Franklin Township Hunterdon
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VI
General Zone Regulations
§ 220-25 Conformance with regulations required.
Except as otherwise provided herein, no land or premises shall be used and no building or structure shall be erected, raised, moved, extended, enlarged, altered or used for any purpose other than a purpose permitted herein in the zone in which it is located, and all construction shall be in conformity with regulations provided for the zone in which such building or premises is located.
§ 220-26 Building permits required; issuance; records; revocation.
[Amended 9-8-1994 by Ord. No. 94-12]
A.
No building or structure or part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, structurally altered or moved until a building permit has been procured. All applications for permits shall be filed in accordance with the construction code of the Township.[1]
B.
No building permit shall be issued for the erection, construction, reconstruction, structural alteration or moving of any building or structure or part thereof unless the plans and intended use indicate that such building or structure is designed and intended to conform in all respects to the provisions of this chapter.
C.
A record of all applications, plot plans and permits shall be kept by the Construction Code Official.
D.
The Construction Code Official shall revoke any building permit if he finds that actual conditions or construction does not adhere either to the plans or specifications submitted to him or to any other applicable municipal or state regulations.
§ 220-27 Zoning permits required; issuance; records; revocation.
[Added 9-8-1994 by Ord. No. 94-12]
A.
A zoning permit shall be required in the following instances:
B.
All zoning permits shall indicate that every building, or premises or part thereof and the proposed use thereof are in conformity with the provisions of this chapter or in conformity with the provisions of a variance granted according to law.
C.
It shall be the duty of the Zoning Officer to issue the proper zoning permit when he is satisfied that the structure, parking area or other use requiring a permit conforms to all requirements of this chapter.
D.
All zoning permits shall be issued in triplicate and one copy shall be posted conspicuously on the premises affected whenever construction work is being performed thereon. No owner, contractor, workman or other person shall perform any building operations of any kind unless the zoning permit covering such operation has been previously issued. No building operations of any kind shall be performed after notification of the revocation of said zoning permit.
E.
A record shall be kept of all zoning permits issued, and the original applications therefor shall be kept on file in the same manner as applications for building permits. No owner, tenant or other persons shall use or occupy any building or structure erected or altered, the use of which shall be changed, without first obtaining a zoning permit.
F.
A zoning permit, unless revoked, shall continue in effect as long as there is no change of use of the premises.
G.
The Zoning Officer shall act upon all applications for zoning permits within 10 days of receipt of a completed application, or shall notify the applicant, in writing, of his refusal to issue such permit and the reasons therefor.
H.
Failure to notify the applicant in the case of such refusal within 10 days shall entitle the applicant for a zoning permit to file an appeal to the Land Use Board as in the case of a denial.
J.
If at any time the Zoning Officer discovers that an application for a zoning permit or accompanying plans are in any material respect false or misleading, or that the work being done upon the premises is materially different from that specified in the application previously filed with the, he may forthwith revoke the zoning permit.
K.
No zoning permit shall be issued for a change in use, erection, construction, reconstruction, structural alteration or moving of any building or structure or part thereof unless the plans and intended use indicate that such building or structure is designed and intended to conform in all respects to the zoning laws of the Township of Franklin.
§ 220-28 Certificates of occupancy; certificates of continued occupancy.
A.
No land or building hereafter erected, altered or the title to which is transferred shall be occupied or used in whole or part for any purpose until a certificate of occupancy (CO) or a certificate of continued occupancy (CCO) shall have been issued by the Construction Code Official or, if such is the case, a temporary certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to this chapter. Inspection for issuance of a certificate of continued occupancy for transfer of title shall be limited to only visual inspection by the Construction Code Official and his/her subcode officials with respect to the individual sewage disposal system, electrical system, plumbing system, heating system and the presence of one functioning smoke detector on each level of any principal building being inspected. The tests required for a certificate of continued occupancy are the same tests required on a new well to obtain approval from the Hunterdon County Department of Health. These tests are pH, coliform, manganese, iron and nitrates.
[Amended 5-5-1988 by Ord. No. 88-5; 6-10-1993 by Ord. No. 93-5]
B.
A certificate of occupancy shall not be issued until the land, use, building, structure or premises complies with all provisions of this chapter and all other applicable Township and state requirements and, if involved, with such conditions as have been required by any subdivision or site plan approval. No certificate of occupancy or continued certificate of occupancy shall be issued unless a zoning permit identifying the use and location of a proposed structure has first been obtained or a building permit, which was signed off by the Zoning Officer, has been issued.
[Amended 9-8-1994 by Ord. No. 94-12]
C.
The certificate of occupancy shall specify the use of land or building and any circumstances or conditions imposed by any public agency, code or regulations. Any change in use, including a change from one permitted use to another kind of permitted use in the same zone, or any additional use will be treated as a new use and a new certificate of occupancy shall be required. Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for said change in use, all provisions of this chapter shall be complied with the same as if the new use were a new structure or a new use of land and the applicant shall be required to seek a change of use minor site plan approval from the Land Use Board to assure compliance with this section for nonresidential or commercial uses.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
D.
When a building permit is applied for, a certificate of occupancy shall be applied for at the same time and shall be issued within 10 days after the erection or alteration of the building shall have been completed in accordance with this chapter. A record of all certificates shall be kept on file in the office of the Construction Code Official and copies shall be furnished upon request to any person having a proprietary or leasehold interest in the building or land affected.
E.
Where a site plan as required has been duly reviewed and approved by the Land Use Board, the erection or alteration of the building shall not be deemed to be completed until all the requirements of the approved site plan are met. Where weather conditions or other forces beyond the control of the applicant unduly delay the reasonable occupancy of a building under this subsection, the Land Use Board may authorize the issuance of a temporary occupancy permit, provided that the condition to be met and a termination date for the temporary occupancy are so stated on the temporary occupancy permit. This subsection shall not be construed to authorize the Land Use Board to waive the requirements of any other local, county or state regulation.
§ 220-29 New lots formed from part of parcel.
When a new lot or lots are formed from part of a parcel of land, the separation must be effected in such a manner as not to impair any of the provisions of this chapter.
§ 220-30 Prohibited uses.
[Amended 6-23-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-08]
Where a use is not specifically permitted in a zoned district, it is prohibited. In addition, without limiting the foregoing language:
A.
Drilling for natural gas, using the drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing and exploring for natural gas beyond the reconnaissance phase, is prohibited.
B.
All classes of cannabis establishments or cannabis distributors or cannabis delivery services as said terms are defined in Section 3 of P.L. 2021, c. 16, but not the delivery of cannabis items and related supplies by a delivery service, are prohibited.
[Added 7-8-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
§ 220-31 Requirements to be met on lot and within district.
Unless otherwise provided herein, all yards, open spaces and off-street parking must be contained on the lot and within the zoned district in which the use is located.
§ 220-32 Principal building.
Only one principal building may be erected on a lot except for the related buildings forming one principal use in the same ownership.
§ 220-33 Yards.
Every lot must provide front, rear and side yards as required by its zoned district. All front yards must face upon a dedicated public street or a private street approved by the Land Use Board.
§ 220-34 Corner lots.
Where a lot is bounded by more than one street, the front yard setback requirement from each abutting street shall be met. On a corner lot, the owner may select any street as the front of the lot regardless of which direction the building faces. The yard opposite the front of the lot shall be considered the rear yard for purposes of meeting the minimum rear yard requirement.
§ 220-35 (Reserved) [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 220-35, Height exceptions, was repealed 11-13-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-18.
§ 220-36 Temporary permit for certain portable structures.
No transportable or wheel-based structure or other temporary structure used as an office, storage shed or other use incidental to and in connection with a permitted construction project or building shall be placed on the site unless the Construction Code Official shall first have issued a temporary permit therefor. Such structure shall not be located so as to be detrimental to any adjoining property and shall be removed from the site prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the permitted construction project or building.
§ 220-37 Outdoor storage.
No article or material shall be kept, stored or displayed outside the confines of a building unless the same is screened by special planting or a fence as approved by the Land Use Board. No storage area shall be located in a front yard nor in a side yard adjoining a street. Said storage area shall meet the location requirements for accessory buildings. This shall not be deemed to include display and sale of seasonal farm produce or the outdoor parking of farm machinery or vehicles in use on a farm or normal outdoor storage such as firewood in residential zones.
§ 220-38 Dedication of right-of-way.
The portion of a lot lying within the dedicated boundaries of a public street shall be deemed to be included in the computation of lot area for compliance with the terms of this chapter.
§ 220-39 Commercial vehicles on residential lots.
[Amended 3-2-1979; 9-6-1990 by Ord. No. 90-7]
Not more than three commercial vehicles, only one of which may exceed a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds, shall be parked or garaged on a lot except in the Neighborhood Business Zone or the Commercial Zone. The three allowed commercial vehicles shall be owned, leased or regularly used by a resident of the premises. This provision shall not be deemed to limit the number or type of commercial vehicles in use on a farm in connection with the farming operation conducted on the property.
§ 220-40 Public utilities.
Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted as prohibiting public utility distribution facilities, such as telephone and electric distribution lines, water distribution lines, sanitary sewers with related attendant facilities intended for local service, which systems are permitted in all zoned districts when approved by the appropriate serving utility agency.
§ 220-41 Visibility at intersections.
At all street intersections, no obstruction to vision exceeding 30 inches in height above the established grade of the street at the property line shall be erected or maintained on any lot within the area bounded by the line drawn between points along such street lot lines or their extension thereof 30 feet distant from their intersection or at a distance determined by the Township Engineer.[1]
§ 220-42 Requirements for specific accessory uses.
A.
Patios. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Schedule of Zone Requirements,[1] patios shall be located only in side or rear yards not less than 10 feet from the lot line.
[Amended 9-3-1998 by Ord. No. 98-44C]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Zone Requirements is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
Radio towers. Guy wires for radio towers may be located within one foot of side or rear property lines. The towers shall not cause a threat to adjacent property. The height shall not exceed the distance to the nearest property line.
C.
Accessory buildings. The maximum size of a detached accessory building shall be the lesser of 1,210 square feet or 90% of the square feet of the principal building. The sum total of all accessory buildings shall not exceed the total square feet of the principal building. The accessory building shall be subordinate in height to the principal building.
[Amended 10-17-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-11]
D.
Fences. Fences 50% or more open shall not be considered structures and shall be allowed in the setback, provided that all design conditions of opacity have been met and an access strip of five feet is provided to allow for maintenance on both sides of the fence.
[Amended 8-12-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-11]
§ 220-43 Water supply and percolation.
[Amended 12-1-1988 by Ord. No. 88-14; 3-7-1991 by Ord. No. 91-1; 9-3-1998 by Ord. No. 98-44C]
No permit for the construction or occupancy of any dwelling or establishment of any commercial or recreational activity or facilities of any kind for human use shall be issued without prior certification by a licensed civil engineer, other than the Township Engineer, of the underground water capability of the site and the sewerage disposal capacity pursuant to Chapter 420 of the Code of the Township of Franklin. A permit shall not be granted unless the tests meet the requirements of all laws, regulations or ordinances nor where other physical conditions of the land would cause unsanitary septic conditions. Any proposed remedy to overcome such unacceptable conditions or test results must be first approved by the appropriate health agency.
§ 220-44 Residual dwelling site opportunity (RDSO).
[Added 2-6-1992 by Ord. No. 92-4; amended 9-3-1998 by Ord. No. 98-44C]
Whereas previously once a farmland preservation easement was purchased no further residential development was possible, RDSO provides the opportunity to construct a residential unit within a two-acre site, as long as its construction and use is for agriculture purpose. The Municipal Land Use Board is given the responsibility to approve the RDSO under the State Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Act. Granting of an RDSO will allow in the future the construction of a residential dwelling. To ensure the ability to construct said dwelling, the applicant shall comply with § 220-43, as well as provisions of the requirements of the application procedure for a minor subdivision.[1]
§ 220-45 Natural resource conservation calculations.
[Added 8-5-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-10]
A.
Applicability. The calculations required in Table B of this subsection shall be prepared by the applicant and submitted to the approving authority in conjunction with any concept plan or any minor or major subdivision or site plan application. This section is to be used to compute the total area of a tract that is suitable for development after adjusting for those portions of the tract that are identified as Natural Resource Conservation Areas The table in subsection B shall be used to determine the residential lot density in the respective zone districts pursuant to § 220-8, Schedule of Zone Requirements.
B.
Calculations.
(1)
If the property in question covers more than one zone, the calculations shall be performed for each zone. If an area within a tract of land contains more than one applicable natural resource conservation area category, calculations should apply the most constraining factor. For the purposes of this section, any natural resource category which is less than the size defined in Subsection D, Definitions, shall be classified as "environmentally unencumbered."
(2)
Chart B instructions.
(a)
The applicant shall indicate in Column 2 the acres classified in each category of land.
(b)
The adjusted acres for each land category is calculated by multiplying Column 2 by Column 3, placing the result in Column 4.
(c)
The allowable tract lot density is calculated by summing the adjusted area and dividing this total in Column 4 by the minimum lot size in the zone per the zoning requirements. This will calculate the maximum lots to be subdivided.
(d)
Each lot of the subdivision shall be no smaller than the minimum allowable acres in the zone or no smaller than the total unadjusted acres (total Column 2) divided by the number of lots allowed (Column 4).
C.
Residential Density Adjustment Chart.
Table B | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Residential Density Adjustment1 | |||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Natural Resource Conservation Area Categories | Acres | Adjustment Factor | Adjusted Area |
Environmentally unencumbered | 1.0 | ||
Stream corridor [D(4)] | 0.0 | ||
Open waters [D(5)] | 0.0 | ||
Critical slopes (25% or greater) | 0.0 | ||
Floodplain area [D(2)] | 0.0 | ||
Danger soils [D(7)] | 0.1 | ||
Freshwater wetlands | 0.25 | ||
Freshwater wetlands transition area [D(1)] | 0.5 | ||
Steep slopes (15% to 24%) | 0.5 | ||
Forest or woodlands [D(3)] | 0.5 | ||
Shallow depth to bedrock [D(6)] | 0.5 | ||
Soil Conservation Soils A and B | 0.5 | ||
Severe soils [D(7)] | 0.5 | ||
High-water table (less than 2 feet) | 0.5 | ||
High-water table (less than 3 feet) | 0.75 | ||
Total | |||
Minimum acres/lot per zone requirements | |||
Number of lots allowed (Column 4 adjusted acres/minimum lot size per zone) | |||
NOTE: | |
|---|---|
1See subsection D for category definitions. |
D.
Category definitions.
(1)
Freshwater wetlands. Freshwater wetlands includes compensation area within an approved transition area (buffer) plan by NJDEP or required transition area in accordance with freshwater wetlands classifications if no approved buffer-averaging plan has been approved at the time of site plan or subdivision submission.
(3)
Forest or woodlands. Forest or woodlands shall consist of a biological community dominated by trees and other woody plants covering an unfragmented land area of two acres or more with a density of one tree per 400 square feet or less or a combined fragmented forested area of five acres or more with a density of one tree per 400 square feet in each fragmented area. Orchards and tree nursery operations are excluded.
(4)
Stream corridor. Stream corridor shall consist of the stream channel and all land on either side of the stream channel which is within the one-hundred-year floodplain as delineated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) or is a sloping area of 15% or greater contiguous to the stream channel, one-hundred-year floodplain or state open water. "Stream channels" shall mean permanent or intermittent watercourses shown on USGS quadrangle maps, the Hunterdon County Soil Survey or such other authoritative source as the approving authority may deem appropriate. Any water body classified as a C-1 category stream shall provide the requisite three-hundred-foot buffer (greater than 10,000 square feet).
(5)
Open water. Open water shall include a pond or lake area with a mean depth of four feet and a surface area greater than one acre, including any such areas created for stormwater retention or detention purposes.
(6)
Shallow depth to bedrock shall include all areas composed of soils having 3 1/2 of depth to bedrock or less, as indicated in the Soil Survey of Hunterdon County (greater than 10,000 square feet).
(7)
Soil classification. Soils classifications in accordance with Map III-6 entitled "Soils with Septic Limitations" as contained in the Township of Franklin Master Plan, 1995 (greater than 10,000 square feet).
E.
Marking. Areas identified as Natural Resource Conservation Areas and 100% (adjustment factor of 0.0) excluded from applicable development in adjusted density calculations (in Table B) shall be established as conservation areas, physically demarcated with permanent markers, and protected against future development through deed restrictions.