Berlin Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Highway Commercial Zones C-1 and C-2
§ 340-49 Purpose.
The purpose of the Commercial Zones C-1 and C-2 shall be to create zoning districts for business, office, service and professional uses that serve the Township and its environs. These uses shall include business uses which benefit from locations along major roads and highways and which provide goods and services needed by the community in which they are located.
§ 340-50 Compliance required.
Within this zone, no lot or building shall be used and no building shall be erected or altered to be used in whole or in part unless it complies with the schedule of Article III and the following regulations.
§ 340-51 Permitted uses.
The following uses shall be permitted in Commercial Zones C-1 and C-2:
C.
Office and professional uses.
D.
Animal hospitals.
E.
Amusements.
F.
Commercial greenhouse and nurseries.
G.
Automobile body repair and painting, provided that the work shall be done in an enclosed building, workshop areas are a minimum of 75 feet from any adjoining property and no outdoor storage of parts or materials is permitted.
H.
Motor and unpowered vehicle rentals, sales and storage. Any business engaged in the rental, sale, storage or display of new and/or used motor vehicles and new and/or used unpowered vehicles towed by motor vehicles, including recreational travel trailers, utility trailers, vehicle transport trailers, boat trailers, horse trailers, semi-trailers, mobile homes, portable classrooms, construction trailers, pod trailers, generator trailers, compressor trailers and other similar unpowered vehicles and equipment towed by motor vehicles, shall not be any closer than one mile to each such other similar business establishment, as measured from each property line of every property on which each such use is located.
I.
Shopping centers, except in areas designated as New Jersey Pinelands.
J.
Carpet, appliance and furniture sales and related uses.
K.
Motels and hotels, except in areas designated as New Jersey Pinelands.
L.
Storage and warehouse facilities.
M.
Public service infrastructure.
N.
Kennels.
§ 340-52 Prohibited uses.
Although it should be understood that any use not complying with the above specifications is prohibited, the following uses and activities are specifically prohibited:
§ 340-53 Conditional uses.
A.
The following uses shall be permitted as conditional uses in Commercial Zones C-1 and C-2:
B.
Notwithstanding the minimum lot areas set forth in the Schedule of Yard, Area and Bulk Requirements,[1] no such minimum lot area for a nonresidential use in the Pinelands Area of the C-2 Zone shall be less than that needed to meet the water quality standard of § 340-21H(1)(d), whether or not the lot may be served by a centralized sewer treatment or collection system.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Area, Yard and Bulk Requirements is located at the end of this chapter.
§ 340-54 Signs.
See Article XIII, Signs.
§ 340-55 Area and yard requirements.
A.
B.
All commercial and industrial buildings butting up to residential buildings (to be determined by zone, not use) shall have the following maximum height requirements and setbacks:
§ 340-56 Off-street parking.
See Article XVI, Off-Street Parking and Loading Areas.
§ 340-57 Buffer strips.
See Article XV, Buffer Strips.
§ 340-58 Design review.
§ 340-59 Building facades and design.
The following requirements shall be implemented for all structures located in zones C-1 and C-2:
A.
Materials. The building exterior shall be composed of or give the appearance of a wood and/or brick-type material. Artificial siding may be used to portray the appearance of a wood and/or brick exterior. Flat block walls shall not be permitted as an exterior surface. However, architectural design blocks shall be permitted.
B.
Color. The building colors may contain a variation of colors and shall be composed of nonreflective neutral, subtle earth tones. Bright reds, oranges, yellows, or other similar high-intensity colors shall be permitted only with the approval of the Planning/Zoning Board. Neon tubing shall not be used to outline windows, signs, buildings, structures or architectural details.
C.
Facade. The building facade shall be segmented with architectural details to include overhangs, recesses, projections, moldings, canopies or porticos, raised cornice parapets, quoins and other similar features.
(1)
Building facades shall not be more than 100 feet in length without having three or more of the architectural details described above. The depth of the projections and recesses shall have a depth of, at least, 3% of the length of the facade and extending at least 40% of the length of the facade.
(2)
Uninterrupted walls shall not be visible from adjacent or nearby properties.
(3)
The length of the building shall appear to be proportional to the height, using a rate of 2.5 times the height of the building equal to the length. Architectural details can be used to create the appearance of segmented buildings where smaller buildings are not feasible.
(4)
No element of the facade (color, texture or material) shall repeat at intervals of less than 50 feet, both horizontally and vertically.
(5)
The entrance to the building is to be identified with architectural elements.
D.
Windows. Uninterrupted windows shall not be more than 35% of the building facade, and no window pane shall encompass an area larger than 50 square feet. The appearance of window panes may be used to break up the window lengths. Window panes can be simulated using artificial materials. Windows may not be composed of reflective material so as to provide the appearance of continuous mirrors.
E.
Exterior structures. All roof-mounted equipment shall be screened from view and shall be painted the same color as the roof or roof screen. Variations in rooflines shall be used to screen the equipment and to provide interest and to reduce the scale of large buildings. Sound abatement measures shall be undertaken with respect to all roof-mounted equipment.
F.
All structures undergoing construction or exterior alterations after the adoption of this section shall comply with each of the requirements set forth above.
§ 340-60 Additional requirements for hotel and motel use and development.
The following requirements shall apply to all properties developed for hotel and/or motel or similar use, whether located in this zone or in any other zone of the Township:
A.
All such uses shall include within the development an in-ground swimming pool for the use of guests, with a size of at least 20 feet by 40 feet, as well as an outdoor playground area and/or open space for the use of guests.
B.
All such uses shall include a restaurant which is open to the general public.
C.
All guest rooms shall be of a minimum size of 500 square feet.
D.
All buildings shall be built and situated so as to provide access for fire trucks around the entire perimeter of the building.