Aberdeen Township City Zoning Code
§ 25-4.7
"RC" Regional Commercial.
[Ord. No. 18-1996; 6-6-2019 by Ord. No. 11-2019; 3-6-2025 by Ord. No. 4-2025]
Purpose. The purpose of the "RC" district is to concentrate regional commercial uses on a significantly large parcel of land adjacent to excellent highway access offered by Routes 34 and 35. A major section of the zone is intended to serve as a regional shopping center, although certain other limited commercial and industrial uses are also allowed. It is intended that the area be developed in accordance with an overall plan coordinating architectural features, landscaping, drainage, shared parking, types of uses, controlled access points and similar standards and aesthetic features so that the final product will be a self-contained, regional center, whether constructed all at one time or in stages over a period of time.
Principal Permitted Uses on the Land and in Buildings.
Retail sales of goods and services.
Restaurants, bars, taverns, and nightclubs.
Banks, including drive-in facilities.
Offices and office buildings.
Theaters.
Shopping centers comprised of the preceding uses.
Laboratories of an experimental, research or testing nature which carry on processes within completely enclosed buildings and which do not produce noticeable noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare outside the building(s).
Public purpose uses.
One Class 5 cannabis retail or medical cannabis dispensary establishment as a conditional use (see § 25-6.6), subject to the following specific conditions:
NOTE: For the purposes of this section a Class 5 retail license establishment and medical cannabis dispensary are subject to all applicable local regulations and the following specific conditions.
The cannabis retailer shall hold a Class 5 cannabis retailer license issued by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission and shall maintain such license in good standing.
The Class 5 cannabis retail establishments shall have frontage on a county road or state highway. The provisions of this subsection do not substitute for or supersede any approvals required by or regulation of the State of New Jersey as applied to a state highway or Monmouth County as applied to a county road.
No Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall be located on any lot wherein any portion of such lot abuts or is within an exclusion zone measured 1,000 linear feet along a county route or state highway from a lot that hosts another cannabis dispensing facility of any class.
The Class 5 cannabis retail establishments shall be located in freestanding, single-use buildings and not part of a multi-use building with internal partition walls. There shall be only one building per lot.
Vehicular access to the lot hosting the Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall not be from a residential street.
No Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall be located on any lot where any portion of such lot is closer than 300 feet to any portion of a ("CR") Conservation/Recreation Zone.
No Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall be located on any lot where any portion of such lot is closer than 500 feet, measured lot line to lot line, to any lot or portion of a lot which hosts:
A place of worship or lands contiguous to a place of worship that is owned by such contiguous place of worship;
A public or parochial school, private school or child-care center, or lands contiguous to a public or parochial school, private school or child-care center;
A public park or recreation center, or lands contiguous to a public park or recreation center.
On-site sales of food or beverages, alcohol or tobacco products are prohibited at any Class 5 cannabis retail establishment.
On-site consumption of food, alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis products is prohibited at any Class 5 cannabis retail establishment.
No cannabis products or paraphernalia shall be displayed or visible from the exterior of any Class 5 cannabis retail establishment.
Hours of public operation for any Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall be limited to 8:00 a.m. through 10:00 p.m. daily. No Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall be open to the public between the hours of 10:01 p.m. and 7:59 a.m. on any day.
Minimum off-street parking requirements. Class 5 cannabis retail establishments shall conform to the requirements of subsection 25-5.12 (Off-Street Parking, Loading and Driveways), including, but not limited to, a minimum off-street parking requirement of one space for every 1,000 square feet of gross floor area.
Signage. Class 5 cannabis retail establishments shall conform to the requirements of subsection 25-5.18 (Signs), and the following:
No sign shall contain any visual representation of cannabis or associated paraphernalia.
No Class 5 cannabis retail establishment shall display on the exterior of the facility advertisements for marijuana or cannabis or any analog thereof, marijuana or cannabis paraphernalia or any analog thereof, or any brand name except for the purposes of identifying the building by the permitted name.
Safety and security plan. Prior to obtaining a final certificate of occupancy, all Class 5 cannabis retail establishments shall submit to the Township's Chief of Police for review and approval a detailed safety and security plan, which shall address measures and procedures designed to protect both the operators and patrons of the establishment from criminal activity, unsafe conditions and incidents of nuisance/harassment. Any approval granted may be rescinded at any time if such actual operations fail to comply with the approved procedures of the security plan, or if such plan fails to provide adequate security and safety for operators and patrons. The proposed security plan shall include, at a minimum:
A map of all points of public entry and a description of all security measures (e.g., locks, alarms, access keypads, security cameras, foot patrols) to restrict access by unauthorized persons;
Procedures for maintaining records which shall include the date and a detailed description of all incidents of suspected criminal activity/unlawful behavior, unauthorized access, assaults, threatening conduct or harassment and a detailed description of the action taken in response to each complaint;
Procedures for maintaining records of regular audits to ensure that the security plan is current and that procedures are being followed;
Procedures to ensure that patrons do not congregate, loiter or wait in line outside of a Class 5 cannabis retail establishment while waiting to be serviced. The safety and security plan shall include a call system should interior capacity be exceeded.
Accessory Uses Permitted.
Garages, storage buildings and other customary accessory uses incidental to the principal use.
Medical walk-in facilities and medical services as licensed by the State of New Jersey to include physician's offices that provide:
Urgent, ambulatory and outpatient surgical facilities;
Well-care visits and/or emergency visits for illness or accidents;
Accept Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and/or personal billing in associated reception/office/filing areas;
Outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy, cardiac rehabilitation by licensed professionals, including CV profile and nuclear imaging by licensed professionals;
Sleep center testing by licensed professionals, to include autonomic nervous system testing and urodynamics;
Pain management by licensed professionals;
Diagnostic ultrasound, x-rays, lab work by licensed professionals, including by not limited to ultrasound, allergy testing, CV profile, neurodiagnostics, pharmacogenetics testing, blood work, nerve conduction studies, dizziness and balance testing;
Outpatient surgical by licensed professionals as licensed by the State of New Jersey;
For treatment of a variety of ailments or medical needs such as, but not limited to, podiatry, orthopedics, allergy, oncology, dialysis, colds, pneumonia, well visits, etc.
Dental clinics with dental services as listed:
All dental work required to be done by a licensed dentist or his staff, including but not limited to x-rays, drilling, cleaning, extractions, implants, dentures, lab on premises, and any specialty associated with dental care, e.g., orthodontics, periodontal;
Accepts Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or personal billing in associated reception/office/filing areas.
Adult medical day care as licensed by the State of New Jersey:
Part-time/full-time (no overnight) residents (i.e., part-time can be either morning or afternoon; full-time is the entire day);
Services to include active and passive recreation, personal needs (hair dresser, nail trimming), meals and snacks; all recreation to be indoors. Patients may not leave the building unsupervised;
No meals prepared on site; meals provided by outside service to adult day care patrons;
Residents may be driven to facility or transportation to be provided by facility;
At least one licensed professional and one aide to be on site during hours of operation;
Accepts Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or personal billing in associated offices/reception/filing areas.
Temporary construction trailers and two (2) signs not exceeding two hundred (200) square feet each, advertising the prime contractor, subcontractor(s), architect, financing institution and similar data for the period of construction beginning with the issuance of a construction permit and concluding with the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy or one (1) year, whichever is less, provided said trailer(s) and sign(s) are on the site where construction is taking place.
Maximum Building Height. No building shall exceed thirty-five (35) feet in height except as allowed in subsection 25-6.5, and except further that a building not exceeding fifty (50) feet in height may be constructed provided that for every one (1) foot in height in excess of thirty-five (35) feet, the buffer area (as described in subsection 25-5.5) shall be enlarged two (2) feet in width.
Area and Yard Requirements.
Principal Building | |
Mimimum | |
Lot area | 120,000 sq. ft. |
Lot frontage | 250 ft. |
Lot width | 250 ft. |
Lot depth | 200 ft. |
Side yard (each) | 50 ft. |
Front yard | 75 ft. |
Rear yard | 50 ft. |
Accessory Building | |
Minimum | |
Distance to side line | 50 ft. |
Distance to rear line | 50 ft. |
Distance to other building | 15 ft. |
Maximum | |
Building coverage of principal building | 20% |
Building coverage of accessory building(s) | 5% |
Gross Floor Area Minimums. The minimum gross floor area shall be five thousand (5,000) square feet.
General Requirements.
One (1) building may contain more than one (1) use, provided that the total building coverage of the combined uses does not exceed the maximum building coverage specified for the district.
A shopping center may contain more than one (1) principal building, provided that the total building coverage specified for the district is not exceeded and the following building separation requirements are met:
All principal buildings shall be separated* by a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet, provided such separation is to be used solely for pedestrian circulation.
All principal buildings shall be separated* by a minimum of fifty (50) feet when such separation is to be used for parking or vehicular circulation.
*Note: The separation requirements should not be construed to prohibit covered pedestrian walkways when the roof or covering of such walkway extends between the principal buildings.
At least the first fifty (50) feet adjacent to any street line and twenty (20) feet adjacent to any lot line shall not be used for parking, shall be planted and maintained in lawn area or ground cover, or landscaped with evergreen shrubbery.
No merchandise or similar material shall be displayed outside beyond five (5) feet of any building. No waste or equipment shall be stored outside.
All buildings shall be compatibly designed whether constructed all at one time or in stages over a period of time. Where a side or front exterior wall in excess of fifty (50) feet is proposed, variations in design shall be used to provide attractiveness to the building which shall include changing roof lines and roof designs, altering building heights, varying facade treatment or staggering the building setback. Wherever practicable and feasible, buildings shall be oriented so as to promote the conservation of energy and the use of renewable energy resources. All building walls visible from any street or residential district shall be suitably finished for aesthetic purposes which shall not include unpainted or painted cinder block or concrete block walls.
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 conifers and/or deciduous trees native to the area, in order to lessen the visual impact of the structures and paved areas. The established grades on any site shall be planned for both aesthetic and drainage purposes. The grading plan, drainage facilities and landscaping shall be coordinated to prevent erosion and silting as well as assure that the capacity of any natural or man-made drainage system is sufficient to handle the water generated and anticipated both from the site and contributing upstream areas.