To provide greater economy, efficiency and convenience in the siting of services and infrastructure, including the opportunity to reduce road lengths, utility runs, and the amount of paving required;

To conserve important open lands, including those areas containing unique and sensitive natural features, such as steep slopes, floodplains, stream corridors, and wetlands by permanently setting them aside from development;

To protect areas of the Township with productive agricultural soils and lands for continued or future agricultural use, by conserving blocks of land large enough to allow for efficient farm operations;

To provide multiple options for landowners to minimize impacts on environmental resources and natural or cultural features such as mature woodlands, hedgerows and tree lines, critical wildlife habitats, historic buildings, and fieldstone walls;

To create neighborhoods with direct visual access to open land, with amenities in the form of neighborhood open space, with a strong neighborhood identity;

To provide a reasonable setback for new development adjacent to lands in active farming due to potential incompatibility with nonfarm uses;

To implement policies to conserve a variety of irreplaceable and environmentally sensitive resource lands as set forth in the Township's Master Plan, including provisions to create areas for active or passive recreational use for the benefit of present and future residents;

To conserve scenic views and elements of the Township's rural character, and to minimize perceived density, by limiting views of new development from existing roads;

To promote development in harmony with the goals and objectives of the Township's Master Plan; and

To identify and mitigate the environmental impacts of a proposed development to the greatest extent possible.

Authorization is hereby granted to the Land Use Board to modify applicable provisions of this chapter as to lot size, lot width, depth, yard, and other applicable requirements of Chapter 550, Zoning, as well as Chapter 470, Subdivision of Land, subject to the purposes, standards and procedures contained herein, so as to accommodate cluster subdivisions.

The Land Use Board may require cluster subdivision where it finds that any one of the elements required to be shown in the Existing Resources Map is present, justifying conservation of natural, cultural or historic resources, productive agricultural soils and lands, scenic features, or preservation of neighborhood character. The information required to be shown in the Existing Resources Map is outlined in § 550-101C(1).

Sketch plan. If the applicant requests an informal review of a concept plan for a cluster development, a sketch plan shall be submitted by the applicant to facilitate an expedient review of proposed new subdivisions in conformance with this chapter and the Township Master Plan. To provide a full understanding of the site's potential and to facilitate the most effective exchange with the Land Use Board, the sketch plan shall include the information listed below:

Preliminary plan documents. The next step after the informal review of a concept is the formal application process. If the applicant forgoes the informal review, the applicant must provide the preliminary plan documents for formal subdivision review by the Land Use Board. A preliminary cluster subdivision application shall be prepared in accordance with the following requirements, which are designed to supplement and, where appropriate, replace the requirements of Chapter 470, Subdivision of Land:

Four-step design process for cluster subdivisions. All sketch plans shall include Steps 1 and 2 of the four-step design process. All preliminary plans shall include documentation of the entire four-step design process in order to determine the layout of proposed conserved lands, house sites, streets and lot lines, as described below:

Minimum tract size. The minimum tract size eligible for clustering shall be 28 acres.

Minimum required conserved land. In all zoning districts, a cluster subdivision must preserve at least 60% of the tract's gross acreage as conserved land. The required conserved land area shall consist of the totality of the primary conservation areas. Secondary conservation areas shall also be included in the required conserved land area if necessary to achieve the minimum area percentage requirements for conserved land. If necessary to achieve the minimum 60% conserved area, lands located in the potential development areas shall also be included in the conserved land. Where more than 60% of a site's gross acreage is located within primary conservation areas, the entire primary conservation area shall be preserved and the site's permitted density shall be reduced in accordance with Subsection C(2) below. However, where necessary to preserve existing farmland in the AR Zone, potential development areas shall be permitted to encroach into wetland transition areas, steep slopes and one-hundred-year floodplains, provided that Township, county and state ordinances are met. The following additional requirements shall be met, where applicable:

Maximum density. The permitted number of dwelling units in a cluster subdivision shall not exceed the following requirements:

Minimum lot size. The minimum lot size for single-family development in a cluster subdivision shall meet the following minimum lot size requirements:

Minimum unit number threshold. Application of the requirements set forth in Subsections A through D above shall yield a minimum of four dwelling units.

Minimum lot width at building line: 100 feet.

Minimum street frontage: 50 feet.

Yard regulations. The builder or developer is urged to consider variations in the principal building position and orientation, but shall observe the following minimum standards:

Maximum impervious coverage. No more than 35% of any parcel shall be covered with impervious surfaces.

Residential uses shall be buffered from land to be preserved for agricultural purposes by a minimum buffer area of at least 100 feet deep. Native species are encouraged.

No clearing of trees or understory growth shall be permitted in this buffer area. However, periodic removal of invasive alien plant and tree species may be permitted (refer to the Plant Conservation Alliance Working Group: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/factmain.htm#pllists).

Where this buffer area is unwooded, the Land Use Board may require a plan detailing planting to provide a naturalized buffer (e.g., saplings of native plant material), or a management plan to encourage natural forest succession through no-mow policies and the periodic removal of invasive alien plant and tree species. The final plan shall be subject to Land Use Board approval.

Existing and future street connections are encouraged to eliminate the number of new culs-de-sac to be maintained by the Township and to facilitate access to and from homes in different parts of the tract and adjoining parcels. Culs-de-sac are appropriate when they support greater open space conservation or provide extensive pedestrian linkages.

Regardless of the street design employed, the applicant shall demonstrate and the Land Use Board shall find that emergency services access is adequate for the number of dwellings proposed.

From an aesthetic and speed control perspective, curving roads are preferred in an informal rural cluster to avoid long straight segments. Shorter straight segments connected by 90° and 135° bends are preferred in a more formal or traditional arrangement. However, all street geometry shall meet RSIS requirements, and adequate and proper sight distance in accordance with AASHTO and Chapter 219, Driveways, shall be provided along all sections of the roadway and driveways connected to the roadway.

Single-loaded streets are encouraged alongside conservation areas. The conservation areas should be immediately adjacent to at least one side of the street, with the dwellings on the opposite side. This design could include dwellings on both sides of the street as long as they are not directly opposite one another and they alternate locations with conserved land. This design will provide views of the conserved lands for residents and visitors.

Street trees shall be required in accordance with § 550-47B of this chapter, and survivability shall be assured in accordance with the requirements set forth therein.

Conservation easements shall be titled to a private conservation organization, provided that:

The conservation easement or other legally binding instrument shall permanently restrict the open space from future subdivision, shall define the range of permitted activities, and shall give the Township the ability to enforce these restrictions. Further, the conservation easement or other legally binding instrument shall give the Township the power to impose liens on the conservation organization and/or individual property owners within the development in the event of violation of the terms of the easement. Under no circumstances shall any development be permitted in the open space at any time, except for the following uses:

Homeowners' association. Conserved land and common facilities may be held in common ownership by a homeowners' association, subject to all of the provisions for homeowners' associations set forth in New Jersey State regulations. In addition, the following regulations shall be met:

Noncommon private ownership. The required open space land may be included within one or more large conservancy lots, provided the open space is permanently restricted from future development, except for those uses listed in § 550-106B.