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South Bound Brook City Zoning Code

§ 34-5

DEFINITIONS.

[Ord. 3/12/74, §§ 301—334; Ord. 1/13/87, §§ 301—339]
As used in this chapter:
ACCESSORY BUILDING
Shall mean a building or structure, on the same lot with and subordinate to a principal building, occupied and devoted exclusively to an accessory use. Where an accessory building is attached to a principal building by a breezeway, roof or the like, such accessory building shall be considered part of the principal building.
ACCESSORY USE
Shall mean a use naturally and normally incident and subordinate to the principal and primary use upon any premises.
ADULT BOOK STORE
Shall mean an establishment or business having as a predominant part of its stock in trade, books, magazines, periodicals, photographs, pictures, films, devices, which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas," and limited in sale of such sexual matters to adults.
AUTO BODY SHOP
Shall mean any building structure, lot, or land in or upon which motor vehicle painting and/or body work is pursued.
ALTERATION OF BUILDING OR CHANGE OF USE
Shall mean any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, girders, interior partitions, as well as any change in doors or windows, or any addition to or diminution of a building. A change of use is a change from the use permitted in one Zone District to use permitted in another Zone District, any removal of a building from one location to another, or the conversion of any building, or any part thereof, from a use permitted in one Zone District to a use permitted in another Zone District.
ATTIC
Shall mean the open, nonhabitable space between the ceiling beams of the top habitable story and the roof rafters in any building.
BASEMENT
Shall mean an interior space, or a portion of an interior space, having a floor level below the lowest outside elevation of ground at the foundation wall of the structure in which it is contained.
BUFFER AREA
Shall mean an area within a property or site generally adjacent to and parallel with the property line. "Buffer areas" shall be provided at a width specified by municipal ordinance and shall in no case be less than twenty (20') feet in width when the subject site borders a Commercial or Industrial Zone. "Buffer areas" shall be located completely within the applicant's property and consist of either natural existing vegetation or the combined use of trees, shrubs, berms, fences, or walls designed to continuously limit view of the site from adjacent sites or properties. Plantings shall consist of massed evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, planted and maintained in such a fashion that they will produce within two growing seasons a continuous visual screen at least six (6') feet in height. The quantity of natural screening existing on the property shall be taken into consideration upon evaluation of the site plan. No other above ground construction or use shall be allowed within the boundaries of a buffer area except as to provide access to the property via a vehicle driveway or pedestrian sidewalk.
CANNABIS CULTIVATOR
Shall mean any licensed person or entity that grows, cultivates, or produces adult-use cannabis in this State, and sells, and may transport, this cannabis to other Cannabis Cultivators, or usable cannabis to Cannabis Manufacturers, Cannabis Wholesalers, or Cannabis Retailers, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS DELIVERY SERVICE
Shall mean any licensed person or entity that provides courier services for consumer purchases of cannabis items and related supplies fulfilled by a Cannabis Retailer in order to make deliveries of cannabis items and related supplies to that consumer, and which services include the ability of a consumer to purchase the cannabis items directly through the Cannabis Delivery Service, which after presenting the purchase order to the Cannabis Retailer for fulfillment, is delivered to that consumer. This person or entity shall hold a Class 6 Cannabis Delivery license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS DISTRIBUTOR
Shall mean any licensed person or entity that transports cannabis in bulk intrastate from one licensed Cannabis Cultivator to another licensed Cannabis Cultivator, or transports cannabis items in bulk intrastate from any one class of licensed Cannabis Establishment to another class of licensed Cannabis Establishment and may engage in the temporary storage of cannabis or cannabis items as necessary to carry out transportation activities. This person or entity shall hold a Class 4 Cannabis Distributor license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS ESTABLISHMENT
Shall mean a Cannabis Cultivator, Cannabis Manufacturer, Cannabis Wholesaler, or Cannabis Retailer.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS LICENSE
Shall mean any license issued under relevant State law, including a license that is designated as either a:
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
a. 
Class 1 Cannabis Cultivator license.
b. 
Class 2 Cannabis Manufacturer license.
c. 
Class 3 Cannabis Wholesaler license.
d. 
Class 4 Cannabis Distributor license.
e. 
Class 5 Cannabis Retailer license.
f. 
Class 6 Cannabis Delivery license.
An entity that holds a License is a "Licensee."
CANNABIS MANUFACTURE
Shall mean "the drying, processing, compounding, or conversion of usable cannabis into cannabis products or cannabis resins. "Manufacture" does not include packaging or labeling.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS MANUFACTURER
Shall mean any licensed person or entity that processes cannabis items in this State by purchasing or otherwise obtaining usable cannabis, manufacturing, preparing and packaging cannabis items, and selling, and optionally transporting, these items to other Cannabis Manufacturers, Cannabis Wholesalers, or Cannabis Retailers, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 2 Cannabis Manufacturer license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS RETAILER
Shall mean any State-regulated cannabis retailer, who is a licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains usable cannabis from Cannabis Cultivators and Cannabis items from Cannabis Manufacturers or Cannabis Wholesalers, and sells these to consumers from a retail store, and may use a Cannabis Delivery Service or a certified cannabis handler for the off-premises delivery of cannabis items and related supplies to consumers. A Cannabis Retailer shall also accept consumer purchases to be fulfilled from its retail store that are presented by a Cannabis Delivery Service which will be delivered by the Cannabis Delivery Service to that consumer. This person or entity shall possess prior to commencing operations one of the classes of permit or permit endorsement issued by the State of New Jersey that authorizes the dispensation, sale, or distribution of cannabis or cannabis-derived or infused products and/or related clinical research, provided that such facility shall not cultivate, manufacture, process, or wholesale cannabis or cannabis products from such facility. This person or entity shall hold a Class 5 Cannabis Retailer license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
CANNABIS WHOLESALER
Shall mean any licensed person or entity that purchases or otherwise obtains, stores, sells or otherwise transfers, and may transport, cannabis items for the purpose of resale or other transfer to either another Cannabis Wholesaler or to a Cannabis Retailer, but not to consumers. This person or entity shall hold a Class 3 Cannabis Wholesaler license.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
COMMON OWNERSHIP
Shall mean ownership of two or more contiguous lots of real property by one person or by two persons owning such property in the same form of joint ownership.
DWELLING UNIT
Shall mean a permanent building or portion thereof providing sleeping room(s), bathroom(s) and kitchen facilities for the use of one or more persons. "Dwelling units" - shall be differentiated one from the other as follows:
a. 
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILYShall mean a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
b. 
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILYShall mean a building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
c. 
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILYShall mean a building used or designed as a residence for three or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking therein, including apartment houses but not including motels.
FAMILY
Shall mean up to three persons unrelated by blood, marriage or adoption or any number of individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption living privately together as a single housekeeping unit and using certain rooms and cooking facilities in common.
FLOOR AREA
Shall mean the aggregate area of all floors in a building enclosed by an exterior wall, excluding, however, attic and basement floors, open porches, breezeways and garages, provided however, any basement area in any Nonresidential Zone that is used for sales or display and is open to the public shall be construed as floor area.
GARDEN APARTMENTS
Shall mean a building or group of buildings situated on one lot and containing separate dwelling units for no less than four nor more than 12 dwelling units per structure.
HEIGHT OF BUILDING
Shall mean the distance from the highest roof point to the average elevation of the ground level at the foundation wall of the building.
INSTITUTIONAL USES
Shall mean nonprofit institutions limited to churches, church-owned cemeteries, public or private schools covering grades kindergarten through grade 12, hospitals for humans, municipally-owned or operated buildings or structures used for public purposes.
LOT
Shall mean a parcel of land, the location, dimensions and boundaries of which are set forth on the latest Borough Tax Map. Despite what may be disclosed on the current Borough Tax Map, however, if contiguous lots are in common ownership and are either:
a. 
Lots which are not approved pursuant to South Bound Brook's 1954 Subdivision Ordinance or any amendments thereto;
b. 
Lots which are substandard and fail to meet the minimum lot size requirements of the Zone in which they fall then, for the purposes of administering and enforcing this chapter, the lots shall be construed to be one lot.
1. 
CORNER LOTShall mean a lot at the junction of and having frontage on two or more intersecting streets. A corner lot is also a lot bounded on two or more sides by the same street. The greater frontage of a corner lot is its depth, and its lesser frontage is its width.
2. 
LOT DEPTHShall mean the mean distance between the front and rear property lines of any lot.
3. 
LOT WIDTHShall mean the shortest straight line distance between the two sidelines of any lot. If a lot shall not have parallel sidelines, the average of such widths taken at ten (10') foot intervals and parallel to the front street sideline throughout the depth of the lot shall constitute the average width of the lot.
4. 
LOT AREAShall mean the total square unit contents of any lot as measured within the lot lines.
5. 
LOT FRONTAGEShall mean, in the case of a lot running through from one street to another, the front of such lot shall, for the purposes of this chapter, be considered that frontage upon which the majority of the buildings in the same block front, but in case there has been no clearly defined frontage established, the owner may, when applying for a Building Permit, specify on his permit application which lot line shall be considered the front lot line.
MUNICIPAL USE
Shall mean any use by the Borough of South Bound Brook of any property owned or leased by it.
NONCONFORMING USE
Shall mean a use which is being lawfully exercised within a structure or on land at the time of the adoption of this chapter, or any amendment thereto, and which does not conform with the regulations and requirements of the Zone District in which it is located after the adoption of this chapter or any such amendment.
NONRESIDENTIAL ZONES
Shall mean those zones set forth in subsection 34-3.1 of this chapter known as the B and I Zone Districts.
OCCUPANCY OR OCCUPIED
Shall mean any dwelling unit, if one or more persons or a family customarily reside in the dwelling unit overnight. In nonresidential buildings, the installation, storage or use of equipment, merchandise or machinery in any commercial, public or industrial building - Shall be construed as constituting occupancy of the building.
OPEN SPACE
Shall mean any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved and set aside, dedicated, designated or reserved for public or private use or enjoyment of owners and occupants of land adjoining or neighboring such open space, provided that such areas may be improved with only those buildings, structures, streets and off-street parking and other improvements that are designed to be incidental to the natural openness of the land.
PARKING AREA
Shall mean an open area other than a street or other public road or way used for the parking of motor vehicles, including access drives or aisles for ingress or egress thereto and therefrom.
PARKING SPACE
Shall mean a rectangular space nine (9') feet wide and twenty (20') feet long used for an accommodation for off-street motor vehicle parking which - shall have an area of not less than 180 square feet per vehicle, exclusive of access drives or aisles. All parking spaces - shall be provided with adequate means of ingress and egress which - shall be kept open and unobstructed at all times and which - shall be designed to provide surface driveways or aisles to meet the following minimum standards:
Longitudinal (end to end) parking
12 foot widths
30 degree angle parking
11 foot widths
45 degree angle parking
13 foot widths
60 degree angle parking
18 foot widths
90 degree angle parking
24 foot widths
PERSON
Shall mean and include any person, individual, business entity, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind or nature.
PRINCIPAL USE OR STRUCTURE
Shall mean the primary or predominant use of any lot. A principal structure is one devoted to the principal use.
PRIVATE GARAGE
Shall mean a detached accessory building, or a portion of a principal building, used primarily for the storage of motor vehicles owned or used by the occupant of the principal building to which the garage is an accessory.
PRIVATE SWIMMING POOL
Shall mean any artificially constructed basin or other structure for the holding of water for use by the possessor, his family or guests, for swimming, diving and other aquatic sports and recreation. The term "swimming pool" does not include any plastic, canvas or rubber pool temporarily erected upon the ground capable of holding not more than 500 gallons of water.
PUBLIC GARAGE OR GASOLINE SERVICE STATION
Shall mean any building, structure, lot or land in or upon which a business, service or industry involving the fueling, storage, maintenance, washing or servicing and storage in connection therewith, of motor vehicles is maintained, conducted, operated or rendered.
PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
Shall mean an open space area conveyed or otherwise dedicated to a public body for recreational or conservational uses.
PUBLIC UTILITY FACILITIES
Shall mean telephone and electric lines, poles, equipment and structures, water or gas pipes, mains, valves or structures, or sewer pipes, valves or structures, maintained, operated and conducted for the service, convenience, necessity, health and welfare of the general public, whether owned by any arm or creature of the local, State or Federal government or by any privately owned public utility corporation.
RESIDENTIAL ZONES
Shall mean those zones set forth in subsection 34-3.1 of this chapter and known as the R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, and O-R Zone Districts.
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE
Shall mean a building or structure designed for and lawfully accommodating only one family.
SINGLE OWNERSHIP
Shall mean ownership of a single lot without any abutting property owned by the owner of said lot in which the ownership is by one person, or jointly by two or more persons, whether as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common.
SIGNS
Shall mean and include any device, freestanding or attached to a building or structure, or erected, painted, represented or reproduced upon or in any building or structure, which displays, reproduces or includes any letter, word, name, number, model, insignia, design, device or representation used for one or more of the following purposes: To identify the premises or occupant or owner of the premises; to advertise any trade, business, profession, industry, service or other activity; to advertise any product or item; to advertise the sale or rental or use of all or any part of any premises, including that upon which it is displayed; to direct vehicular or pedestrian traffic other than State, County or municipal highway and roadway markers; and shall include any announcement, declaration, demonstration, display, illustration or any representation used to advertise or intended to advertise or promote the interests of any person.
STORY
Shall mean that portion of a building included between the surface of any one floor, exclusive of any basement, and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there is no floor above it, then that portion of the building included between the surface of any floor and the ceiling next above it.
STREET SIDELINE
Shall mean the outermost line of the whole area devoted to street purposes on either side thereof. "Street sideline" is synonymous with street right-of-way line.
STRUCTURE
Shall mean an object consisting of one or more fabricated or natural materials which is constructed, erected or placed below, upon or above ground level and shall include any building, edifice, construction or piece of work, or any part thereof, or any combination of related parts, including an object attached thereto.
TERMS
Shall mean, in the construction of this chapter, that the present tense shall include the future, the singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular. The word "shall" is always used in its mandatory and not its permissive sense. The words "Zone" and "District" are synonymous, and the words "building" and "structure" are synonymous. The word "used" shall include the words "arranged, designed, or intended to be used."
WHOLESALE TRADE
Shall mean establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to other businesses, including retailers, industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users, other wholesalers, or acting as agents or brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies.
[Added 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006]
YARDS
Shall mean:
a. 
FRONT YARDShall mean an open, unoccupied space (unless occupied by a use hereinafter specifically permitted) extending across the full width of any lot and lying between the front street sideline and the nearest lines of any building on the lot; provided, however, that where there is a proposed widening of the right-of-way of any street as shown on the Master Plan of the Borough, the front yard setback requirement shall be measured from the proposed right-of-way line as shown on the Master Plan rather than from the existing front street sideline. No steps shall extend into any street right-of-way in any Zone District. Front steps extending not more than sixty (60") inches from the front line of any building and within the required front yard shall not be construed as part of the building unless the top step or platform is fully enclosed.
b. 
REAR YARDShall mean an open, unoccupied space (unless occupied by an accessory building or use hereinafter specifically permitted) extending across the full width of any lot between the rear line of any principal building thereon and the rear lot line of said lot.
c. 
SIDE YARDShall mean an open, unoccupied space (unless occupied by a use hereinafter specifically permitted) extending from the rear front yard line to the front rear yard line of any lot between either side lot line and the sideline of the principal building nearest thereto.