Lawnside City Zoning Code

Residential development. Except as exempted in Section 96-123, all residential development in all zoning and redevelopment areas within the Borough of Lawnside that results in the construction of new market-rate dwelling units in accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:94-1 et seq., shall be subject to the "growth share" provisions of Section 96-124 of this Article.

Nonresidential development. Except as exempted in Section 96-123, all nonresidential development in all zoning and redevelopment areas within the Borough of Lawnside that results in an increase in gross floor area of any existing nonresidential structure or the construction of a new nonresidential structure in accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:94-1 et seq., shall be subject to the "growth share" provisions of Section 96-125 of this Article.

Development that received preliminary or final approval from the Planning Board and/or Board of Adjustments, as applicable, prior to the effective date of Ordinance No. 02-FY2007, which was adopted on September 6, 2006, shall not be subject to these provisions.

Development of a single-family, owner/occupied residential unit by the owner/occupier shall not be subject to these provisions, so long as the owner/occupier lives in the property as his/her primary residence for a period not less than two years from the date of the issuance of the certificate of occupancy. This exemption shall be available to the developer only upon written application to Borough Council, which shall establish the criteria for review and approval or rejection of such written application by resolution. This exemption shall only be granted by majority vote of the Borough Council after a hearing at a duly called meeting of the Borough Council. Each developer shall only be entitled to receive an exemption under this section once.

Except as otherwise provided below, all residential development which results in the construction of new market-rate dwelling units in the Borough of Lawnside in any zoning district or redevelopment area shall provide one non-age-restricted affordable housing unit for every eight residential market rate units constructed.

For developments, that result in a number of market-rate residential units not evenly divisible by eight, the developer, at the Borough of Lawnside's discretion, may either construct the additional affordable unit(s) on site or alternatively, the developer may make a payment in lieu of constructing the additional affordable unit(s). The amount of said payment shall be established by subtracting any whole multiples of eight from the total number of market-rate residential units being created, dividing any remaining number of units by eight and multiplying the resulting fraction by $157,698.

All residential development in all zoning districts and redevelopment zones consisting of one but less than eight residential units may, at the Borough of Lawnside's discretion provide one affordable unit on site or may make a payment in lieu of constructing the proportionate fraction of the affordable housing unit required. The amount of said payment shall be established by dividing the number of market-rate units by eight and multiplying the resulting fraction by $157,698.

The development of the affordable housing unit must meet COAH's eligibility criteria as set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.

All residential development in any zoning district or redevelopment area consisting of less than eight residential units may, at the Borough of Lawnside's discretion, provide one affordable unit on site or may make payment in lieu of constructing the proportionate fraction of the affordable housing unit required. The amount of said payment shall be established by dividing the number of market-rate units by eight and multiplying the resulting fraction by $157,698.

All residential development not subject to the provision of this Section 96-124 shall be subject to the provision of the development fees as set forth in Article XII of this chapter.

All nonresidential development in any zoning district or redevelopment area that results in an increase in gross floor area of any existing nonresidential building or the construction of a new nonresidential building within the Borough of Lawnside shall be required to produce one non-age-restricted affordable home for every 25 new jobs or employment opportunities created in the Borough of Lawnside as a result of the proposed nonresidential development project. The calculation of the number of jobs and employment opportunities shall be in accordance with Appendix E to N.J.A.C. 5:94-1, et seq., entitled "UCC Use Groups for Projecting and Implementing Non-residential Components of Growth Share."

All nonresidential developments in any zoning district or redevelopment zone shall provide one unit of affordable housing for every 25 jobs created by new or expanded development. Determinations of the number of jobs created shall be used on the new or expanded floor area in the development and the conversion factors, by use group, published by COAH as Appendix E in N.J.A.C. 5:94-1 et seq.

The affordable unit(s) to be produced pursuant to Subsections A and B (above) shall be available to a low income individual or household should only one affordable unit be required. Thereafter, each of the units shall be split evenly between low- and moderate-income individuals and households except in the event of an odd number in which event the unit shall be a low-income unit. All affordable units shall strictly comply with COAH's Third Round Rules at N.J.A.C. 5:94-1 et seq., and Uniform Housing Affordability Controls at N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq. and policies including, but not limited to, phasing, bedroom distribution, controls on affordability, range of affordability, affirmative marketing, income qualification, etc. It shall be the developer's/applicant's responsibility, at its cost and expense, to arrange for a COAH and Borough of Lawnside approved qualification service to ensure full COAH compliance and file such certifications, reports and/or monitoring forms as may be required by COAH or the Court to verify COAH compliance of each affordable unit.

For developments that result in a number of jobs not evenly divisible by 25, the developer, at the Borough of Lawnside's discretion, may construct the additional affordable unit off site in accordance with Subsection C above or alternatively, the developer may make a payment in lieu of constructing an additional affordable unit in accordance with Subsection C. The amount of said payment shall be established by subtracting any whole multiples of 25 from the total number of jobs being created, dividing any remaining number of jobs by 25 and multiplying the resulting fraction by $157,698.

All nonresidential development in any zoning district and redevelopment zone creating less than 25 jobs may provide one affordable unit off site in accordance with Subsection C above or may make a payment in lieu of constructing an affordable housing unit. The amount of said payment shall be established by dividing the number of jobs by 25 and multiplying the resulting fraction by $157,698.

The construction of each affordable housing unit must meet COAH's eligibility criteria as set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.

Any applicant, at the Borough of Lawnside's sole discretion and with the Borough of Lawnside's advance written permission, may seek to satisfy its affordable housing production obligation(s) through the mechanisms permitted in COAH's rules, including but not limited to: (a) one-site housing production in connection with residential projects; (b) the purchase of an existing market-rate home at another location in the Borough of Lawnside and its conversion to an affordable price-restricted home in accordance with COAH's criteria, regulations and policies; (c) participation in gut rehabilitation and/or buy-down/write-down, buy-down/rent-down programs, (d) the construction of an affordable unit(s), which meets COAH's eligibility criteria as set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq., at another location in the Borough of Lawnside, which location must be approved in advance by the Borough of Lawnside and/or (e) the payment of a fee in lieu of construction, the amount of which shall be $157,698. Evidence of compliance shall be produced to the Planning Board at the time of the filing of an application for final approval and shall be a condition precedent of all "completeness" determinations. Thereafter, evidence of satisfaction of affordable housing compliance shall be an automatic condition of the project's first building permit as provided in Section 96-127C.

Any payment in lieu amount negotiated with the Borough of Lawnside shall be derived from the analysis of the subsidy required to create an affordable housing unit in the Borough of Lawnside which analysis shall be on file in the office of the Clerk of the Borough of Lawnside.

All payments in lieu of constructing affordable housing shall be deposited by the Borough of Lawnside into any affordable housing trust fund to be established by the Borough of Lawnside in conformance with regulations established by COAH and shall be used by the Borough of Lawnside in accordance with the regulations established by COAH to create new affordable housing opportunities within the physical boundaries of the Borough of Lawnside.

50% of the payments in lieu of contribution shall be required to be paid to the Borough of Lawnside prior to the issuance of the first building permit. In the event that multiple buildings are being constructed the total payments in lieu of amount shall be allocated on a proportionate basis in connection with each building permit applied for in connection with the development, according to the number of residential dwelling units to be developed and/or total square footage of nonresidential development.

The remaining balance of the payments in lieu of contribution shall be required to be paid to the Borough of Lawnside prior to the issuance of the first certificate of occupancy, subject to potential pro-rata allocation as provided above. Any payments in lieu of contribution for nonresidential development are subject to recalculation in the event there is a change to the total square footage of any building and/or structure.

No request and/or application for a certificate of occupancy shall be sought by the developer or accepted by the Borough of Lawnside unless all required payment in lieu of contributions are paid in full.