East Brunswick City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXI
Regulations for the HC-3 Highway Commercial Shopping Center District
§ 228-193 Application.
Unless specifically excluded in this section, the following regulations shall apply to all HC-3 Districts.
§ 228-195 Permitted uses.
A.
Food and food service establishments, including supermarkets, bakeries, candy and nut shops, specialty foods, restaurants, sandwich shops and snack bars.
B.
Clothing and apparel establishments, including department stores, junior department stores, variety stores, ladies' wear, hosiery millinery, children's wear, shoe stores, fur stores and men's wear.
C.
Furniture and home furnishings, including establishments selling furniture, lamps, appliances, floor coverings, china and glassware, paint and wallpaper, garden shops and hardware.
D.
Offices, including banks, savings and loan, finance companies, insurance, brokerage, medical and dental, legal, accounting, architectural, engineering, insurance and general.
E.
Personal service and other retail establishments, including beauty shops, barbershops, watch repair, dry cleaning, travel agents, music and record shops, book and stationery stores, wine stores, card and gift shops, camera shops and similar types of stores.
F.
Fast food restaurants where the exclusive means of entry to the premises is through an interior mall, corridor or passageway shared as the common access to premises in the shopping center occupied by other tenants.
G.
Mechanical amusement devices and mechanical amusement facilities as described in Chapter 135 of the Code of the Township of East Brunswick provided there are no more than three in number in any one establishment.
H.
Notwithstanding the subparagraphs of this section setting forth permitted uses in this zone, permitted uses are subject to the conditional use permit requirements of § 288-176, where applicable.
§ 228-195.1 Permitted accessory uses.
A.
Outside storage uses normally associated with the business of any tenant or the shopping center, provided that these areas are fenced and screened from adjacent business and residence districts by a dense evergreen hedge, masonry wall or a suitable tight woven fence, not less than six (6') feet in height.
B.
The parking of tractor trailers in shopping center parking lots for the collection of aluminum to be recycled.
[Added 11-14-83 by Ord. No. 83-543]
§ 228-195.2 Conditional uses.
[Amended 4-14-93 by Ord. No. 93-12; amended 5-10-93 by Ord. No. 93-19]
A.
Attached and freestanding fast-food restaurants based upon the following standards:
(1)
Minimum lot size shall be 40,000 square feet.
(2)
Building coverage shall be no greater than 10% of the lot area for freestanding restaurants.
(3)
Parking shall be provided at a rate of 1 space for every two seats plus 10 additional spaces for employees.
(4)
Indoor seating for patrons shall be provided. Indoor public seating areas shall be a minimum of one-third of the building area.
(5)
No other tenants shall be permitted in the freestanding building.
(6)
The side and rear yards shall be screened with a solid masonry wall or board-on-board fence at the Board's discretion, a minimum of six (6) feet in height.
(7)
All season planted buffer strips ten feet in width shall be provided along the side and rear property lines. Where the property abuts a residence or residential zone these buffers shall be increased to twenty-five (25) feet in width. In areas with existing space constraints, the board may reduce the width of the buffer if additional plantings, berms, plants of greater height or other mitigating factors are required instead.
(8)
The applicant shall submit traffic and circulation studies to establish the nature and extent of the anticipated customer volume and that such volume can be accommodated at the location without substantial adverse impact.
B.
Mechanical or electrical amusement devices as an accessory use and mechanical or electrical amusement facilities as described in Chapter 135 of the Code of the Township of East Brunswick, where there are four or more such mechanical or electrical amusement devices upon the issuance of a conditional use permit based upon the following standards:
[Added 5-10-82 by Ord. No. 82-457]
1.
No place shall be located within 500 feet of a residence or residential zone, regardless of whether or not such zone is actually developed for residences, which distance shall be measured along a straight line from the nearest boundary line of the lot on which the proposed use is to be located and the nearest point of the residence or residential zone.
2.
The proposed area shall be sufficient for the intended purpose; that adequate parking facilities are provided; that the means of ingress and egress are adequate to prevent traffic hazard, congestion or excessive interference with normal traffic movement on adjacent public streets and thoroughfares; that the buildings and use are appropriately located with regard to fire protection; that the buildings and use will meet a community need and will not adversely affect neighboring properties and property values.
C.
Drive-thru facilities at attached and freestanding fast-food restaurants subject to the following standards:
[Added 4-14-93 by Ord. No. 93-12; amended 5-10-93 by Ord. No. 93-19]
1.
A separate delineated drive-thru lane shall be provided.
2.
Queue storage that minimizes interference with pedestrian and vehicular movements.
3.
The proposed drive-thru facility shall be implemented without posing a safety hazard to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
4.
Reserve parking spaces shall be provided between the drive-thru area and the facilities exit. Such parking spaces are intended for use by any drive-thru vehicles awaiting delivery of a delayed order.
5.
Drive-thru facilities shall operate only when the dining room is open to the public.
6.
The drive-thru facility shall be designed for and utilized by motorized vehicles only.
7.
A bail-out lane shall be provided so that cars in queue can leave the queue safely.
8.
A canopy or cover shall be provided over the window.
9.
No loudspeaker shall be permitted at properties that abut a residential zone or residential property line.
10.
Drive-thru windows proposed to be located within 150 feet of a residential building shall be closed at 11:00 p.m., subject to the following:
[Amended 5-10-93 by Ord. No. 93-19]
(a)
After the fast food restaurant is open and the drive-thru window is in full operation, the applicant may seek modification of site plan approval by returning to the Board which granted site plan approval. Such modification may include a later closing time of the drive-thru window(s). The applicant for such modification shall conduct noise meter tests between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. for seven (7) consecutive nights and shall submit the test results to the appropriate board. The board shall conduct a public hearing and will determine whether the noise meter results comply with Township noise standards and whether such later closing time of the drive-thru window(s) is consistent with the health, safety and welfare of the adjacent residents.
§ 228-196 Prohibited uses.
[Amended 12-13-82 by Ord. No. 82-480; 8-28-89 by Ord. No. 89-51; 10-27-97 by Ord. No. 97-22; 6-23-2025 by Ord. No. 25-24; 8-11-2025 by Ord. No. 25-28]
§ 228-197 Standards.
[Amended 12-27-93 by Ord. No. 93-73]
A.
Maximum lot coverage: Seventy-five (75%) percent.
B.
No building shall be located within 100 feet of any property line or within 100 feet of the right-of-way of any street or road.
C.
Minimum lot area: five (5) acres.
D.
No building shall exceed thirty-five (35') feet in height or 2 1/2 stories.
E.
Minimum lot width: 500 feet.
F.
All buildings shall have a unified architectural treatment whether constructed as new or as an additional structure physically and aesthetically integrated with the existing structure. The Planning Board shall consider in its architectural review items such as materials, colors, building setbacks, facade treatments and building height and shall encourage the revitalization of existing structures to insure compatibility with proposed building additions.
G.
The front facades of at least forty (40%) percent but no greater than sixty (60%) percent of a structure having a single linear plane shall be set back not less than twenty (20') feet behind the facades of the remaining units in such structure.
H.
To promote a desirable visual environment and to insure good civic design the Planning Board in its review shall consider, but not be limited in its consideration of, visual impacts of the proposed development, including views and view interference, shadow effects and solar orientation and design compatibility with surrounding land uses.
I.
On site parking shall be provided at a rate of 5.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable floor area.
J.
Parking areas shall be designed to minimize pedestrian and moving vehicle conflicts. Pedestrian walkways, parking lot islands, signage and pavement texture differentiation shall be required by the Planning Board where appropriate to ensure the safe movement of pedestrians.
K.
No parking area or off street loading space shall be located closer than thirty (30') feet to any lot line. A thirty (30') foot landscaped buffer shall be required to shield adjacent roadways and properties from parking lot illumination, headlight glare and fumes. Where the lot line of any lot in the C 5 district is boundary line of a residential zone the parking setbacks shall be increased by an additional twenty-five (25') feet which shall contain a planted buffer area of massed evergreens of a species approved by the Planning Board.
L.
Impervious parking surface coverage shall be limited, to the extent possible, by the use of parking in or under buildings, the elimination of excess paving and the use of permeable surfaces for paving where appropriate.
M.
One off street loading space shall be provided or maintained for each 50,000 sq. ft. of gross leasable floor area, unless waived by the Board because of special reasons shown by the applicant. All off street loading areas shall be separate from shopper vehicular and pedestrian traffic and shall be screened to the satisfaction of the Planning Board from the view of shoppers, those traveling on adjacent roadways, and surrounding property owners.
N.
Refuse collection areas shall be provided and shall be located for the convenience of the occupants. Also, the areas shall be screened with an enclosed masonry structure of a compatible style with the proposed principal structure of at least six (6') feet in height on three sides with a solid gate enclosing the fourth side. Exterior and interior refuse receptacles, aesthetically designed, shall be provided for shopper convenience.
O.
All land not covered by buildings, storage areas, parking, driveways and loading areas shall be landscaped in accordance with a landscaping plan approved by the Planning Board.
P.
Shopping centers shall provide weather protection for its customers either by enclosed shopping area, canopies or other means.
Q.
Lighting.
1.
All outdoor lighting shall be high pressure sodium or mercury vapor fixtures or other similar energy savings fixtures. Sharp cut off luminaries shall be utilized where appropriate to reduce glare and direct lighting where intended.
2.
Mounting heights of fixtures shall not exceed the height of the building or thirty (30') feet whichever is less.
3.
All lighting shall be designed to provide a minimum of .25 footcandles and an average of .75 footcandles throughout all parking areas and access driveways.
4.
All lighting shall be stanchion mounted and serviced underground.
R.
All buildings, structures and paved surfaces shall be set back a minimum of fifty (50') feet from any stream course or natural drainageway unless floodplain information indicates that a greater setback is appropriate. Natural surface drainage structures shall be utilized wherever possible. Nonpoint source pollutants shall be handled by use of drainage swales in combination with retention facilities, in an attempt to reduce the amount of potential pollutants entering into the aquifer. Such swales shall be seeded with appropriate vegetative materials that are satisfactory to the Planning Board to filter silt and other potential pollutants to the surface and underground water supply systems.
S.
All existing trees over six (6") inches in caliper shall be shown on the development plan and shall be preserved, whenever possible, by methods approved by the Planning Board.
T.
Buildings shall be oriented, to the extent feasible, in order to maximize the potential for the use of solar energy for heating, cooling and energy conservation.
U.
The layout of the shopping center shall consider access from all stores to all other stores in the same center for a maximum pedestrian distance of 700 feet. The location of store entrances and orientation of buildings shall minimize distances for pedestrians to walk from one store to another.
V.
Signs.
[Deleted 12-27-93 by Ord. No. 93-73]
§ 228-198 Additional Planning Board requirements.
[Amended 4-20-09 by Ord. No. 09-11]
A.
The Planning Board may require the applicant to submit a market analysis showing the need for the center. The market analysis shall include the following items unless waived by the Planning Board:
1.
Delineation of the trade area of the proposed center.
2.
The existing and projected population of the trade area.
3.
Determination of effective buying power in the trade area.
4.
The amount and percentage of buying power in the trade area allocated to the proposed shopping center.
5.
The amount and percentage of buying power in the proposed trade area which will be expended in existing commercial area.
B.
The Planning Board may require the applicant to submit a time schedule indicating when the various stages of construction will be initiated after final approval.
C.
The Planning Board may require the applicant to submit a traffic study prepared by a qualified professional indicating the impact which the center will have on surrounding roads. It shall include the following elements:
1.
Estimated peak hourly traffic to be generated by the center.
2.
Assignment of estimated peak hourly traffic by percentage and volume to surrounding roads.
3.
Determination of unused capacity of surrounding roads during peak hours.
4.
Recommendations for necessary road improvements such as acceleration and deceleration lanes and traffic control devices recommended for public roads or highways surrounding the site.