Certain lands are not suitable for development, particularly residential development. Such lands include floodplains and flood hazard areas; wetlands; land having a seasonal high-water table at surface or at less than 3.5 feet below the surface; streams, brooks, rivers and their corridors; ponds, lakes and any open water which is predominately a nonflowing and/or otherwise impounded body of water with a mean depth of four feet and a surface area greater than 1/2 acre; slopes of 15% grade or greater and involving but not limited to Rockaway very stony loam (PpE) and Rockaway steep outcrop (RvE); slopes less than 15% but predominately involving unsuitable soils such as Rockaway gravelly loam (RoC); other land characteristics commonly known to be unsuitable for conventional development measures and which are environmentally sensitive; lands subject to shallow depth to bedrock (3.5 feet or less); and lands overlying known or suspected faults, fractures, slides, sinkholes or subsidence locations; or lands underlined by carbonate bedrock and which, pursuant to the application of Article XXVII, appear substantially subject to negative development impacts or consequences despite reasonable remediation measures.

All such lands, together with buffer areas if required herein, shall be and are hereby known as environmentally sensitive areas ("ESAs") and shall not be disturbed in residential development except as and only to the extent permitted by the Planning Board. It is the expectation of the Township that the protections of this article, together with minimum lots sizes as provided pursuant to this article, will prevent the disturbance and development of ESAs to the benefit of the Township's citizenry and natural environment.

It is also the purpose of this article to insure that no lot shall be created and no site shall be developed for residential purposes pursuant or subject to this article which does not provide reasonably ample contiguous land to form an envelope in which to locate a principal building, permitted accessory buildings and structures, a private well and subsurface sewage disposal systems, yards sufficient in size for normal use and enjoyment, and which is otherwise suitable and reasonably improvable for its intended purposes.