West Caldwell City Zoning Code
§ 20-23.3
General Provisions.
[Ord. No. 890 § 20-23.3; Ord. No. 937; Ord. No. 1106 § 1; Ord. No. 1206 § 8; Ord. No. 1419 § 33; Ord. No. 1425 § 3; Ord. No. 1488 §§ 4, 13; Ord. No. 1729 § 5; Ord. No. 1745 § 8]
All plans for parking and loading within the Township of West Caldwell shall be in conformance with the following provisions and shall be subject to the review and approval of the Township agency for adequacy in relation to traffic safety and protection of adjacent properties. Unless indicated otherwise, the general provisions apply only to nonresidential zone districts.
a.
In all zone districts, parking and loading areas shall be paved and graded so that surface water drainage shall not discharge upon or over adjacent property.
b.
In all zone districts, other than the B-2 District, all required parking shall be provided on a paved area on the same lot with the building or use it serves and within 400 feet of an entrance to such building or use, unless the Township agency permits exceptions to same in specific cases and under particular circumstances. In the B-2 Zone District, at least 80% of all required parking shall be located within 400 feet of an entrance to a building used for public access. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent collective provision of off-street parking areas on adjacent lots, provided that the total area of such parking areas shall not be less than the sum of the requirements for each such lot computed separately in accordance with the provisions herein. Such contiguous parking areas shall provide for direct, safe and unencumbered access, either by physical encumbrances or restrictions established by deed, easement or other instrument, between and through the adjacent properties.
c.
In all nonresidence zone districts, no on-site outdoor overnight parking shall be permitted for any vehicle more than 30 feet in overall length or having more than four wheels, except vehicles parked at approved loading docks in M-1 and M-2 zone districts or except as may be otherwise determined by the Township agency in particular cases. In all residence zone districts, no regular on-site outdoor parking shall be permitted for any vehicle unless such vehicle is owned or regularly used by a resident of the premises and unless all of the following conditions are satisfied:
1.
Such vehicle shall have a single chassis body having not more than four wheels and shall not be more than 20 feet long or seven feet high and shall not exceed a rated capacity of 7,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, which shall include the weight of the vehicle, passengers, equipment and cargo, and
2.
Such vehicle shall be of a type and kind which is normally and customarily parked on residential properties, which shall not include any vehicle which by its design and/or appearance is clearly intended exclusively for commercial or industrial purposes, including, but not limited to, taxicabs, buses, hearses, dump trucks and tow-trucks, and
3.
Such vehicle shall not contain any commercial advertising in the form of lettering, logos or graphics on the exterior of the vehicle, except normal and customary signage identifying the manufacturer and model of the vehicle and such other signage as may be required by law, and
4.
All products, cargo and equipment, including ladders, and/or other commercial accessories or materials which are not permanently affixed to the vehicle and which are clearly visible from a public street or an adjacent property shall be removed and stored indoors when such vehicle is parked outdoors on a residential property.
Nothing herein shall be construed (a) to prohibit the temporary parking of commercial vehicles on residential properties while such vehicles are being used in the transaction of business with the owner or occupant of the property, or (b) to prohibit the storage of recreational vehicles or similar conveyances on residential properties, such storage being herein regulated pursuant to Subsection 20-22.9e or (c) to permit uses or other activities otherwise herein prohibited on residential properties.
d.
In all zone districts, no commercial repair work or service of any kind shall be conducted in any off-street parking area.
e.
Lighting for off-street parking shall be designed to reflect downward away from adjoining buildings, properties and streets, and shall not cause glare in excess of 1/2 foot-candle over adjoining nonresidence property or streets or more than one-fourth foot-candle over adjoining residence areas. Unless otherwise determined by the Township agency, all lighting shall be extinguished by 10:30 p.m., or one hour past the established closing time, whichever is later. Lighting proposed for security purposes, when so indicated on the site plan, may be left on from dusk to dawn.
f.
Curbing shall be required around the entire perimeter of the parking area and along both sides of all access driveways.
g.
Except as otherwise provided herein, in any non-residence zone district no vehicle shall be parked closer than 10 feet to any principal building, except for trucks parked at an approved loading dock, nor 10 feet to any property line, except that five feet shall be permitted where a parking area abuts a separate, conforming parking area on an adjoining property. In any residence zone district, no vehicle shall be parked, nor shall any driveway or paved areas be constructed, closer than five feet to any property line, except that, where deemed appropriate by the Board of Adjustment in particular cases, contiguous driveways on adjoining residential properties may be permitted; nor shall any parking area in a front yard, including driveways, exceed 30% of the area of the yard.
h.
In the event a use is not specifically referenced herein, the minimum requirements for off-street parking spaces of a similar or related use shall apply. If no use can reasonably be described as similar or related to the proposed use, minimum parking spaces shall be determined by the Township agency.
i.
In the event of a mixed use on the same lot, required off-street parking shall be the sum of the required off-street parking for each use.
j.
In the event the number of required parking spaces results in a fraction of a space, the number shall be rounded up to next higher number of whole spaces.
k.
Loading spaces as required herein shall be located so as to limit visibility from the roadway to the greatest extent possible. No loading is permitted in the front yard or front half of the side yard of any property. For buildings greater than 90,000 square feet located in the B-2 Zone all loading and unloading shall occur in the rear yard, except for pickups or deliveries by retail customers. In all zone districts for every building, or part hereafter erected, which is to be occupied by manufacturing, storage, goods display, retail store, wholesale store or warehouse, market, hospital, laundry, dry cleaning or other use similarly requiring the delivery or distribution of material or merchandise, there shall be provided and maintained on the same premises with such building, off-street loading spaces in relation to floor area, at least as follows: up to 10,000 square feet, one space; 10,000 to 25,000 square feet, two spaces; one additional space for each additional 25,000 square feet or part thereof.
l.
Required parking may be provided within or under any portion of a principal building or in an accessory structure constructed for parking purposes provided that the access driveway does not at any point have a grade in excess of 10%.
m.
Where a property is located in a flood hazard area, the developer shall supply sufficient information and data, as required by the Township agency, to substantiate that such parking areas conform with all provisions of Chapter 21 of the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of West Caldwell.
n.
Where an applicant can clearly demonstrate to the Township agency that, because of the nature of the proposed use, the parking requirement of the particular zone district is unnecessary or excessive, the Township agency may approve parking plans showing less paved parking area or fewer parking spaces than required. In such event, a landscaped area shall be reserved that can readily be converted to off-street parking if the conditions for allowing the lesser paved parking area or number of spaces ever change.
o.
Where access to an off-street parking area is from a collector or arterial roadway, the Township agency may require service roads, acceleration and/or deceleration lanes, jughandles and traffic control devices in order to provide for the safe and efficient movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
p.
All off-street parking areas shall be designed to provide for through circulation on all driveways and parking aisles. Dead end aisles may be prohibited by the Township agency.
q.
Adequate storage areas for entering and exiting vehicles shall be provided within driveway areas so that such vehicles do not interfere with vehicles maneuvering into or out of parking spaces.
r.
The Township agency may require that parking areas in nonresidence zone districts shall be 110% of the size determined by the requirements of the applicable zone district, excluding areas intended for loading, access driveways or employee parking. The additional 10% shall be used for landscaped areas within the off-street parking area.
s.
The Planning Board may grant exceptions to the provisions of this section pursuant to the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-51).