Fanwood City Zoning Code

No land or premises may be used and no building or structure may be erected, raised, moved, extended, enlarged, altered or used for any purpose other than a purpose permitted by this chapter for the zone district in which the land, premises, building or structure is located, and all uses and construction shall be in conformity with the regulations provided for the zone district in which such land, premises, building or structure is located, and in conformity with the Uniform Construction Code.

In applying the provisions of this chapter, a departure from the literal requirements shall not be considered a violation if, in the opinion of the Zoning Official, the departure is de minimus. For purposes of administering this provision, "de minimus" is intended to mean that the departure from the literal requirements of this chapter is inappreciable and does not impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and this chapter. Any interested party may appeal a determination of the Zoning Official in this regard in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article VIII.

No development shall be permitted without first obtaining zoning approval, a construction permit, demolition permit, or certificate of occupancy, as applicable, unless specifically exempted by this chapter or other law. No zoning approval, construction permit, demolition permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Construction Official or Zoning Official except upon application and approval therefor in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article X and in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

The control and regulation of the uses of buildings and structures by this chapter shall apply equally to the nature and extent of the uses of the lot or lots upon which they are erected.

Purpose. Unless otherwise required by existing zoning or an adopted redevelopment plan, all new multifamily residential developments of five or more units that become permissible through either a use variance, a density variance increasing the permissible density at the site, a rezoning permitting multifamily residential housing where not previously permitted, or new redevelopment plan shall be required to provide an affordable housing set-aside as follows:

Affordable housing units may be provided on-site or off-site within the Borough and are subject to the provisions of the Borough's Affordable Housing Ordinance.[1]

General. The Board may in appropriate circumstances grant relief from the literal provisions of the zoning regulations in accordance with the powers of the Board set forth in Article III and in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article VIII.

Expiration of variances. Any variance from the zoning regulations shall expire by limitation unless the construction, alteration or use, as applicable, permitted by the variance shall have been actually commenced within 12 months of the date of memorialization of approval of the variance; provided, however, that the running of the period of limitation herein provided shall be tolled in the case of legal action as provided in § 184-68. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any variance hereafter granted in connection with a subdivision or site plan application shall not expire as provided above, but shall expire in the same manner as the subdivision or site plan approval, as applicable, as set forth in Article IX.

Time period for approvals granted for preexisting conditions. Any approval granted for a preexisting condition shall not expire by limitation after 12 months as is provided elsewhere for variances granted for a condition not preexisting, but instead shall continue in full force and effect thereafter until a new application is received, different from the one received for which the approvals were granted.

Required yards apply individually to each lot. No open space which has been counted or included as a part of a side yard, rear yard, front yard, or other open space as required by this chapter for one lot may, by reason of change of ownership or for any other reason, be counted or included in order to comply with the yard or other open space requirement of any other lot.

Permitted yard encroachments. Except as hereinafter specified, or as may be specified otherwise by this chapter, yards shall be entirely free of buildings above grade, structures, or parts thereof; provided, however, that no building, structure or part thereof shall be permitted to encroach beyond any boundary for the subject property, unless specifically permitted otherwise by this chapter or other law.

Front yard in case of substandard street width. All front yards must face upon a dedicated public street and shall be of the size required for the particular zone district in which the lot is located; provided, however, that on streets having a right-of-way less than 50 feet in width, the required front yard shall be increased by one-half the difference between the width of the street and 50 feet in width as shown on the Street Plan of the Master Plan of the Borough and shall have a front yard setback measured from the nearest line of the proposed building or structure to the proposed right-of-way line as shown on said Master Plan. See §§ 184-117 and 184-118F(1) as they relate to the TAH and LGAH Zones.

Front yard requirement to reflect established pattern. Notwithstanding the minimum and maximum front yard requirement set forth for the R75 and R150 Zone Districts, where existing buildings on the same side of the street form an established front yard depth, the front yard on the subject property, or the street side yard on a corner property, shall not deviate from this established yard depth by more than two feet. If such established front yard depth varies, the dimension to be used in administering the above minimum and maximum front yard requirement shall be equal to the average depth of the established front yards. For purposes of administering this provision, the properties used for determining said established front yard depth shall be located, in whole or in part, within the following distances of the subject property and must be on the same side of the street, in the same block, and must be subject to the same front yard requirement in the zone district regulations as the property in question:

Maximum front yard requirement for nonconforming buildings. Notwithstanding the maximum front yard requirement in the various zone districts, alterations to buildings which are nonconforming by reason of having a front yard greater than the maximum depth permitted herein shall not be required to comply with said maximum permitted front yard depth, provided that no such alteration shall increase the front yard above the depth which exists prior to the alteration.

More than one principal building or structure on same lot prohibited. No lot shall contain more than one principal building or structure, except in the CC-W District as provided in § 184-119.

Basement dwelling units prohibited. Unless expressly permitted in this chapter, no dwelling unit shall be located in a basement. As used in this subsection, dwelling unit shall mean a space which contains kitchen facilities, sanitary facilities and sleeping facilities.

Basement floor usage in nonresidential buildings. Basement space in nonresidential buildings used for other than storage or similar support functions shall be hardwired with the rest of the building for fire alarms, and provide two ways out in the event of a fire.

Minimum floor area requirements for dwelling units. Each dwelling unit shall have the following minimum habitable floor area:

Mobile homes.

The height limitations required in each zone district shall not apply to church steeples.

Church buildings, school buildings and flag poles shall be exempt from the height limitations in each of the zone districts; provided, however, that such structures shall not exceed 45 feet in height.

Rooftop structures, including but not limited to decorative architectural elements such as cupolas, weathervanes, railings, etc.; heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment; chimneys, etc.; provided, however, that the foregoing structures shall comply with the following:

No building or structure shall be permitted to be constructed within 50 feet of any distribution, gathering or transmission line. Notwithstanding anything contained in this section to the contrary, no building or structure shall be permitted to be constructed within 45 feet of any distribution, gathering or transmission line as it relates to property located in the MAH Zone only.

No building or structure, or part thereof, which is used for the manufacturing, processing, generation or storage of corrosive, highly toxic, oxidizing, pyrophoric, water reactive, highly combustible, flammable, or explosive materials that constitute a high fire, explosion, or health hazard, including loose, combustible fibers, dust and unstable material, shall be constructed within 125 feet of any distribution, gathering, or transmission line.

Notwithstanding anything herein contained in this section to the contrary, this section shall not apply to the construction of any structure required to provide access to certain real property when no other reasonable means of access is available; to provide utility service to certain real property; or, to perform any work to a pipeline by or on behalf of the owner or operator of such pipeline.