any obstruction to vision, other than a post not exceeding one (1') foot in diameter, shall be permitted on any lot within the triangular area formed by two (2) intersecting street lines bounding said lot, or the projection of such lines, and by a line connecting a point, on each line located fifty (50') feet from the intersection of the street lines. Sight triangle areas shall be maintained, trimmed or cleared in accordance with Chapter 234, Article III, "Trimming of Brush, Hedges and Other Plant Life Near Intersection", of the Code of the Township of Middletown.

[Ord. No. 2012-3066]

Unless otherwise specified in this Chapter, accessory buildings shall conform to the following regulations as to their locations on the lot:

A. An accessory building attached to a principal building shall comply in all respects with the yard requirements of this Chapter for principal buildings within the appropriate zone.

B. Detached storage sheds, up to one hundred fifty (150) square feet shall have a one (1') foot side or rear yard setback, where there is a fence at least four (4') feet high separating the lots. Where no such fence exists a three (3') foot setback is required. [Ord. No. 2005-2815]

C. Accessory buildings in residential zones shall not exceed sixteen (16') feet in height, except that farm related buildings such as barns and stables can be built up to twenty-five (25') feet in height and permitted accessory apartment or dwellings can be permitted to equal the height of principal structures in that zone, except that in all cases building height shall be measured to the peak of the roof and not the mean point as applied to principal structures. Accessory buildings in nonresidential zones shall not exceed twenty-five (25') feet in height. [Ord. No. 2005-2825; Ord. No. 2007-2900 § 2; Ord. No. 2007-2916 § 7]

D. No detached accessory structure over one hundred (100) square feet shall be less than five (5') feet from any principal structure.

E. No accessory structure shall be used as a residence, except where permitted by ordinance as either an accessory dwelling under the Township's affordable housing program or for domestic employees of the tenant or owner of the premises. Accessory structures used for domestic help or employees shall be subject to a deed restriction recorded with the County Clerk's Office, limiting the use of the structure accordingly. Any accessory structure that is to be used as a dwelling unit shall be subject to the same requirements as a single-family dwelling for the purpose of obtaining Certificates of Occupancy. [Ord. No. 2005-2815]

F. No accessory building which is intended to be occupied for dwelling purposes shall be occupied before the principal building.

G. No accessory structure shall be placed within an established front, street side, or street rear yard area except in the Residential R-110, R-130 and R-220 Zone Districts.

H. Accessory buildings or structures must be located on the same lot as the principal use to which they are accessory.

I. Fixed-location generators, equipment associated with heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and the like shall comply with the following setback requirements:

1. For residential land uses on lots containing twenty-one thousand seven hundred eighty (21,780) square feet or less, the minimum required setback shall be five (5') feet.

2. For residential land uses on lots containing more than twenty-one thousand seven hundred eighty (21,780) square feet, the minimum required setback shall be fifty (50%) percent of the required accessory structure setback for the applicable zone district.

3. For nonresidential and mixed land uses, the required accessory structure setback for the relevant zone district shall apply.

Any lot utilized for single-family or two-family dwelling purposes shall not contain more than one (1) principal building.

The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to customary underground essential services as defined in Section 16-203, except that all facilities such as pumping stations, repeater stations and electric substations, which require a building above ground or any other above ground appurtenance of any type more than forty (40') feet high, shall require approval as a conditional use subject to the provisions of this Chapter.

Where two (2) or more lots, created by the filing of a map pursuant to the Map Filing Law prior to establishment of the Planning Board, have any contiguous lines and are in single ownership and one (1) or more of the lots is nonconforming in any aspect, the lots involved shall be considered to be an undivided parcel for the purposes of this Chapter and no portion of said parcel shall be conveyed or divided except through the filing of an approved subdivision in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

A. No structure shall extend higher than the limit provided in each zone created hereunder for building height.

B. The height limitations created hereunder shall not apply to spires, belfries, cupolas or domes not used for human occupancy. The height limitation also should not apply to parapets, walls or cornices extending not more than four (4') feet above the building height limit.

C. The height limitations created hereunder shall apply to chimneys, ventilators, skylights, tank, stair towers, elevator towers, appurtenances usually carried above the antennae attached to a building, except that the same may exceed said height limitations by not more than fifteen (15') feet, except that skylights, heating and air conditioning equipment and ventilators may exceed the height limitation by no more than ten (10') feet. Such features shall not exceed, in total coverage, ten (10%) percent of the total roof area.

D. Freestanding, noncommercial radio and television antennas and flag poles may exceed the height limits created hereunder by not more than fifteen (15') feet.

Wherever feasible, all of the following shall be preserved in its natural state:

A. Floodway areas as defined by the Middletown Township Storm Drainage Master Plan; United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Emergency Flood Insurance Program; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; or the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

B. Areas containing a significant number of specimen trees determined by the Environmental Commission or the Municipal Agency.

C. Existing water courses, ponds, marshes and swamps.

D. Wetlands and wetland transitional areas as defined by the New Jersey Wetlands Act of 1970 (N.J.S.A. 13:9A1 et seq.) and the Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1987 (N.J.S.A. 13:9-B-1 et seq.) and delineated on wetlands maps prepared by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy.

E. Steep slopes in excess of fifteen (15%) percent.

F. Flora and fauna on the New Jersey and/or Federal Endangered Species.

G. Dunes. Development is prohibited on dunes, except for development that has no prudent or feasible alternative in an area other than a dune, and that will not cause significant adverse long-term impacts on the natural functioning of the beach and dune system, either individually or in combination with other existing or proposed structures, land disturbance activities. Examples of acceptable activities are:

1. Demolition and removal of paving and structures.

2. Limited designated success ways for pedestrian and authorized motor vehicles between public streets and the beach that provide for the minimum feasible interference with the beach and dune system and are oriented so as to provide the minimum feasible threat of breaching or overtopping as a rest of storm surge or wave run-up.

3. Limited stairs, walkways, pathways and boardwalks to permit access across dunes to beaches, provided they cause minimum feasible interference with the beach and dune system.

4. The planting of native vegetation to stabilize dunes.

5. Sand fencing, either a brush type barricade or a picket type, to accumulate sand and aid in dune formation.

H. Beaches. Development is prohibited on beaches, except for development that has no prudent or feasible alternative in an area other than a beach, and that will not cause significant adverse long-term impacts on the natural functioning of the beach and dune system, either individually or in combination with other existing or proposed structures, land disturbances or activities. Examples of acceptable activities are:

1. Demolition and removal of paving structures.

2. Dune creation and related sand fencing and planting of vegetation for dune stabilization.

3. The reconstruction of existing amusement and fishing piers and boardwalks.

4. The construction of new fishing piers.

5. Temporary recreation structures for public safety such as first aid and lifeguard stations.

Whenever a person acquires title to the land under water adjacent to his property by virtue of a riparian grant from the State of New Jersey, then the grant area shall automatically be zoned the same as the upland property adjacent to the grant, provided, however, that any part of this grant not filled, graded and stabilized pursuant to a valid construction permit, shall not be applicable to meeting the minimum lot area for the governing zone.

Where applicable, the Municipal Agency shall require as a condition of site plan approval that the owner convey to the Municipality, drainage easements, conservation easements, sight triangle easements and/or shade tree and utility easements.

Solid wastes from single and two-family homes, if stored outdoors, shall be placed in metal or plastic receptacles with tight fitting covers.

Such receptacles shall not be stored or placed within any front yard area prior to the time at which solid wastes are permitted to be placed at the curblines for collection. Such receptacles may be stored in either rear or side yard areas, but if stored within a side yard area, they shall be screened from view of adjoining properties and street areas with planting or fencing. Solid wastes which are to be picked up shall conform to the requirements established by the Department of Public Works for garbage and trash collection.

The dumping of refuse, waste material, or other substances is prohibited in all districts within the Municipality.

No nonresidential use with the exception of farms shall store materials of any kind outdoors in any district except in connection with the construction of a structure to be erected on the premises unless specifically permitted elsewhere in this Chapter.

A. Retail and/or wholesale business uses shall not permanently display goods for sale, including motor vehicles, outdoors except in accordance with a site plan approved by the Planning Board.

B. Such outdoor displays shall only be permitted where the goods displayed are the merchandise of a business included within a structure located on the site, unless in accordance with a permit or other approval issued therefore by the Municipality. Uses such as flea markets where two (2) or more concessionaires, proprietors or businesses display goods for the same out of doors shall not be permitted in any zoning district within the Municipality except in accordance with Subsection D. below.

C. Temporary sales and outdoor display of goods may be permitted where the goods displayed are the merchandise of a business included within a structure located on the site. Such temporary sales and display shall be in accordance with a permit issued by the Zoning Officer. No business shall hold more than five (5) such sales per year nor shall any one (1) sale exceed one (1) week in duration.

D. Temporary flea markets and sales operated by nonprofit groups such as churches may be permitted where the goods displayed are on a site which is already developed as a principal use of the nonprofit group. Such sales shall be in accordance with a permit issued by the Zoning Officer. No nonprofit group shall hold more than five (5) such sales per year nor shall any one (1) sale exceed one (1) week in duration.

E. Coin operated vending machines shall not be located further than two (2') feet from a related business structure.

F. Goods for sale, displayed or stored outdoors, shall not be located closer than twenty-five (25') feet to any street right-of-way or fifteen (15') feet to any side or rear line, except in conjunction with temporary sidewalk or other types of outdoor sales.

G. Temporary Sales of Christmas Trees.

1. No person, partnership or other entity may establish a "temporary Christmas tree lot" without first having obtained a permit authorizing said use from the office of the Construction Official.

2. All applicants shall provide the Construction Official of the Township of Middletown the following information.

a. Name, address (no P.O. Boxes) and telephone number of the applicant/operator of the lot.

b. The location at which applicant shall conduct business.

c. The dates and hours of operation.

d. The name and telephone number of a representative of the applicant to be contacted in the case of an emergency.

e. The name and address of the person or firm with whom the applicant has contracted to remove its garbage and other debris.

f. The name and address of the owner of the property, if the applicant is not the property owner.

g. A consent of owner form indicating that the applicant has permission to conduct business on said premises.

h. A sketch depicting the proposed layout and location of the proposed businesses. The Plan shall also show all proposed electrical connections and lighting locations.

i. State sales tax identification number.

j. For purposes of paragraph 13 herein, a copy of applicant's Section 15-501.3.C. or other document evidencing a bona fide charitable status.

3. Applications for temporary Christmas tree lots shall only be submitted by the actual business or property owner of the proposed location.

4. Upon payment of a two hundred ($200.00) dollar application fee, the Construction Official shall review the application. The Construction Official shall seek input on the request from the Planning and Police Departments. If then the Construction Official determines that the proposed location can adequately support the business, has adequate parking available, and will not pose a hazard, the permit will be issued. The Construction Official shall have thirty (30) days from the date an application is filed to make a decision. Applications shall not be accepted after October 1st.

5. Prior to the issuance of a permit, the applicant shall post a five hundred ($500.00) dollar cleanup guarantee, in cash deposit or bond. Said money shall be returned to the applicant upon closing of the business and clearing of the property in order to return it to its previous condition.

6. The permit, when issued, shall be valid from the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving of each year, and shall expire on December 31st of the same year. All cleanup activities must be completed by the applicant on or before January 8th of the following year. In the event the applicant fails to complete the cleanup on or before January 8th of the following year, the Township may perform the cleanup and deduct the cost thereof from the cleanup guarantee.

7. Upon issuance of the permit, the vendor shall prominently display same at its location during business hours and shall, upon request from officials of the Township of Middletown exhibit same to such officials.

8. Storage of Christmas trees or other materials on site within trailers or other storage type structures shall not be permitted.

9. The temporary Christmas tree lots shall be limited to those properties which contain existing businesses. Such uses shall not be permitted on vacant lots except where a vacant lot is immediately adjacent to an existing business and is owned by the same business or property owner.

10. The Construction Official shall also review the proposed method of lighting and providing temporary power to the "temporary Christmas tree lot."

11. Open fires shall not be permitted on any "temporary Christmas tree lot."

12. Except for provision in paragraphs 8, 9, 10. and 11, this subsection shall not apply to businesses who offer for sale in their ordinary course of business, plants, trees, or other related items as long as the sales occur on the same property as their business location. Such businesses shall include, but not be limited to florists, landscape nurseries, and farms.

13. Any nonprofit or charitable organization which desires to sell any of the goods described herein for the express purpose of raising funds in connection with their charitable endeavors shall obtain the necessary permit but shall not be required to pay the two hundred ($200.00) dollar application fee. The five hundred ($500.00) dollar cleanup guarantee must still be posted.

14. Temporary Christmas tree lots shall be permitted a maximum of two (2) temporary signs. Signs may be double-faced and located on the ground or attached to a structure. In no case shall any sign exceed twenty-five (25) square feet, nor shall any sign be located at a point higher than the highest building on the property.