Chester Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 42
Conditional Uses in R-1, R-2, R-3, R-5 and R-10 Zones
§ 113-296 Findings.
Whereas the necessity for certain specific uses is recognized and at the same time appreciating the fact that they or any one of them may be or become inimical to the public health, safety and general welfare of the community if located without due consideration to the existing conditions and surroundings, the following standards and procedures are hereby established.
§ 113-297 Objectives.
The following standards and procedures are intended to provide the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment with a guide for the purpose of reviewing certain uses not otherwise permitted in these zones. In approving a site plan, the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment may act on site plans submitted to it or may, upon request, require modifications, variations and changes thereto which are, in the opinion of the Board, sound and prudent in nature and will not endanger the health and welfare of the citizens of the Township nor thwart the intent and purpose of these zones.
§ 113-298 Conditions.
A.
A site plan may include among the features hereinafter specified such other features or design in general keeping therewith that will further the purpose of these regulations, and such features shall be provided and maintained as a condition of the establishment and maintenance of any use to which they are appurtenant.
B.
No conditional use shall be granted unless the same will not be detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare of the Township or is not likely to involve unusual risks of traffic safety or traffic congestion.
C.
Requirements for conditional uses shall take precedence over any regulation for the zone in which such use is located, unless indicated otherwise by this article.
§ 113-299 Application.
Application for any of the following conditional uses shall be made in accordance with procedures set forth in Part 2, Site Plan Review, in its entirety, and the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act on the application in accordance with said procedures.
§ 113-300 Conditional uses.
[Amended 3-7-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-03; 8-20-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-13]
A.
Conditional use means use by churches, synagogues and other like buildings devoted primarily to worship; educational uses; hospitals, nursing homes; golf and tennis clubs and public utilities.
B.
Conditional uses, as defined above, may be located in the R-1, R-2, R-3, R-5 and R-10 Zones as a conditional use, as hereinafter regulated, provided that the building in which the use is conducted is located on a parcel of land fronting on a county or state highway. Furthermore, all vehicular access from the lot shall be limited solely to either a county or state highway.
(1)
Notwithstanding the requirements above, any educational uses in existence at the time of the adoption of this conditional use ordinance, which have been continuously operated as such, that were located on a parcel of land fronting on a county or state highway and having all vehicular access to the property from access thereto due to a change in the designation of the roads from a county or state road to a municipal road, shall be grandfathered and deemed in compliance with those conditions so long as the educational use is continued and not abandoned.
C.
Cemeteries shall be permitted as a conditional use subject to the terms and conditions of § 113-305.
D.
Recovery homes.
(1) NON-OXFORD HOUSE MODEL RECOVERY HOME OXFORD HOUSE MODEL RECOVERY HOME
Definitions.
A recovery home that does not operate using the Oxford House model and does not operate as a single housekeeping unit. Examples of activities that indicate the house is a Non-Oxford House model may include but are not limited to: residents enter into individual leases with the owner or operator of the home for the occupancy of their room and the common area; there is a limited number of staff on-site who will enforce rules, oversee the taking of medication, and perform random drug screening; residents are required to attend AA/NA meetings; residents are required to attend mandatory house meeting; residents are prohibited from sleeping outside the house; staff enforces a curfew; or guests are prohibited. They are to be regulated as cooperative sober living residences (CSLRs).
Oxford House has been authorized by Congress to provide community living arrangements for persons with drug and alcohol addiction. It is a recovery home in which the residents are self-governing, all residents contribute to the maintenance and expenses of the house, the residents determine who can reside in the house, there is no limit to how long an individual can reside in the house, there is no addiction treatment therapy or paid staff provided; the house operates as a single housekeeping unit, and the house is not required to be licensed by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
(2)
Sober living residence. Sober living residence is as a recovery home that has been issued an F license by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:27-1.1 et seq. It does not operate as a single housekeeping unit. The 2017 New Jersey Uniform Construction Code defines an F license facility as “a residential setting that serves solely as a home for individuals who are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction and is intended to provide an environment where the residents can support each other’s sobriety and recovery.” In addition to the other requirements, a sober living residence must satisfy the following criteria:
(a)
Management by an entity or organization that provides an operator who shall reside in the residence and exercise some level of control over the operation of the residence and establishes the residence’s rules;
(b)
Occupancy shall not exceed the number of nine individuals and one staff member;
(c)
The requirement of the maintenance of an alcohol- and drug-free environment;
(d)
No provision of on-site counseling therapy, clinical treatment, or alcohol and/or drug treatment by the owner/operator;
(e)
No provision of food, laundry, financial, or other personal services by the owner/operator;
(f)
Ability of owner/operator, at its discretion, to provide nonclinical recovery and support services. It may also elect to mandate or encourage residents to attend self-help recovery programs, participate in activities related to maintaining sobriety and continuing recovery, or receive off-site services deemed desirable or necessary to maintain sobriety; and
(g)
Ability of owner/operator, at its discretion, to require drug or alcohol testing or residents.
(3)
Conditional use.
(a)
A sober living residence shall be permitted as a permitted conditional residential use set forth in Subsection D(2)(a) through (g) and also based on all of the following conditions being met:
[1]
Location shall be on a residentially zoned lot not less than five acres
[2]
Parking is permitted only on the driveway or improved surfaces. Street parking and parking on lawns or unimproved surfaces is not permitted.
[3]
Lighting is restricted to residential lighting.
[4]
Sober living residences shall be located not less than 1,000 feet from each other as measured from the exterior property lines of the lots.
[5]
Sober living residences shall also be located not less than 1,000 feet (a distance that is consistent with a drug-free school zone) from a primary or secondary school to be measured from the exterior property lot lines of any school lot containing a building, parking lot, playground, athletic field or other school structure to the exterior property line of the proposed sober living residence.
[6]
A state F license is required.
[7]
A proposed use application is to be submitted to the Township Zoning Officer on forms provided by the Zoning Officer.
[8]
The Township Zoning Officer shall have the authority to approve or deny an application.
[9]
If there is a change in owner or operator of the property, written notification of the change, and the name and address of the new property owner or operator is to be given to both the Zoning Officer and the Township Clerk/Administrator within 30 days of the change of ownership or operation.
[10]
If all of the conditions are met, the use shall be considered a permitted use and Planning Board approval is not required.
(b)
The Oxford Model type of recovery home as defined herein is excluded from this subsection as a permitted use in any residential zone.
§ 113-301 Minimum requirements of Schedule II.
The schedule of area, lot size, yard requirements and lot coverage requirements, attached hereto as Schedule II, Schedule of Requirements for Conditional Uses in R-1, R-2, R-3, R-5 and R-10 Zones, is hereby made a part of this article and shall govern as minimum regulations only, applicable to all conditional uses.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedule II is included at the end of this chapter.
§ 113-302 Height restrictions; landscaping.
Any structure used in connection with a conditional use shall not exceed the height restrictions for the zone in which such structure shall be located. Furthermore, all portions of the site not specifically covered by buildings, structures or pavement shall be landscaped pursuant to a landscape plan prepared by a certified landscape architect and submitted to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment in connection with an application for conditional use approval.
§ 113-303 Golf courses.
A.
All outdoor activities on the golf course site shall be limited to between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and nightfall, or 9:00 p.m., whichever shall occur sooner.
B.
Any portion of a golf fairway or other outdoor facility which may result in potential off-site hazards as a result of poor play shall be located in such a manner so as to minimize such occurrences. The Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment may require additional buffer planting, fencing or earth berming to prevent trespass on abutting properties.
§ 113-304 Public utility uses.
For the purposes of this section, the term "public utility uses" shall include such uses as telephone dial equipment centers, power substations and other public utility services, but shall not include serve or storage yards, landfills, storage or disposal of hazardous waste sites. Such uses shall be permitted as conditional uses, provided that, in addition to all of the above terms and conditions, the following terms and conditions are satisfied:
A.
The proposed instillation in a specific location must be reasonably necessary for the satisfactory provisions of service by the utility to the neighborhood or area in which the particular use is to be located.
B.
The design of any building in connection with such facilities must conform to the general character of the area and not adversely affect the safe, comfortable enjoyment of property rights in the zone in which such building is located.
C.
Adequate fences and other safety devices must be provided as may be required. Fences, when used to enclose public utility facilities such as electric power substations, shall be built in accordance with the applicable requirements of the New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners and the National Electrical Safety Code in effect at the time of construction.
D.
Sufficient landscaping, including shrubs, trees and lawn shall be provided and periodically maintained.
E.
Off-street parking shall be provided.
F.
All of the area, yard, building coverage and height requirements of the zone must be met.
§ 113-305 Cemeteries.
A. BUFFER ZONE CEMETERY COLUMBARIUM CREMATORY HOURS OF OPERATION MAUSOLEUM MAUSOLEUM, PRIVATE MAUSOLEUM, PUBLIC MONUMENT
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
A continuous strip of land required for the purpose of providing physical, audible and visible separation, through the use of trees and/or natural foliage.
Any land of place dedicated for use, used or intended to be used, for the interment of human dead in the ground, in a mausoleum or crypt, and a crematory located in the cemetery and a columbarium for cinerary interments, or lands held for burial purposes.
A structure, room or other space in a building or structure containing niches for permanent interment of cremated human remains.
A structure containing furnaces or retorts intended for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons to incinerated remains.
Those hours during which normal cemetery activity, including digging and filling of graves, burial services, visitation, maintenance and repair of grounds and deliveries are conducted on the cemetery premises.
A permanent structure or building used for entombment of human remains in crypts, vaults or niches. A mausoleum shall be distinguished from a single or multiple vault in that it shall be constructed on the premises; shall be a single integrated structure and shall not, as in the case of a vault, consist of one or more containers constructed off of the cemetery premises and installed singly or in a series at the cemetery premises.
A building or structure having a maximum of 12 crypts or niches for the interment of the dead, which is constructed by or for a private lot owner on interment space owned by him/her or her in the cemetery for the interment of such persons as he/she or she may have the right to designate.
A building or structure having crypts or niches for the interment of the dead which are available for sale to the general public and is constructed by or for the cemetery company on lands owned exclusively by it.
A tablet, a statue or other marker of stone, metal or another durable substance set up over or adjacent to a grave to commemorate the person interred therein.
B.
Permitted activities, structures and buildings shall be as follow:
(1)
Interment of the dead and related activities associated therewith.
(2)
A chapel or place of worship used strictly for meditation or services related to the interment of the dead.
(3)
An office strictly related to the activities of the cemetery.
(4)
Erection of tombstones and monuments.
(5)
Accessory maintenance buildings related to the operation of the cemetery, not to exceed a height of 20 feet.
(6)
Mausoleums, as herein defined.
(7)
Open space and other recreational use which does not involve the construction or erection of a permanent structure, other than backstops, goals or targets or other removable devices used in sporting and other recreational events.
(8)
Columbaria, as herein defined.
(9)
Crematories, as herein defined.
C.
Building and construction regulations.
(1)
The height of any public mausoleum shall not exceed 20 feet. A private mausoleum shall not exceed a height of 15 feet.
(2)
The height of every other building, monument or other structure shall be constructed in accordance with the existing requirements of federal, state and local statutes, rules, regulations and ordinances.
D.
Setback requirements.
(1)
All exterior walls of any public mausoleum or any columbarium permitted shall be set back at least 100 feet from the nearest property line of the cemetery or from the nearest street line, whichever is applicable, it being the intent of this provision that there shall be a minimum area of 100 feet between any such exterior wall and any such property line or street line. All exterior walls of any private mausoleum shall be set back at least 50 feet from the nearest property line of the cemetery or from the nearest street line.
(2)
All exterior walls of any crematory permitted shall set back at least 200 feet from the nearest property line of the cemetery or from the nearest street line, whichever is applicable.
(3)
The setback of every other building or structure shall be in accordance with the setback requirements for the zone, but in no case shall the setback be less than 50 feet along those portions of the site perimeter which abuts areas zoned residential or conforming residential uses. No parking shall be permitted within any required front yard.
(4)
The measurement of setbacks, as herein set forth, shall be determined by a perpendicular line from the nearest point of any building on the cemetery land that is the subject matter of an application for a building permit to the nearest property line or street line. All columbaria, crematories and mausoleums must be constructed in accordance with the requirements of all applicable federal, state and local statutes, rules, regulations and ordinances.
E.
Hours of operation. The hours of operation for any cemetery shall be between sunrise and sunset daily, except that no construction activities, including the digging and filling of graves, shall be permitted before 7:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. daily.
F.
Buffer zone. Every cemetery shall be required to provide a buffer area at least 50 feet wide along those portions of its perimeter which abut areas zoned residential or containing residential uses. In-ground burials shall be permitted within the buffer area, but in no case shall they be closer than 25 feet to any property line in order to provide adequate room for landscape screening. No parking or access drives shall be permitted within the buffer zone. The Board may require a wider buffer for in-ground burials if it is deemed necessary for circulation and access.
G.
Environmental impact assessment. The development of a new cemetery or the expansion of an existing cemetery involving further subdivision of land for the interment of human remains in the ground or the construction of mausoleums, crematory or columbaria above or below ground level shall require an environmental impact statement, in accordance with Article 14, § 113-102 et seq., of Part 2, Site Plan Review. Particular attention shall be given to the issue of groundwater supply on properties abutting the cemetery.