Mount Holly City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXVA
GS Government Services District
§ 149-135.1 Purpose and objectives.
The Township Council of the Township of Mount Holly hereby finds and determines that it is in the public interest to acknowledge the existence and special needs of certain office and governmental uses present within generally developed areas of the Township, to provide reasonable opportunity and logical location for the continuation of these uses within the Township, to provide appropriate buffering and protection of the integrity surrounding historic, residential and commercial zones from unwarranted intrusions, and, consistent with sound planning principles, encourage future development in a manner beneficial to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Mount Holly and the public at large. The Government Services Zone includes among its objectives:
A.
Encourage the protection and preservation of the historic district and the valuable historic heritage of structures and uses in the central business area of the Township.
B.
Accommodate municipal, county, state, and federal governmental administrative services with necessary supporting facilities.
C.
Accommodate professional and general office uses and necessary supporting facilities.
§ 149-135.2 Permitted uses.
A building, as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-3, may be erected, altered or used, and a lot may be used or occupied, in this zone for any of the following purposes and no others, following such site plan or other approval by the reviewing authority as may be required by this chapter:
A.
Professional offices or studio of a doctor, lawyer, dentist, clergyman, architect, accountant, engineer, insurance agent, real estate agent, or similar practitioner, or an office building for a group of such practitioners, not to include on-premises retail activities or the direct sale of merchandise to the general public.
B.
Administrative offices of governmental entities, courts and courtrooms, police facilities, post offices, fire companies or emergency squads, public libraries, museums, public parks or recreation areas, and similar public institutional uses, provided, however, that such uses shall take satisfactory measures to preserve and protect the health, safety, and character of the surrounding area and neighborhoods and that adequate ingress, egress, and parking facilities are provided. Motor vehicle service or repair facilities, storage of public works and heavy equipment, or operational facilities of governmental utilities are not, however, to be permitted uses in this zone.
§ 149-135.3 Prohibited uses.
Specifically prohibited in this zone are residential dwellings, retail uses, industrial uses of any kind, gasoline filling stations, auto repair and servicing facilities, and all other uses not specifically permitted under § 149-135.2 above.
§ 149-135.4 Bulk regulations.
The following minimum requirements apply with respect to density, height, frontage, yard, and setback requirements in the GS Zone.
A.
No new building shall exceed four stories or 60 feet in height. Ancillary parking facilities shall not exceed three stories or 50 feet in height.
B.
There shall be a front yard of not less than 25 feet. No parking shall be permitted in the front yard.
C.
Each side yard shall be at least 20 feet. Required parking may be permitted in the side yard but shall not be permitted in any required buffer.
E.
The minimum street frontage for office buildings shall be 100 feet.
§ 149-135.5 Landscape and buffer requirements.
The following minimum buffering requirements, in addition to those found elsewhere in this chapter, shall apply to development within the GS Zone.
A.
Landscape buffers, in accordance with the design standards of this chapter, shall be provided at all site property lines adjoining a residential zone of a minimum width of 10 feet. Buffers shall include a combination of grassed areas, shrubs, trees, and berms sufficient in variety and height to provide a dense landscaped variation and screening between GS zone uses and the residential zone uses.
B.
Parking lots within the GS zone shall be provided with landscape buffers, in accordance with the design standards of this chapter, using appropriate trees, shrubs, and berms so as to produce visual variations within and alongside parking lots. Perimeter buffers shall be a minimum of 10 feet in width. Parking lot landscaping shall include landscape interests to breakup vast expanses of paving, to the degree that three rows and 20 parking spaces is the maximum permitted without providing landscape variations of a type and variety approved by the Planning Board.
§ 149-135.6 Special development regulations.
In addition to the other regulations of the GS Zone, each use shall comply with the following requirements:
A.
Each building, alteration, or renovation, shall be designed to the greatest extent possible in a manner to minimize its commercial, nonhistoric, nonresidential character. No building shall contain a display or show window.
B.
The structural alteration of an existing building or other building shall be the minimum necessary to permit the authorized change in use or improvement, and all fire escapes and stairways shall be designed as an integral part of the building and completely enclosed within the building. Further, they shall be so located as not to detract from the character of the original historic structure, or, alternatively, from the historic nature of surrounding structures as viewed from the street. No building or lot may be used in any manner that will emit noxious odors or create hazardous conditions.