Plainsboro City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXIII
ECA Educational and Cultural Arts Zone Regulations
§ 101-233 Purpose.
Pursuant to the recommendations set forth in Section I (St. Joseph Seminary Development Area) of the Township Master Plan adopted January 20, 2009, amended on August 2, 2010, the intent and purpose of these provisions is to redefine the use of a portion of the former Saint Joseph Seminary property for the creation of a cultural arts and education campus, in order to utilize the existing high quality educational buildings and grounds in a sustainable manner that preserves and protects the character of the property and its buildings and supports educational and cultural arts opportunities in the community.
§ 101-234 Goals.
The ECA Zone is intended to achieve the following goals:
A.
Provide an appropriate built and natural environment to support educational and cultural arts uses and activities in a campus-like setting.
B.
Maintain the overall character of the existing property, including its buildings and open space features.
C.
Preserve as passive open space the portion of 4.2+/- acres of the St. Joseph's Seminary property that is situated between Mapleton Road and the Delaware and Raritan Canal.
D.
Preserve and protect the lawn area, referred to in Section I (St. Joseph Seminary Development Area) of the amended Master Plan as "the Great Lawn," located on the west side of the Seminary between the existing buildings and Mapleton Road, in order to preserve the existing viewshed along Mapleton Road.
E.
Adequately buffer and protect the adjacent residential units within the community commonly known as "the Windrows."
F.
Encourage any future parking facilities to be constructed in the area east of the existing buildings and west of the existing active open space/playing fields. Such facilities, including vehicular and pedestrian circulation elements, shall be designed in a manner that promotes efficiency, safety and environmental sensitivity.
G.
Accommodate the construction of new building space, either as additions or freestanding structures, provided that such construction is made compatible with and complementary to the existing buildings through the use of materials and design elements that reflect general architectural consistency and compatibility with the existing principal buildings on the property.
H.
Limit accessory site improvements such as signage and lighting to what is necessary to adequately support the use of the property, utilizing a coordinated system of high quality signage and lighting fixtures.
I.
Provide for site improvements, including fencing and landscaping, that are designed to enhance the overall character of the property and alleviate adverse effects on adjoining properties.
§ 101-235 Permitted uses.
The following principal uses shall be permitted in the ECA Zone. Any contrary provisions in this Code notwithstanding, property situated in the ECA Zone may be developed with more than one principal use.
A.
Private or public pre-school, elementary, secondary, post-secondary and professional schools, including schools that provide room and board facilities.
B.
Institutions or entities that provide or support cultural arts, entertainment or fine arts, including instructional services generally.
C.
Student dormitory and staff residential accommodations when associated with a permitted school use.
D.
Institutions or entities that provide or support educational and instructional services generally.
E.
Seminaries or other religious education training centers.
G.
Private or public open space.
§ 101-236 Accessory uses.
The following accessory uses shall be permitted in the ECA Zone:
A.
Public and private concerts, including rehearsals and recording sessions.
B.
Indoor and outdoor recreational and cultural arts activities associated with a principal permitted use.
C.
Office and other administrative uses, as needed, to support the principal permitted uses listed hereinabove.
D.
Any other use, activity or structure customarily associated with and incidental to one or more of the principal permitted uses listed hereinabove, including seasonal recreational, cultural or educational activities such as summer camps and programs.
§ 101-237 Preexisting uses.
A.
The intent of this section is to allow the continued use of the existing Chapel by the Vincentian Order and others in keeping with its historical use. To that end, the following specific activities shall be deemed preexisting uses and shall be permitted to continue within the existing chapel only:
B.
Nothing herein shall be deemed to allow the establishment or expansion of a cemetery in the ECA Zone, other than the grandfathered uses in the chapel as specifically set forth herein.
§ 101-238 Prohibited uses.
Any use not expressly permitted in the ECA Zone shall be prohibited.
§ 101-239 Minimum lot area.
The minimum lot area for all uses in the ECA Zone shall be 30 acres.
§ 101-240 Minimum frontage.
The minimum street frontage shall be 1,000 feet.
§ 101-241 Minimum setbacks.
A.
Mapleton Road frontage: In order to preserve and protect the Great Lawn, in keeping with the goals set forth in § 101-234D above, no building or other structure shall be located closer than 425 feet from the right-of-way of Mapleton Road, and no parking improvements shall be located closer than 400 feet from same.
C.
All other setbacks:
(1)
No building or structure shall be located closer than 100 feet from any property line abutting a residential use or senior residential nursing facility.
(2)
No parking improvement shall be located closer than 50 feet from any property line abutting a residential use or senior residential nursing facility.
§ 101-242 Maximum building coverage.
The maximum permitted building coverage shall be 10%.
§ 101-243 Maximum impervious coverage.
The maximum permitted impervious coverage shall be 25%.
§ 101-244 Maximum floor area ratio.
The maximum floor area ratio shall be 0.20.
§ 101-245 Maximum building height.
A.
Except as set forth in Subsection C below, the maximum height for all principal buildings and structures shall be three stories, not to exceed 40 feet.
B.
Except as set forth in Subsection C below, the maximum height for all accessory buildings and structures shall be 20 feet.
C.
In order to preserve the architectural character of the existing buildings in the ECA Zone and reasonably accommodate their expansion, where any such building exceeds the height limit set forth in Subsections A and B above, the height of any addition to such building may be increased to match the existing height of the roof of the portion of the building that is being expanded.
§ 101-246 General design and development standards.
A.
All applications for development in the ECA Zone shall require site plan approval.
B.
Unless otherwise specifically set forth in this article, development in the ECA Zone shall be subject to all applicable requirements set forth in the Township's Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance,[1] including, but not limited to, the standards regarding street design, fire lanes, streetlighting, drainage, stormwater management, water supply, and sanitary sewers and septic systems.
C.
In addition to the requirements set forth in this article and in the Township's Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance, the following matters should be considered by the board of jurisdiction in its review of any site plan application for development in the ECA Zone. These are intended to serve as guidelines, not regulations:
(1)
All buildings and structures should be designed to harmonize with the character of the existing site and principal buildings and should be located and designed using existing and additional landscaping, appropriate high quality building materials (e.g., stone, brick, precast masonry, or high quality wood projects), and color to enhance their appearance and mitigate any adverse visual impact from both on- and off-site locations.
(2)
All building additions should utilize traditional sloping roofs consistent with the general character of the existing buildings, which roofs should be covered with high quality roofing materials such as standing seam metal roofing or slate (or comparable) roof shingles.
(3)
To the greatest extent possible, within the context of the proposed development, existing site characteristics, including unique topographic features and mature landscaping, should be preserved, and site disturbance minimized.
(4)
Additional landscaping should be used to enhance the character of the site, help screen parking areas visible from the street, and improve the effectiveness of buffer areas near property lines of neighboring residential areas.
(5)
All fences and walls should be constructed of high quality materials such as, but not limited to, traditional black wrought iron or similar metal picket-type fence, stone, brick or similar type of masonry wall.
(6)
Special attention should be given to general interior vehicular and pedestrian circulation, including by designing and locating walkways, interior drives, and parking in such manner as to maintain proper separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and provide parking areas that promote efficiency, safety, and environmental sensitivity.