Plumsted City Zoning Code
§ 15-14.10
General Regulations.
[Ord. 8/9/82, § 2; Ord. 5/23/88, §§ 19, 20; Ord. No. 90-30, §§ 1-4; Ord. #92-14, §§ 7-11; Ord. #97-01, §§ 15-19; Ord. # 2012-04, §§ 12,13]
a.
The following general regulations apply only to the development of lands in the Pinelands area and are in addition to the regulations contained in the remainder of this chapter.
1.
Expansion of Existing Uses. Notwithstanding the use restrictions contained in subsections 15-14.4 through 15-14.9 above, any use existing on January 14, 1981 that is currently nonconforming or any use which was constructed based upon an approval granted pursuant to the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan that is currently nonconforming, other than intensive recreational facilities and those uses which are expressly limited in Subsection 15-14.21, may be expanded or altered provided that: the use was not abandoned or terminated subsequent to January 14, 1981; the expansion or alteration of the use is in accordance with all of the minimum standards of Subsection 15-14.21; and the area of expansion does not exceed 50 percent of the floor area, the area of the use or the capacity of the use, whichever is applicable, on January 14, 1981 or which was approved pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:50-4, Part V.
2.
Height Limitations.
(a)
No structure, including radio and television transmission and other communication facilities which are not accessory to an otherwise permitted use, shall exceed a height of 35 feet, except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) below.
(b)
The height limitation in Subsection (a) above shall not apply to any of the following structures, provided that such structures are compatible with uses in the immediate vicinity and conform with the objectives of Subsection 15-14.21h, Scenic: antennas which do not exceed a height of 200 feet and which are accessory to an otherwise permitted use, silos, barns and other agricultural structures, church spires, cupolas, domes, monuments, water towers, fire observation towers, electric transmission lines and supporting structures, windmills, smokestacks, derricks, conveyors, flag poles and masts, or aerials, solar energy facilities, chimneys and similar structures to be placed above the roof level and not intended for human occupancy.
3.
No more than one principal use shall be located on one lot, except for forestry, agriculture, horticulture, fish and wildlife management, wetlands management, and recreational development on agricultural lands.
4.
Pinelands Development Credits. Except for land which was owned by a public agency on January 14, 1981, land which is thereafter purchased by the state for conservation purposes, land which is subject to an easement limiting the use of land to nonresidential uses, or land otherwise excluded from entitlement below, every parcel of land in the PA preservation area zone shall have a use right known as "Pinelands Development Credits" that can be used to secure a density bonus for lands located in a Pinelands Regional Growth Area. Pinelands Development Credits may also be allocated to certain properties in the Township by the Pinelands Commission pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:50-4.61 et seq.
(a)
Pinelands Development Credits are hereby established in the PA preservation area zone at the following ratios:
(1)
Uplands which are undisturbed but currently or previously approved for resource extraction pursuant to this chapter: two Pinelands Development Credits per 39 acres;
(2)
Uplands which are mined as a result of a resource extraction permit approved pursuant to this chapter: zero Pinelands Development Credits per 39 acres;
(3)
Other uplands: one Pinelands Development Credit per 39 acres; and
(4)
Wetlands: two-tenths Pinelands Development Credits per 39 acres.
(b)
The allocations established in Subsection (a) above shall be reduced as follows:
(1)
Any property of ten acres or less which is developed for a commercial, industrial, resource extraction, intensive recreation, institutional, campground or landfill use shall not receive Pinelands Development Credit entitlement. For such an improved property of more than ten acres, the area actively used for such use or ten acres, whichever is greater, shall not receive Pinelands Development Credit entitlement.
(2)
The Pinelands Development Credit entitlement of a parcel of land shall be reduced by one-quarter Pinelands Development Credit for each existing dwelling unit on the property.
(3)
The Pinelands Development Credit entitlement for a parcel of land shall be reduced by one-quarter Pinelands Development Credit for each reserved right to build a dwelling unit on the parcel retained by the owner of the property pursuant to Subsection (f) below or when a variance for cultural housing is approved by the Township pursuant to Subsection 15-14.21p.
(4)
The Pinelands Development Credit entitlement for a parcel of land shall also be reduced by one-quarter Pinelands Development Credit for each dwelling unit approved pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:50-4.61 et seq. when a waiver of strict compliance is granted by the Pinelands Commission.
(c)
The owners of parcels of land which are smaller than 39 acres shall have a fractional Pinelands Development Credit at the same ratio established in Subsection (a) above.
(d)
Notwithstanding the provisions above, the owner of record of one-tenth or greater acres of land in the PA zone as of February 7, 1979 shall be entitled to one-quarter Pinelands Development Credits, provided that the parcel of land is vacant, was not in common ownership with any contiguous land on or after February 7, 1979 and has not been sold or transferred except to a member of the owner's immediate family. The provisions of this subsection shall also apply to owners of record of less than one-tenth acres of land in the PA zone, as of February 7, 1979, provided that said owners acquire vacant, contiguous lands to which Pinelands Development Credits are allocated pursuant to Subsection (a) above which lands, when combined with the acreage of the parcel owned prior to February 7, 1979, total at least one-tenth of an acre.
(e)
No Pinelands Development Credit may be conveyed, sold, encumbered or transferred unless the owner of the land from which the credit has been obtained has received a Pinelands Development Credit Certificate from the New Jersey Pinelands Development Credit Bank pursuant to N.J.A.C. 3:42-3 and has deed restricted the use of the land in perpetuity to those uses set forth in Subsection (h) below by a recorded deed restriction which is in favor of a public agency or not-for-profit incorporated organization and specifically and expressly enforceable by the Pinelands Commission.
(f)
Notwithstanding the provision of Subsection (e) above, an owner of property from which Pinelands Development Credits are sold may retain a right for residential development on that property provided that the recorded deed restriction expressly provides for same and that the total allocation of Pinelands Development Credits for that property is reduced by one-quarter Pinelands Development Credit for each reserved right to build a dwelling unit. Subdivision of the property shall not be required until such time as the residential development right is exercised.
(g)
No conveyance, sale, or transfer of Pinelands Development Credits shall occur until the municipality with jurisdiction over the parcel of land from which the Pinelands Development Credits were obtained, the agency or organization to which the restriction is in favor, and the Pinelands Commission have been provided with evidence of recordation of a restriction on the deed to the land from which the development credits were obtained.
(h)
Such deed restriction shall specify the number of Pinelands Development Credits sold and that the property may only be used in perpetuity for the following uses in the PA Preservation Area zone: Berry agriculture; horticulture of native Pinelands plants; forestry; beekeeping; fish and wildlife management; wetlands management; agricultural employee housing as an accessory use; low-intensity recreational uses in which the use of motorized vehicles is not permitted except for necessary transportation, access to water bodies is limited to no more than 15 feet of frontage per 1,000 feet of frontage on the water body, clearing of vegetation does not exceed 5% of the parcel, and no more than 1% of the parcel will be covered with impervious surfaces; and accessory uses. In all other Pinelands zoning districts: agriculture; forestry; and low-intensity recreational uses.
[Amended 3-6-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-05]
(i)
Pinelands Development Credits shall be used in the following manner:
(j)
In no case shall a building or construction permit be issued for any development involving the use of Pinelands Development Credits until the developer has provided the Pinelands Commission and the Township with evidence of his ownership of the requisite Pinelands Development Credits and those Pinelands Development Credits have been redeemed with the Township.