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Mahwah City Zoning Code

§ 24-4.36

MF-3 Multi-Family-3 Overlay.

[Amended 10-15-2020 by Ord. No. 1916; 3-10-2022 by Ord. No. 1958; 3-20-2023 by Ord. No. 2003]
The following standards shall apply to development within the MF-3 Overlay Zone. When the standards herein conflict with other provisions of Chapter 24, the standards herein shall apply.
a. 
Permitted Uses.
1. 
Multi-family housing.
b. 
Permitted Accessory Uses.
1. 
Home occupations subject to § 24-3.6a8.
2. 
Parks, playgrounds, open space, and tenant recreation facilities.
3. 
Fences and walls subject to § 24-5.6b.
4. 
Surface parking subject to § 24-3.7.
5. 
Community rooms, administrative office for on-site management, and amenity spaces for the use of building owners and/or tenants.
c. 
Signs.
1. 
Signage shall comply with § 24-6, Signs.
2. 
In addition to the above, a ground sign, next to the site entrance, identifying the development, shall be permitted. Said sign shall not exceed twenty-five (25) square feet, may be illuminated, and shall be setback ten (10') feet from any property line.
d. 
Area, Bulk, and Yard Requirements.
1. 
Area, Yard, and Bulk Controls shall be in accordance with the Zoning Schedule of Area, Bulk, and Yard Requirements which is included as an attachment to this chapter.
2. 
Maximum building height shall be in accordance with the Zoning Schedule of Area, Bulk, and Yard Requirements. However, parapets, elevator overruns, mechanical equipment, and screening associated with such equipment shall extend no more than four (4') feet above the maximum permitted building height.
3. 
Density. A maximum of seventy-six (76) units shall be permitted. At least seventy-four (74) units shall be affordable units and no more than two (2) units may be market-rate.
e. 
Affordable Housing.
1. 
At least 74 units of the maximum 76 units shall be reserved for, and affordable to, low-and moderate-income households. The affordable units shall consist of no more than fourteen (14) one-bedroom units, at least fifteen (15) three-bedroom units, and the remainder shall be two-bedroom units. Additionally, at least ten (10) of the seventy-four (74) affordable units shall be very-low income (available to households at or below thirty (30%) percent of the area median income). At least three (3) of the very-low-income units shall be three-bedroom units, no more than two (2) of the very-low-income units may be one-bedroom units, and the remainder of the very-low-income units shall be two-bedroom units.
2. 
The affordable units shall have a minimum thirty (30) year deed restriction. Any such affordable unit shall comply with UHAC, applicable affordable housing regulations, the Fair Housing Act, any applicable order of the Court, and other applicable laws.
3. 
The units shall meet the bedroom distribution required by the UHAC.
4. 
The developer shall be responsible for retaining a qualified Administrative Agent, as approved by the Township, at the developer's sole cost and expense.
5. 
All necessary steps shall be taken to make the affordable units provided creditworthy pursuant to applicable law.
f. 
Off-Street Parking Requirements.
1. 
Off-street parking shall be in accordance with Off-Street Parking and Loading, § 24-3.7.
2. 
All parking spaces shall measure no less than nine (9') feet in width by eighteen (18') feet in length.
3. 
Tandem parking is permitted. However, no more than seventy-five (75%) percent of the parking spaces may be tandem.
4. 
Off-street parking shall be provided at a rate of 1.82 spaces per unit.
5. 
Parking lot lighting shall comply with § 22-6.4.
6. 
Around the perimeter of surface parking lots landscaping shall be provided. One (1) shade tree and one (1) shrub shall be provided for every twenty (20) parking spaces. Said shade trees shall be three (3") inches in caliper at installation.
g. 
Building Design.
1. 
Building wall offsets, including both projections and recesses, shall be provided along any street-facing building wall measuring greater than forty (40') feet in length in order to provide architectural interest and variety to the massing of a building and relieve the negative visual effect of a single, long wall.
2. 
The maximum spacing between such offsets shall be thirty-five (35') feet. The minimum projection or depth of any individual vertical offset shall not be less than one (1') foot.
3. 
Vertical offsets can include, but are not limited to, pilasters, projecting bays, changes in facade materials and balconies.
4. 
The architectural treatment of a facade shall be completely continued around all street-facing facades of a building. All sides of a building shall be architecturally designed to be consistent regarding style, materials, colors and details.
5. 
If the building has a flat roof, a parapet shall project vertically to hide any roof-mounted mechanical equipment.
6. 
Roofline offsets shall be provided along any gable roof measuring more than fifty (50') feet in length.
7. 
Building facades visible from any street shall consist of durable, long-lasting materials such as brick, stone, cast stone, Hardie plank or other high-quality material.
8. 
Heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, utility meters and regulators, exhaust pipes and stacks, satellite dishes and other telecommunications receiving devices shall be screened or otherwise specially treated to be, as much as possible, inconspicuous as viewed from the public right-of-way and adjacent properties.
h. 
Landscaping.
1. 
Areas of the property not used for buildings, parking or other impervious surfaces shall be landscaped.
2. 
Landscaping shall be provided to promote a desirable visual environment, to accentuate building design, define entranceways, screen parking areas, mitigate adverse visual impacts, provide windbreaks for winter winds and summer cooling for buildings, and enhance buffer areas. Plants and other landscaping materials shall be selected in terms of aesthetic and functional considerations. The landscape design shall create visual diversity and contrast through variation in size, shape, texture and color. The selection of plants in terms of susceptibility to disease and insect damage, wind and ice damage, habitat, soil conditions, growth rate, longevity, root pattern, maintenance requirements, etc., shall be considered.
3. 
Foundation plantings shall be provided around all buildings. These plantings shall include species that provide seasonal interest at varying heights to complement and provide pedestrian scale to the proposed architectural design of the buildings. The foundation planting shall incorporate evergreen shrubs and groupings of small trees in order to provide human scale to building facades and winter interest.
4. 
If an outdoor dumpster is utilized for the storage of trash and recycling, it shall be screened and fully enclosed with a solid enclosure a minimum six (6') feet in height. Alternatively, refuse and recycling may be stored inside of the building(s).
5. 
The above standards shall supplement the requirements of § 22-6.5, paragraph a, and supersede said design standards when there is a conflict.