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§ 78-71.3 DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS § 78-71.4
§ 78-71.4. Resource management regulations. [Added 7-25-94 by Ord. No. 94-22]
The following resource management regulations shall govern all applications for major subdivision and major site plan approval. The municipal agency may require easements, pursuant to Section 78-42 in furtherance of the purposes of these resource management regulations.
A. Agriculture.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to preserve and protect contiguous areas of agricultural/horticultural lands and allow for the continuation of farming in these areas, while minimizing conflicts between residential and agricultural uses.
(2) The use of land for agricultural activities and fish and wildlife management activities, including the preparation of land and the planting, nurturing and harvesting of crops, should reflect recommended management practices established for the particular agricultural activity by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service, and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University. Such practices include recommended management practices as found in, but not limited to, the following publications, as may be amended from time to time:
(a) Erosion and runoff. Soil Conservation Service Technical Guide;
(b) Animal waste: Soil Conservation Service Animal Waste Management Field Manual; and
(c) Fertilizers and pesticides: Rutgers Univer-sity, Cook College, Cooperative Extension Service 4nnual Recommendations.
(3) All agricultural operations utilizing recom-mended management practices shall be exempt from any ordinance or regulation which inhibits efficient crop production, except those ordinances and regulations which are necessary for the maintenance of public health.
B . Air quality.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to ensure that the quality of air is protected and enhanced in recognition of its importance to the public health, safety and general welfare.
(2) All applications for nonresidential development shall include 'a certification from a licensed professional engineer stating that such uses comply with the relevant air quality standards in N.J.A.C. 7:27 et seq. (Air Pollution Control Regulations).
(a) Prior to preliminary approval of any subdivision of ten (10) lots or more, or any residential site plan of ten (10) units or more, the applicant shall prepare an analysis of the potential for energy savings related to building design and orientation including opportunities to enhance solar access, and strategies to limit microclimate impacts using landscape plantings to provide shade and wind protection. The proposed plat or plan shall specify all energy saving design features utilized therein.
(b) Prior to approval of any site plan for development of an office use consisting of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet of floor area or more or employing one hundred (100) persons or more, the applicant shall demonstrate compliance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1991 and the New Jersey Traffic Congestion and Air Pollution Control Act.
(c) Prior to preliminary approval of any site plan for development of any nonresidential use consisting of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet of floor area or more, the applicant shall provide an analysis of options to reduce energy costs related to interior and exterior climate controls, which may include solar energy. The applicant shall incorporate such energy saving measures as can be cost effectively integrated into the design of buildings and site layout features.
(d) A plan for bikeways, sidewalks, and/or walkways for all major subdivisions and office uses shall be provided to allow safe pedestrian access to adjacent neighborhoods, adjoining roads or commercial centers. The plan shall show how the development will comply with national and/or regional Clean Air plans, and the plan shall be consistent with the Township's Bikeway Plan.
C. Groundwater protection and drainage.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to preserve and protect the quality of groundwater in Holmdel.
(2) Major subdivisions and major site plans proposed for development in aquifer recharge areas shall be designed to maintain the quality of groundwater resources and to maintain or decrease the ratio of runoff to infiltration.
(3) Natural drainage patterns shall be maintained wherever possible, and surface water run-off shall be directed in such a manner as to travel over stabilized, vegetated areas as opposed to potentially contaminated surfaces such as parking lots. The intent of the latter provision is to reduce the level of pollutants in stormwater, and to allow for vegetative and soils filtration of stormwater contaminants.
D. Scenic resources.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to direct the location of development so that it will enhance the visual character of the scenic resources in Holmdel.
(2) Development should be sited behind visual barriers, such as trees, ridge lines, and other topographic features.
(3) On hillsides, development may be located at any point in the foreground to midground of the hill, and the height and location of development shall protect unobstructed views of, and from, the ridges.
(4) Development shall be located and designed to preserve views of cultural/historic landmarks and of unique geographic and topographic features, including but not limited to the Unique Natural Areas identified in the township's 1990 Natural Resources Inventory.
E. Steep slopes.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to regulate the construction of buildings and roads, the removal of vegetative cover, the disturbance of soil, and the intensity of use in areas of excessive slopes.
(2) The applicant shall prepare a steep slope analysis showing slope classes of zero percent (096) to fourteen and ninety-nine hundredths percent (14.99%), fifteen percent (150) to twenty-five percent (2590), and greater than twenty-five percent (25fo), and calculations of the acreage within each slope class.
(3) On slopes of fifteen percent (1590) to twenty-five percent (259b), no more than twenty percent (200) of the sloped area, or five thousand (5,000) square feet, whichever is smaller, shall be developed and/or regraded or stripped of vegetation, and the sloped area to be developed, regraded or stripped of vegetation shall be shown on the plat or plan.
(4) On slopes greater than twenty-five percent (25%), no development, regrading or stripping of vegetation shall be permitted, unless it can be shown that utility and drainage systems are necessary and that no better option for their location is available, and in the case of drainage systems that the improvement would be beneficial in stabilizing the slope, as certified by the Township Engineer. Disturbed areas shall be stabilized after construction. On-tract and off tract improvements required by the municipality are exempted from these requirements where no feasible alternative exists for the public improvement, as certified by the Township Engineer.
(5) Areas of five hundred (500) square feet or more on slopes of eight percent (8%) or greater that are disturbed, regraded or stripped of vegetation shall have hay bales and silt fences installed, in addition to the normal standards required by the Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Standards.
(6) The following standards shall apply to all lots which require improvements on slopes greater than fifteen percent (1590), provided that improvements which involve the disturbance of five hundred (500) square feet or less of the surface area of land shall be exempt from these provisions:
(a) A lot grading plan which indicates the proposed driveway plan and profile, location of the residence, and any site grading necessary for the property shall be submitted for review and approval by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, when a major subdivision or major site plan is proposed. Such plan shall provide for the proper protection and stabilization of all disturbed areas consistent with the design techniques established by the Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Standards, adopted and amended by the New Jersey State Soil Conservation Committee.
(b) The applicant's engineer shall provide a certification verifying that the proposed residential driveway design is capable of providing access for emergency vehicles and equipment, and shall submit the proposed residential driveway design to each of the township's emergency service agencies for review and comment.
(7) Roads and driveways shall follow the natural topography to the greatest extent possible to minimize the cutting and grading of critical slope areas.
F. Stream corridors.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to protect property from flooding; to reduce land development impacts on stream water quality and flows; to protect existing natural drainage features; to protect other's rights within the same watershed from adverse effects of improper stream corridor de-velopment; and, to provide recreation and wildlife migration corridors.
(2) Stream corridors shall mean the stream channel and all of the land on either side of the stream channel which is within the one hundred (100) year floodplain, or is a sloping area of fifteen percent (15%) or greater that is contiguous to the stream channel or one hundred (100) year floodplain. Stream channels shall mean permanent or intermittent watercourses shown on U.S.G.S. quadrangle maps, the Monmouth County Soil Survey or such other source as the Planning Board may deem appropriate.
(3) Stream corridor buffers with a width of fifty (50) feet shall be required around all stream channels, one hundred (100) year floodplains, and contiguous slopes of fifteen percent (1590) or greater, except for the Hop Brook/Ramanessin Brook and its tribu-taries, where the buffer shall have a width of one hundred fifty (150) feet around all stream channels, one hundred (100) year floodplains, and contiguous slopes of fifteen percent (159b) or greater. No septic system shall be located within any stream corridor, or within one hundred (100) feet of a stream bank.
(4) The following information shall be supplied for any development within a stream corridor and buffer. Such information shall be in addition to information required for site plan or subdivision review.
(a) Delineation of stream corridors and buffers as defined above.
(b) Detailed hydrologic engineering studies indicating the effects on drainage, streams, and adjacent properties as well as the property in question, including the necessary data to determine whether the boundaries of the stream corridor and buffer would be affected if the application were granted.
(c) A plan indicating the disposition of any fill materials proposed to be deposited by the grading or regrading of land.
(d) A demonstration of how suitable techniques, including erosion and soil stabilization measures, sediment traps and nutrient control by vegetation filters or other mechanisms, will be incorporated to protect the stream.
(5) An approved application for development on a lot which contains a stream corridor or buffer or portion of a stream corridor or buffer shall provide a conservation easement for the continued protec-tion of the stream corridor and buffer. The con-servation easement shall encompass the entire stream corridor and buffer. Conservation ease-ments shall be perpetual, shall name the Township of Holmdel as beneficiary, shall prohibit erection of any structures, shall be in conformance with Section 78-42, and shall be confirmed by deed and by plat filed with the County Recording Officer in compliance with the Map Filing Law. The Town-ship Committee shall notify the Environmental Commission before vacating or modifying a con-servation easement established on a stream corri-dor.
(6) Where the lands proposed fog development include a portion of the stream corridor, a condition of any major subdivision or major site plan approval shall be the revegetation of any portions of the required stream corridor buffer which were disturbed by prior land uses, such as agriculture. The vegetation plan shall utilize native tree and plant species and shall be approved by the Township Engineer.
G. Surface water.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to preserve and protect the quality of all surface waters which are found within or adjacent to the township.
(2) Applicants for major subdivision or major site plan approval shall include efforts to minimize non-point source pollution through the use of such techniques as:
Buffer strips
Overland stormwater flow
Regional stormwater management
Vegetated swales
Wetland or marsh creation
Infiltration practices
Porous pavements
Water quality inlets
(3) No construction of any type shall be permitted within fifty (50) feet of any lake, pond, or other surface water body, except for bikeways, trails, foot bridges, gazebos, docks, piers, and boat launches.
H. Threatened and endangered plants and animals.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to preserve, protect, and enhance the diversity of plant and animal communities and their habitats, recognizing the regional and national significance of these resources.
(2) Applicants for major subdivision or major site plan approval shall document the occurrence of threatened and endangered species, and other species uncommon to the Coastal Plain, on the property to be developed and shall identify critical habitat areas needed to provide for the survival of any local populations of these species. No development shall be permitted, initiated, or conducted unless it is designed to avoid irreversible adverse impacts on habitats that are critical to the survival of local populations of threatened or endangered plants and animals. No construction, grading or vegetation removal shall take place in critical habitat areas during breeding or mating of threatened and endangered species, and protection for the critical habitat area appropriate to the species shall be provided.
(3) Threatened and endangered plants and animals shall be defined as those which:
(a) Appear on the national list developed by the Department of the interior, or
(b) Appear on the state list developed by the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, or
(c) Are designated in NJSA 23:2A-4 (The En-dangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act, state list of endangered species).
I. Tree removal.
(1) The purpose of this subsection is to promote the preservation of woodlands to reduce soil loss, erosion, and flooding; to increase the quality and quantity of water being recharged; to purify sir; to provide wildlife habitat; and, to maintain visual appeal.
(2) For purposes of this section, a "tree" shall mean any woody perennial plant having a trunk or main stem with a diameter of three (3) inches or greater measured four (4) feet above the ground.
(3) Any application for major subdivision or major site plan approval shall have all trees defined in Subsections I(2) and I(6) plotted and identified on the plat or plan, and shall contain a detailed description of planned vegetation removal and regeneration, including all measures and materials necessary to reestablish the natural landscape.
(4) Existing trees shall be utilized as buffers along all lot lines and streets.
(5) No trees shall be removed from an area exceeding one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet per lot for any purpose unless the applicant:
(a) Identifies the area to be disturbed, and
(b) Demonstrates the absence of alternative development options which will reduce the need for the removal of trees, and
(c) Replants an area of comparable density and species composition for that portion of the disturbed forested area that exceeds the permitted impervious coverage limitation for the zoning district in which the lot is located.
(6) Dogwood, American Holly, Japanese Empress and Chestnut trees with a diameter of one (1) inch or greater measured four (4) feet above the ground shall be preserved.
J. Wetlands.
(1) An onsite wetland delineation shall be prepared by a qualified consultant for submission on any subdivision or site plan if any of the following conditions exist on the applicant's property:
(a) Hydric or wetland soils as identified is the Monmouth County Soil Survey.
(b) Wetlands as identified on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NJDEPE Wetland Maps.
(c) Onsite vegetation or soil conditions which indicate the probable presence of wetlands.
(2) All wetlands and transition areas required pursuant to NJAC 7:7A-1 et seq. (N.J. Freshwater Wetlands Protection Acts Rules) shall be clearly shown on all plats or site plans submitted for approval.
(3) Wetland protection standards are required to provide protection of these highly valuable resources. The following standards should be employed:
(a) A snow fence shall be installed outside of the wetland transition line prior to the commencement of onsite construction so as to prevent encroachment into these regulated areas.
(b) A silt fence and/or hay bales shall be installed adjacent to the state mandated wetland transition line (or buffer) so as to prevent the transport of silt into the wetland areas.
(c) All final plats or final site plans shall include the wetland line(s) identification number as assigned by NJDEPE, pursuant to the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.
(d) The applicant shall avoid all unnecessary encroachment into state-regulated wetland areas. Preservation of the existing onsite vegetation adjacent to the wetland areas is highly recommended.