The purposes of this Ordinance are to regulate and establish the nature and extent of the uses of land and of the buildings and structures thereon in an effort to secure the following:

A.

Encourage action that will guide the appropriate use or development of all lands in this State, in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare, while acknowledging the State Development and Redevelopment Plan;

B.

Secure safety from fire, flood, panic, and other natural and manmade disasters;

C.

Provide adequate light, air and open space;

D.

Ensure that the development of Tewksbury does not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities, the county, and the State as a whole;

E.

Promote the establishment of appropriate population densities and concentrations that will contribute to the well-being of persons, neighborhoods, communities and regions and preservation of the environment;

F.

Encourage the appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds by the coordination of public development with land use policies;

G.

Provide sufficient space in suitable locations for a variety of agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial and other appropriate uses and open space, both public and private, according to their respective environmental requirements in order to meet the needs of all New Jersey citizens;

H.

Protect environmentally critical areas from development by preventing encroachment on sensitive areas such as wetlands, 100-year floodplains, and slopes in excess of 25%;

I.

Ensure that development respects the conditions of the site, including limited water supply and restricted potential for wastewater disposal, which are the result of the soils and geology native to the Township;

J.

Retain, through careful planning, open spaces and the aesthetic beauty of the Township;

K.

Preserve farms and encourage agriculture and land conservation, and retain those enterprises which foster agricultural activities;

L.

Identify and preserve historic structures, landmarks, hamlets and villages with design standards that will respect the Township's history and rural character;

M.

Protect the Township's rural roads by restricting more intense development and regional traffic to County and collector roads. Planning for future development should recognize the constraints of existing narrow roads with their vertical and horizontal curves, which have limited capacity to handle increased traffic;

N.

Encourage alternative development concepts that will result in the preservation open space, woodlands and critical areas;

O.

Surround existing villages and hamlets with belts of open space to preserve the identity of these places;

P.

Provide only limited local services as required by the Township, since it does not need, nor is it able to support, increased commercial services;

Q.

Reserved;

R.

Develop community recreation facilities which recognize existing and future population that comport with the needs and desires of the residents;

S.

Promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good civic design and arrangement; and, in particular, provide large wooded areas and open spaces as one approaches the villages in the Township;

T.

Promote the conservation of historic sites and districts, open space, energy resources, and valuable natural resources in the State and to prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use of land;

U.

To promote the conservation of energy through the use of planning policies and practices designed to reduce energy consumption and to provide for maximum utilization of renewable energy sources, provided such utilization is accessory to and directly supportive of a use permitted by the Tewksbury Development Regulations Ordinance; and further provided, that such utilization will not undermine the intent and purposes of Tewksbury's Master Plan and Development Regulations Ordinance.

(Ord. 11-2000 (part), 2000; Ord. No. 07-2014, § 2, 9-9-2014; Ord. No. 09-2019, § II, 7-9-2019)