Mount Laurel Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXII
Business Development Overlay Zone for Route 73 and Route 38
§ 154-159 Purpose.
The purposes and objectives of these objectives are as follows:
A.
To promote appropriate and controlled economic development along Routes 38 and 73 within Mount Laurel Township.
B.
To create a balance between commercial and service uses and continuing residential growth, which will:
C.
To encourage large-scale commercial and service facilities at appropriate locations along Route 73 and Route 38 but only on a site where there is also secondary ingress and egress with a traffic signal controlled intersection thus avoiding strip development which would contain multiple, uncontrolled curb cuts.
D.
To encourage such large-scale development on tracts of adequate size which will include sufficient buffers, limitations on signage, provisions of pedestrian features, integration of architecture and flexibility in meeting the needs of retail and service tenants and users.
E.
To encourage consolidation and redevelopment of small, older commercial tracts and uses into unified, integrated commercial and service complexes.
F.
To avoid piecemeal rezoning of lands within Mount Laurel Township.
§ 154-160 Applicability; effect on existing zoning.
A.
Property affected hereunder is limited to those lands or tracts of land which meet the following criteria and conditions and which lie with frontage along Route 73 to a depth of 600 feet on each side of the right-of-way of Route 73 or with frontage along Route 38 to a depth of 1,000 feet on each side of the right-of-way of Route 38.
B.
Such lands are hereby eligible for the Business Development Overlay Zone, provided that the tract or parcel of land to be developed shall meet the criteria hereinafter articulated. All existing underlying zoning shall remain unchanged.
§ 154-161 Basic requirements.
A.
Each tract or parcel of land to be developed shall have improved, frontage on two public rights-of-way, at least one of which shall be Route 73 or Route 38, whichever is applicable.
B.
The land to be included within the Business Development Overlay Zone shall not extend further back from Route 73 than 600 feet from the right-of-way of Route 73 or more than 1,000 feet from the right-of-way line of Route 38, whichever is applicable.
C.
Each tract or parcel of land must contain at least one access to the proposed development by means of an adjacent traffic signal controlled intersection which will allow patrons to make both left and right turns into and out of the tract.
D.
No portion of the land to be developed within the Business Development Overlay Zone shall be located within 200 feet of an existing occupied residence. The distance shall be measured from the perimeter of the proposed project to the property line of nearby residences.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 1 of this ordinance provided that Paragraphs a through d of the third "Whereas" clause are "incorporated hereby by reference as if set forth at length. In addition to any other justification for amending the Township Code, the recommendations contained in the Master Plan reexamination report dated April 20, 2006, as they relate to motor vehicle services and proximity standards, are specifically incorporated herein by reference and shall form an additional basis for the amendment as set forth hereafter." A copy of Ord. No. 2009-6 containing said clause is on file in the Township offices.
§ 154-162 Permitted uses.
The permitted uses shall be shopping centers containing those uses designated with § 154-25A(1) through (27) of the Mount Laurel Zoning Ordinance.
§ 154-163 Bulk area standards and density.
All developments within the Business Development Overlay Zone shall meet the following standards:
C.
Front yard: minimum 100 feet in depth.
D.
Side yard: minimum 25 feet adjacent to a right-of-way and 30 feet if adjacent to another use.
E.
Rear yard: fifty-foot minimum.
F.
Height: thirty-five-foot maximum.
G.
The maximum size of any building on a site shall be 125,000 square feet.
[Amended 11-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-28]
H.
Parking shall be in accordance with § 154-69 of the Mount Laurel Zoning Ordinance, except that developments in excess of 150,000 gross square feet of building development may provide shared parking in accordance with the Urban Land Institute publication entitled "Shared Parking," 3rd Edition, 1987, International Standard Book No. -87420-652-199. Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 83.51648 (or any later, updated edition).
I.
Coverage should be limited to 50%. Undevelopable land such as proved wetlands, wetland buffers floodplain land and any other undevelopable land shall not be included in the coverage estimation. It is the burden of the applicant to establish freshwater wetlands or other lands designated herein.
[Added 11-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-28]
J.
There should be a minimum distance between buildings of 40 feet.
[Added 11-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-28]
K.
Motor vehicle service stations are prohibited in this zone as a principal or accessory use.
[Added 11-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-28]
L.
Shopping center pad sites shall meet the following standards:
[Added 11-21-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-28]
(1)
All parking required by ordinance for a use on a pad site shall be contained on a lease line, lot line or development line contiguous to the site without crossing any major access aisles or parallel access roadways.
(2)
All shopping centers and major commercial and business uses should provide the land or other provisions for a parallel access roadway.
(3)
The minimum lot area shall be not less than 35,000 square feet.
(4)
The minimum lot width shall be 200 feet.
(5)
The minimum lot depth shall be 125 feet.
(6)
Pad sites shall only be accessed from internal drives, preferably via an internal parallel access roadway.
(7)
Pad sites shall have buildings architecturally presentable on all four sides, consistent with the buildings on the balance of the site upon which the pad site is located.
§ 154-164 Design standards.
The following design requirements shall apply in accordance with Chapter 124 of the Mount Laurel Code:
A.
The development shall have an overall coordinated design scheme, with internal circulation providing ready access to all of the proposed uses.
B.
Buildings shall be complementary to one another in terms of roofline, facade material, color and similar elements.
C.
Pedestrian areas shall include coordinated sidewalk treatment; trash receptacles, recycling receptacles, benches, planters and the like.
D.
Site elements, such as signage and lighting standards, shall be complementary to the building design.
E.
There shall be an area designed for the enhancement of the outdoor patron use area which may include such elements as benches, landscaping, activity areas, water features and the like. This patron enhancement area shall be equal to 5% or more of the total leasable square footage on the site, but shall not reduce the FAR.
F.
The site plan and architectural features shall adequately consider any impact on adjacent existing land uses.
§ 154-165 Ownership standards.
At the time of site plan approval for a development in accordance with the Business Development Overlay Zone, the entire tract of land on which the proposed development is to take place shall either be under single ownership or under contracts of purchase to provide single ownership. However, after site plan approval has been granted, subdivision of the entire tract or parcel may be made into individual tracts, provided there is in place a developers agreement approved by the Planning Board. At a minimum, said developer's agreement shall not increase the number of curb cuts and shall control and regulate future land uses, utility access, parking easements and responsibility for maintenance of buildings and site amenities.
§ 154-166 Pad site standards.
§ 154-167 Definition of "floor area ratio."
FAR stands for floor area ratio, which means the sum of the area of all floors of buildings or structures compared to the total area of the site.
§ 154-168 Other standards.
All other standards of this chapter and Chapter 124, Site Plan Review, not specifically amended herein shall be applicable as originally set forth.