Scotch Plains City Zoning Code
§ 23-3.14
M-1 Industrial Zone.
a.
Permitted primary uses.
1.
Office buildings for executive, engineering, and administrative purposes.
2.
Scientific or research laboratories devoted to research, design and/or experimentation and processing and fabricating incidental thereto, provided no materials or finished products shall be manufactured, processed or fabricated on said premises for sale, except such as are incidental to the laboratory research, design or experimentation conducted on the premises.
3.
Any light manufacturing, processing, packaging or assembly use, research laboratory, or other similar industrial uses which can demonstrate the capability to maintain the following performance standards at all times in their operation.
(a)
Any noise produced on the premises shall not be in excess of the standards listed below when measured at any property line of the lot on which the use is located.
Frequency | Band Hz | Sound Pressure Level Decibels re 0.0002 dyne/cm2 |
|---|---|---|
20 | 75 | 69 |
75 | 150 | 54 |
150 | 300 | 47 |
300 | 600 | 41 |
600 | 1,200 | 37 |
1,200 | 2,400 | 34 |
2,400 | 4,800 | 31 |
4,800 | 10,000 | 28 |
(b)
If the noise is not smooth and continuous but is of an impulsive or periodic character, the decibel levels indicated above shall be reduced by 5%.
(c)
Any smoke emitted from any source on the premises shall not be of a density greater than that density described as No. 1 on the Ringlemann Chart, as published by the United States Bureau of Mines.
(d)
No fly ash, dust fumes, vapors, gases or other forms of air pollution which can cause any damage to health, to animals or vegetation, or damage or soil to other forms of property shall be permitted.
(e)
There shall be no emissions of odors in such quantities as to be offensive at lot boundary lines.
(f)
No activity shall be maintained on the premises which will produce heat or glare beyond any property line.
(g)
No machinery or operation shall be permitted which shall cause perceptible vibration discernible to the human sense of feeling at the property lines of the lot on which the site is located.
(h)
No activity shall be maintained on the premises which may result in or cause hazard of fire, explosion, radiation, disease or other physical hazard to persons, plant growth, buildings or other property.
4.
Contractors' storage buildings and storage yards and other such outdoor storage of equipment and vehicles, provided that no such area is within the existing or required front yard area, whichever is smaller, and is screened by fencing or landscaping from public view from a public street or from an adjacent residential zone, or as the approving authority requires. Any building constructed or used on the premises shall meet all applicable bulk requirements of this chapter.
5.
Municipal parks, playgrounds, buildings and uses deemed appropriate and necessary by the Township Council.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection a.6, regarding cannabis businesses, added 5-18-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-9, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 6-21-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-14.
d.
Other provisions and requirements.
1.
One off-street parking space shall be provided for each visitor and each employee on the maximum work shift, provided that at no time shall the use result in parking on a public street for any reason. The onus and burden of proof for establishing and always providing adequate amount of required off-street parking area shall be upon the original applicant for the building permit, or any subsequent owner of the premises.
2.
Parking areas may be located in any of the required yard areas other than the front yard, provided they are not less than 20 feet from the boundary of a residential zone or street line.
3.
Each use located in this zone shall provide truck loading and unloading space on the same lot and in other than the required front yard so as to permit the transfer of goods in other than a public street.
4.
Each use established in this zone shall set aside 10% of the tract for seeding and landscaping, and use this area for no other purpose.
5.
Wherever a use in this zone is on a lot which abuts a residence zone, a ten-foot-wide buffer area shall be provided adjacent to the residence zone boundary. Such buffer area shall be suitably planted and maintained with landscape materials of such species and sizes, in a manner approved by the approving authority, as will preclude any detrimental effect upon the adjacent residence zone.
6.
All industrial activities or processes shall take place within an enclosed building. Incidental storage of materials and equipment out of doors shall be shielded from any adjacent public streets or residential areas by fencing, landscaping or other appropriate measures and shall not be within the existing or required yard areas facing the street or streets; except that crushing of waste material may be conducted on site with portable crushing equipment. Crushing shall not be considered a primary use of the property and shall be considered as a secondary use to a permitted use in the M-1 Zone; by way of example, a contractors storage yard; between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday only. No weekend activity shall be permitted. Crushing of material needs to be kept wet down during the operation. Proper permits must be received from the DEP and annal record submissions must be provided to the Township of Scotch Plains for the purpose of gaining recycling credits.
[Amended 7-19-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-16]
7.
The following uses or activities are specifically prohibited in this zone:
(a)
Auction markets.
(b)
Automobile wrecking yards, junkyards, or disassembly yards, or the sorting or baling of scrap metal, paper, rags or other scrap material.
(c)
Gas (illuminating or heating) storage, except for consumption on premises.
(d)
Incineration, reduction, storage or dumping of slaughterhouse refuse, rancid fats, garbage, trash, refuse, junk, dead animals or offal, except by the municipality or its agents.
(e)
Outdoor sales of new or used motor vehicles or trailer coaches.
(f)
Petroleum or its derivatives except when stored in underground tanks and not in excess of 40,000 gallons of fuel oil or 20,000 gallons of gasoline or kerosene.
(g)
Residential dwelling units.