To guide the appropriate use or development of all lands within the boundaries of the Township of Old Bridge in a manner that will promote and protect the public health, safety, morals and general welfare and which is consistent with the availability and capacity of public facilities and services;

To secure safety from fire, flood, panic and other natural and man-made disasters;

To provide adequate light, air, and open space;

To ensure that the development of the municipality does not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities, the county and the state as a whole;

To establish population densities and concentrations which:

To encourage the appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds by the coordination of public development with land use policies;

To provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of uses and open space, both public and private, according to their respective environmental requirements;

To encourage the location and design of transportation routes that will promote the free flow of traffic while discouraging locations of such facilities and routes that result in congestion or blight;

To promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques, good civil design and arrangements;

To promote the conservation of open space and valuable natural resources and to prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use of land;

To encourage senior citizen community housing construction;

To encourage coordination of the various public and private procedures and activities shaping land development with a view to lessening the cost of such development and to the more efficient use of land;

To promote the conservation of energy through the use of planning practices designed to reduce energy consumption and to provide for maximum utilization of renewable energy sources;

To achieve the desired ends of the Township's growth management policies by limiting development which is dependent on public facilities outside of growth areas to a fixed number of permits per annum, in accordance with the Old Bridge Township Master Plan and Capital Improvements Program, unless it is otherwise determined that the Township has sufficient resources to accommodate land development over and above the planned growth rate, as therein set forth;

To preserve the ecology of water-related areas, such as freshwater and saltwater wetlands, floodplains, and aquifer recharge areas;

To preserve the visual character of existing open spaces;

To encourage rural residential clustering for the preservation of open space;

To encourage a large lot, single-family land use pattern in appropriate locations;

To reinforce the single-family land use pattern on smaller lots using intensive landscaping and classical fencing;

To promote the development of a new town center for the Township of Old Bridge through the mix and distribution of appropriate land uses and densities;

To promote the rehabilitation of housing and the improvement of deteriorating neighborhoods;

To reinforce the existing urban areas with sidewalks, landscaping and street furniture;

To promote extensive landscaping, including street trees at close spacing, landscaping in industrial, commercial, as well as residential areas;

To encourage the rehabilitation of existing commercial areas, with particular consideration given to the issues of curbing, landscaping, front and rear facade improvements and buffering, through the use of creative design standards;

To limit high density residential development to detached or semidetached homes with intensive landscaping along the streetscape; or townhouses with fenced front yards with intensive street landscaping;

To promote the renewal of the Raritan Bay waterfront area;

To promote the creation of new and innovative recreational and leisure activities for all residents; and

To promote the purposes of good design of developments as set forth in Article X hereof.

Subsequent to the adoption of this chapter, including without limitation the Zoning Map adopted pursuant to Article VII, and any revisions to the Zoning Map or this chapter, three copies of the Zoning Map and this chapter shall be authenticated by the Mayor's signature, and the Seal of the municipality, attested by the Township Clerk, under the following certificates:

Maintenance of the Zoning Map and this chapter. Authenticated copies of the Zoning Map and this chapter shall be maintained in the office of the Township Clerk and the Township Department of Community Development and shall be made available for public reference. Copies of all or a part of the Zoning Map and this chapter may be reproduced for public distribution. One authenticated copy of the Official Zoning Map and this chapter shall be forwarded to the Middlesex County Planning Board by the Township Clerk in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-16. However, the original copy of the Official Zoning Map and this chapter shall be maintained in the office of the Township Clerk and shall be the final authority as to the current status of zoning districts and land development regulations in the Township of Old Bridge.