Ocean Township Ocean County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE V
Buffers
§ 410-44 General requirements.
A.
Buffers, as provided for in this chapter, are required to separate a nonresidential use from either an existing residential use or residential zoning district, as follows:
(1)
Along any lot line or street line which divides a proposed nonresidential use from existing residential uses in any zoning district in which residential uses are permitted;
B.
Buffers are also required in such other circumstances as may be determined by the municipal board having jurisdiction over an application for approval of a site plan, conditional use, or use variance.
C.
No structure, activity, storage of materials, or parking of vehicles shall be permitted in any required buffer area.
D.
The location and design of buffers shall consider the use of the portion of the property being screened, the distance between the use and the adjoining property line, differences in elevations, the type of buffer (such as dense planting, existing woods, a wall or fence), buffer height, buffer width and other combinations of man-made and natural features. The buffer shall be designed, planted, graded, landscaped and developed with the general guideline that the closer a use or activity is to a property line, or the more intense the use, the more effective the buffer area must be in obscuring light and vision and reducing noise beyond the lot.
§ 410-45 Design standards.
A.
Unless otherwise specified, all buffer areas shall be planted and maintained with either grass or ground cover, together with a screen of live shrubs or scatter plantings of live trees, shrubs or other plant material meeting the following requirements:
(1)
The preservation of all natural wooded tracts shall be an integral part of all site plans and may be calculated as part of the required buffer area, provided that the growth is of a density and the area has sufficient width to serve the purpose of a buffer. Where additional plantings are necessary to establish an appropriate tone for an effective buffer, said plantings may be required.
(2)
Plant materials used in screen planting shall be at least three feet in height when planted and shall be of such density as will obscure, throughout the full course of the year, the glare of automobile headlights emitted from the premises.
(3)
Trees shall be at least five feet in height when planted and shall be of a species common to the area, of nursery stock and free of insect and disease.
(4)
Any plant material which does not live shall be replaced within one year or one growing season.
B.
Wherever this chapter imposes a landscaping or seeding requirement, natural vegetation may be substituted in all areas where it exists and has attained a height of at least six feet. The landscaping and seeding requirements shall still apply, however, in all areas not so covered.
C.
Solid or substantially solid fences and walls may substitute for a supplement natural and planted material, provided that their design shall be compatible with the uses being protected by the buffer.
D.
Screen plantings and landscaping shall be broken at points of vehicular and pedestrian ingress and egress to assure vision clearance at all street and driveway intersections.
§ 410-46 Minimum requirements.
Buffers required under § 410-44 shall meet the following requirements as to width:
A.
In WD Districts: 10 feet.
B.
In C-1 Districts: 10 feet.
C.
In C-2 Districts.
(1)
Ten feet with respect to existing permitted residential uses in the C-2 District.
(2)
Fifty feet with respect to zone boundaries, except that if the proposed nonresidential use involves more than 50,000 square feet of gross floor area or outdoor storage of materials and equipment, the minimum buffer width shall be 100 feet.
D.
In I-1 Districts: 100 feet.
E.
In I-2 District: 200 feet.
[Amended 10-9-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-23]
F.
For nonresidential uses in the PV, R-2, R-1, and R-1A Districts: 25 feet.
[Amended 10-9-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-23]
G.
For nonresidential uses in the FO District: 100 feet.
§ 410-47 Waiver permitted.
The municipal board having jurisdiction over an application for development may waive or modify any of the requirements and standards set forth in this chapter for good cause and practical reasons.