The intent and purpose of the Tier 3 Affordable Housing Overlay Zone District is to provide for the continued redevelopment of the downtown and address the Township's unmet affordable housing obligation, in conformance with the requirements of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH"), the settlement agreement entered into between the Township of Scotch Plains, Fair Share Housing Center ("FSHC"), Lamberts Mill, Amberg, ATA Developers, and SP Reserve on January 15, 2018 (hereinafter "settlement agreement"), and the court order approving same, which was entered by the court on April 20, 2018, after a properly noticed fairness hearing, and the Township's conditional declaratory judgment of compliance and repose entered by the Superior Court of New Jersey on January 9, 2019, and filed by the court on January 11, 2019, which approved the land use regulations and affirmative devices in the Township's Housing Element and Fair Share Plan to comply with the Township's constitutional obligation with respect to affordable housing under the Mount Laurel doctrine.

Downtown revitalization. The Township of Scotch Plains has made a long-standing commitment to creating a vibrant downtown community by balancing jobs, housing, recreation, and commercial opportunities that make it a destination for residents and nonresidents alike. Scotch Plains has demonstrated this commitment through a legislative history focused on the downtown area in a series of Master Plan documents dating back to 1976, and through the preparation of numerous planning studies dating back to 1984. Recently, the Township has renewed its focus on downtown revitalization to comply with its affordable housing settlement and bring downtown into 21st Century development. This overlay ordinance shall contribute to the revitalization of the downtown through:

Mixed-use structures combining retail business establishments or personal service establishments on the ground floor or upper floors and containing a nonresidential use that is enumerated and permitted pursuant to § 23-3.11 (B-2 Zone) of the Township of Scotch Plains Ordinances for all properties located in the B-2 Business Zone District, with inclusionary apartments on the upper floors. Residential dwelling units are prohibited on the first floor.

Multifamily apartments. Residential units are prohibited on the first floor.

Townhouses.

The underlying zoning for all properties in Tier III, Phase 6 and Phase 7 in accordance with Chapter 23, Zoning, shall remain in place.

Secondary uses enumerated in § 23-3.11 (B-2 Zone) shall be permitted on all properties located in the B-2 Zone and P Public Zone.

Uses associated with multifamily residential apartment uses and mixed-use developments as follows:

Residential (apartment) uses or offices may occupy the second or third floor (or the fourth floor where permitted) of a building. Separate and discrete entrances for each use shall be provided to the street level. There shall be no mixed uses (apartments and offices or commercial uses) on any floor.

Three-bedroom or greater market-rate apartment dwelling units are prohibited.

The minimum gross square footage of the commercial floor area on the ground or first floor of any mixed-use building shall be no less than 20% of the gross floor area of the largest floor of the building on any level. The commercial space and its primary entrance shall be oriented to and located along the street frontage of the property.

Wherever a multifamily apartment building or mixed-use building is on a lot which abuts a residence zone, a ten-foot-wide landscaped buffer area shall be provided adjacent to the residential use or zone boundary in a manner approved by the approving authority. Such buffer area shall be suitably planted and maintained with landscaping materials of such species and sizes so as to preclude any detrimental effect upon the adjacent residence zone.

In order to maintain a vibrant downtown for all residents of the Township of Scotch Plains, only mixed-use developments as defined in this ordinance shall be permitted to be constructed within the Core Downtown Area as defined under § 23-10.5.c (Exhibit B[3]) or on any property that contains frontage along Park Avenue, East 2nd Street or Westfield Avenue as shown on Exhibit A.[4]

A minimum of four townhouses and a maximum of six townhouses shall be located in the same building.

No more than two contiguous townhouse dwelling units shall be located on the same setback line.

Variations in front setbacks between contiguous townhouse dwelling units shall not be less than one foot.

All townhouse units shall have an individual backyard. Each townhouse unit backyard is required to be separated from the adjacent unit's yard by a solid fence or wall. Fences shall not exceed six feet in height.

All townhouse units shall front on and have their main entrance located extending from the public right-of-way.

Off-street parking shall be located in the rear of the townhouse unit. Parking in the front yard and garages located in the front of townhouse units are prohibited.

A private driveway shall be provided along the rear of a row of townhomes in order to permit vehicles to access the rear of the townhouse units. A six-foot-high solid fence shall be provided along the rear property line/driveway to screen the cars from neighboring properties. If the driveway is designed to be wide enough to accommodate parking spaces along one side while still providing safe circulation, those parking spaces are permitted to count towards the minimum parking spaces required for the project.

Parking and access driveway requirements for the townhouse units shall comply with the Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) and shall be set back a minimum of five feet from all property lines.

Every townhouse unit shall have a garage. Individual townhouse unit garages shall be permitted in the rear of townhouse units, either attached to the principal structure or as an accessory structure.

The affordable units, which are part of any townhouse project, may be constructed within multifamily building(s) or stacked townhouses that are designed to give the appearance of a townhouse unit from the street.

The minimum distance between townhouse buildings front to front or front to rear shall be 50 feet. The minimum distance end to end or front to side shall be 20 feet. The nearest point of any townhouse building shall be a minimum of 15 feet from edge of pavement of any access roadway or parking space.

The minimum gross ground floor area for a townhouse unit shall be 900 square feet.

Permitted accessory uses, buildings and structures shall include the following:

Common open space area as defined under § 23-10.5.c that is a minimum of 10% of the gross lot area shall be provided for all mixed-use or residential projects that are three stories or greater. The following projects are exempt from these common open space requirements:

Common open space areas shall be provided on the property and shall be predominantly located in the front yard; however, it may extend into any yard or setback area. The common open space shall be safely and properly connected to the public sidewalk and shall be barrier-free.

Common open space areas shall be improved and maintained by the property owner or association in perpetuity with provisions to be included in a developer's agreement or board resolution.

In all mixed-use developments, the common open space shall be designed as an extension of the commercial use and the streetscape.

Amenity space. A multifamily or mixed-use development containing 10 or more total residential units shall dedicate a minimum of 15% of the gross floor area of the largest floor on any level for residential amenities, including but not limited to club rooms, multipurpose rooms, and lobbies with seating areas. The amenities may be located on any building level, provided that the amenities are accessible to all residents of the project. Such amenities shall be in addition to required commercial space for mixed-use developments.

Off-street parking spaces shall be permitted in a floor constructed below grade or on the ground floor of a building, provided that such parking spaces are enclosed in a garage and not visible from the street or neighboring properties. Additional structured parking shall be permitted on the second story, provided that the structured parking is located in the rear of the building with residential units or commercial spaces fronting on the street.

A level constructed below grade for parking and only incidentally for other permitted building facilities shall not be considered a story for height purposes when the average height of the below grade level as measured around the perimeter of the exterior of the lower level is not extending above the finished grade by more than four feet.

Structured parking garages shall be constructed with the same type of building materials and finishes as the main portion of the building.

Tandem parking is prohibited.

All required parking spaces shall be provided on-site, unless the developer can provide a written lease agreement for off-site parking that is within 1,000 feet of the subject property, subject to the requirements below:

Minimum required off-street parking spaces. The minimum number of off-street parking spaces shall comply with the Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) for all residential uses and the applicable Township Ordinances for all nonresidential uses.

An additional 5% of the gross lot area shall be dedicated and constructed as open space for all projects with a gross lot area of 1.0 acre or greater. This additional 5% of open space is to be provided in addition to the common open space that is required in § 23-10.5.i. This additional 5% of open space can be a separately designed open space area from the common open space required under § 23-10.5. All open space areas may be located within building setbacks. The design and location of all open space areas shall be approved by the Planning Board.

The minimum square footage of the market-rate units shall be 600 square feet for a studio apartment, 700 square feet for a one-bedroom market-rate unit and 850 square feet for a two-bedroom market-rate unit. All developments shall have a mixture of market-rate bedroom units in addition to satisfying the affordable housing bedroom distribution requirements, and no development shall have more than 10% of the total market-rate units be studio apartments.

The project shall satisfy the off-street parking requirements as specified under § 23-10.5.j.

All building elevations are constructed with the same architectural style and incorporate upscale building materials on all building elevations. The use of vinyl siding and EIFS shall be prohibited.

A twenty-percent inclusionary affordable housing setaside shall be required, regardless of whether the project is rental or for-sale.

The developer shall incorporate Green Design Standards as defined in this ordinance into the project, subject to review and approval by the Planning Board.

All dwelling units shall be constructed to the standards as outlined in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 13 fire protection codes.

For projects which consist of five or more new residential units, no fewer than 20% of for-sale units or 15% of for-rental units constructed shall be set aside as units affordable to very-low-, low-, and moderate-income households.

Income distribution. The income distribution for the affordable units in each project shall be as follows: no more than 50% may be moderate-income units, at least 37% shall be low-income units and at least 13% shall be very-low-income units.

Bedroom mix. At least 20% of the affordable units in each project shall be three-bedroom units; no more than 20% of the affordable units in each project shall be efficiency and one-bedroom units; at least 30% of the affordable units in each project shall be two-bedroom units; the balance may be two- or three-bedroom units; at the discretion of the developer.

The developer shall have an obligation to deed restrict the affordable units as very-low-, low-, or moderate-income affordable units for a period of at least 30 years, until such time and under conditions as the Township elects to release the deed restriction, so that the Township may count the affordable units against its affordable housing obligation. The deed restrictions shall be recorded with the County Clerk, and a copy of the recorded deed shall be forwarded to the Township Municipal Housing Liaison and Administrative Agent. Any sale of the property or units shall not affect the length or terms of the deed restriction.

All affordable units shall comply with the bedroom distribution requirements, income distribution requirements, pricing requirements, integration of affordable unit requirements, affirmative marketing requirements, candidate qualification and screening requirements and deed restriction requirements of the Township's Affordable Housing Ordinance.

The developer/owner of the affordable units shall contract with an experienced and duly qualified administrative agent for the administration of the affordable units. The developer's/owner's administrative agent may either be the Township Administrative Agent or shall report to the Township Administrative Agent, and the developer/owner shall have the obligation to pay all costs associated with affirmatively marketing and deed restricting the affordable units, income qualifying residents, and maintaining compliance with the affordability controls on the affordable units in accordance with this section and the Township's Affordable Housing Ordinance for the entirety of the deed-restriction period. The developer/owner and its administrative agent shall enable the Township to comply with the affordable housing monitoring requirements of the court.