Lopatcong Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
Conditional Uses
§ 243-76 Conditions for granting conditional uses.
Application for a conditional use shall be granted only if the same will not be detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare and shall adhere to the procedures and standards established in this chapter.
§ 243-77 Service stations.
A.
Conditional uses within this classification. Motor vehicle or automobile service stations, filling or gasoline stations and motor vehicle or automobile repair garages are permitted, if found appropriate, as a conditional use.
B.
Provisions and requirements. In addition to the requirements specified in the Schedule of Area, Lot and Bulk Regulations,[1] applicable requirements of the general regulations and the standards required for an approved site plan, the following requirements shall be provided:
(1)
Buffer strip. A landscaped buffer strip shall be established and maintained along all lot lines (or boundaries of the area leased for the use in the case of a business center) other than street lines, except that access driveways may cross, but shall not otherwise be located within, the buffer strip, if necessary. Such buffer strips shall be a minimum of 10 feet in width and shall meet the requirements prescribed in § 243-62.
(2)
Screening. The buffer strip required above shall also contain screening, such as dense hedges, decorative fencing or landscaped earth berms as further prescribed in § 243-62.
(3)
No public or private garage accommodating more than five vehicles and no service station shall have any entrance or exit within 200 feet of the entrance to a public school, public library, theater, church, hospital, public park, playground or fire station.
(4)
All public garages and service stations shall be so arranged and all gasoline pumps shall be so placed as to permit all services to be rendered entirely within the lot lines. No gasoline or oil pump shall be placed within 25 feet of any street line or lot line.
(5)
The site plan shall show the number and location of fuel tanks to be installed, the dimensions and capacity of each storage tank, the depth the tanks will be placed below finished grade, the number and location of pumps to be installed, the type of structure and accessory buildings to be constructed and the number of automobiles which are to be garaged.
(6)
Accessory goods for sale may be displayed out of doors on the pump island(s) and the building island only. The outdoor display of oil cans and/or antifreeze and similar products may be on the above islands only if contained within a suitable stand or rack but shall not include tire racks or sheds. Tires shall be stored only inside the principal building or in the waste materials area, except that two tires may be displayed on the building island only. No vending machines shall be located out of doors.
(7)
The entire area of the site traveled by motor vehicles shall be hard surfaced in accordance with Chapter 203, Streets and Sidewalks, of the Code of the Township of Lopatcong.
(8)
Any repair of motor vehicles shall be performed in a fully enclosed building, and no motor vehicle shall be offered for sale on the site. No motor vehicle parts or partially dismantled motor vehicle shall be stored outside of an enclosed building.
(9)
No vehicles shall be permitted to be standing or parked on the premises of a filling station other than those used or serviced by the employees.
(10)
Any outdoor storage of waste materials or supplies shall be to the rear of the building and within an area screened or fenced to a height of not less than six feet. The area of such enclosure shall not exceed 100 square feet and shall be not closer than 15 feet to any lot or street line and not closer than 25 feet to another lot which is within a residential district or a street line which is across the street from a residential district.
(11)
No waste material whatsoever shall be discharged into any watercourse or storm drainage system.
(12)
In addition to the signs permitted in the HB Zone, service stations may also exhibit one temporary sign located no less than 10 feet inside the property line and specifically setting forth special seasonal servicing of automobiles, provided that such sign does not exceed seven square feet in area.
(13)
No liquid petroleum products or other flammable material shall be stored above ground out of doors, nor shall more than 300 gallons of such materials be stored within a building.
(14)
Truck stops are prohibited.
[Added 4-6-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-03]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Area, Lot and Bulk Regulations is included as an attachment to this chapter.
§ 243-77.1 Advertising signs.
[Added 2-19-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-05; amended 8-2-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-15; 11-1-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-28; 9-2-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-10]
A.
Advertising signs are defined as a sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, or service conducted, sold or offered elsewhere.
B.
Advertising signs shall be permitted in the HB and ROM Zones east of the intersection of State Highway Nos. 57 and 22, if found appropriate, as a conditional use, under the following conditions:
(1)
Such signs shall constitute an allowed second principal use on site.
(2)
Advertising signs shall only be allowed along State Highway Nos. 22 and 57 and shall be located within 70 feet of the state highway right-of-way. Setback from the right-of-way shall be sufficient to allow installation and maintenance without encroachment into the right-of-way.
(3)
Advertising signs shall not exceed 675 square feet in area per side, 50 feet in length and 14 feet in sign height. Total height of sign and mounting structure shall not exceed 25 feet above the elevation of the closest edge of the traveled way of the highway.
(4)
No advertising sign shall interfere with the required sight distances necessary for the safe ingress and egress to a site.
(5)
Signs shall be located so as to allow clear visibility to approaching traffic for a minimum distance of 600 feet. No advertising sign shall interfere with the required visibility of any other advertising sign. No advertising sign shall interfere with the required visibility of any on-premises business sign. No advertising sign shall be within 3,000 feet of any other advertising sign.
§ 243-77.2 Small-lot single-family dwelling.
[Added 5-5-1993 by Ord. No. 93-10]
Small-lot single-family dwellings shall be permitted in the R-120 Zone, as a conditional use, under the following conditions:
A.
Such dwellings shall be allowed as an alternative to a mixed development including multifamily units on tracts of 100 acres or more, served by both public sewer and water.
B.
Gross density for developments including such units shall not exceed four dwelling units per acre.
C.
Where a tract containing small-lot single-family dwellings directly abuts a conventional or cluster development, constructed prior to January 1, 1993, a transitional area shall be provided. The transitional area may include one or more of the following:
(1)
A road right-of-way.
(2)
A consideration and/or drainage easement of at least 30 feet in width.
(3)
New lots of comparable size to the existing lots.
(4)
A twenty-foot landscaped buffer which provides year round visual screening of the smaller lots. This twenty-foot buffer shall be in addition to any yard requirements for lots on which it is located.
§ 243-77.3 (Reserved) [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 243-77.3, PD Planned Development Overlay District, added 12-1-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-18, as amended, was renumbered as § 243-75.2, in order to move this section from Art. XV, Conditional Uses, to Art. XIV, Zoning District and Use Regulations, at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
§ 243-77.4 Massage, bodywork and somatic therapy establishments.
[Added 3-4-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-01]
A.
Massage, bodywork and somatic therapy establishments are only permitted as conditional uses on properties within the HB District with frontage on Route 22 situated south of Lopatcong Creek.
§ 243-77.6 Asphalt and concrete manufacturing facilities.
[Added 7-6-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-07; amended 11-2-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-15]
A.
The term "asphalt-manufacturing facility," as used in this chapter, is a manufacturing facility for the creation of asphalt paving materials (bituminous concrete) by combining asphaltic cement and various aggregates and includes the storage and dispensing of the asphalt paving materials.
B.
The term "concrete-manufacturing facility," as used in this chapter, is a manufacturing facility for the creation of concrete building and paving materials (concrete) by combining cement, water, various aggregates and other ingredients used in the production of such materials; and includes the storage and dispensing of the concrete building and paving materials.
C.
Asphalt and/or concrete manufacturing facilities may only be located in the ROM Zone south of the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
D.
Asphalt and/or concrete manufacturing facilities may operate as necessary on a twenty-four-hour basis seven days a week.
E.
A storage silo shall be permitted as accessory to a permitted asphalt and/or concrete manufacturing facility subject to the following restrictions:
(1)
Storage silos used as accessory structures in a permitted asphalt and/or concrete manufacturing process may be erected to a height that exceeds 20 feet, the maximum height of an accessory structure as set forth in § 243-64A, provided:
(a)
The height does not exceed 85 feet as measured vertically from the average finished grade level of the silos foundation to the extreme high point of the silo, exclusive of catwalks, conveyor equipment and similar fixtures; and
(b)
The minimum setback is equal to the height of the structure or the setback for accessory structures in the zone where the principal structure is located, whichever is greater.
(2)
In instances where such a structure is erected to a height that exceeds 30 feet, the buffer strip required in § 243-75D(2) shall be increased to a width of 50 feet.
§ 243-77.7 Resource recycling facilities.
[Added 7-6-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-07; amended 11-2-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-15]
The term "resource recycling facility," as used in this chapter, is a facility that accepts, collects, processes, moves, transfers and stores concrete, asphalt and other recyclable materials as related to an asphalt or concrete manufacturing facility and for the resale of the finished recycled materials.
A.
Resource recycling facilities are only permitted as a conditional use on properties within the ROM District south of the Norfolk Southern Railroad right-of-way.
B.
Resource recycling facilities shall conform to the following requirements:
(1)
The perceptible noise at the lot line from operation of equipment shall not exceed the limits established by NJDEP pursuant to standards set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:29-1 et seq., Noise Control.
(2)
No structure dedicated to any recycling process shall be closer than 500 feet to any lot containing a residential use or a residential zone boundary line.
(3)
Outside bulk storage shall be subject to the standards set forth in §§ 243-64, 243-64.2, 243-75D and the following:
(a)
No outside bulk storage of any recyclable material shall be closer than 500 feet to any lot containing a residential use or a residential zone boundary line, except that office and similar administrative functions may not be closer than 100 feet to any lot line.
(b)
While materials may be temporarily stored on-site as part of the operation, and while this may result in the accumulation of piles of recyclable materials that are in the process of being recycled, no individual materials brought to the site are permitted to be permanently left on-site.
(4)
All materials brought to the site shall be separated, ground, pulverized, and/or handled in such a way as to accomplish the recycling operation so that individual products are either reused as part of the primary permitted use or shipped off-site as part of a continuing operation.
(5)
The processing of asphalt and concrete may take place outside of any building so long as the noise level at the property line shall not exceed any New Jersey State, Warren County, or Township laws, rules or regulations, and so long as all storage and processing areas are either paved or of crushed concrete or stone.
(6)
Hours of operation for the resource recycling facilities permitted as a conditional use shall operate independently of the associated asphalt and/or concrete manufacturing facility. To mitigate any noise created by the recycling process, crushing of the material will only be between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7:00 a.m. through 3:30 p.m., Saturday local time; and shall not operate on Sundays.