This is the beginning of a series of posts that will help to explain what is going on during Township meetings for the benefit of the public. Please also feel free to join our Facebook group for discussion on these and other issues.
Tonight, the Town Council will meet for the last time before the July reorganization meeting. One of the items on the agenda are five ordinances to be heard during the “Public Hearing And Adoption Of Ordinances” part of the meeting.
There’s been some discussion online about these ordinances, recently. For the benefit of the public, here is some information regarding the ordinances and what they change.
First — How a zoning ordinance gets enacted:
- The ordinance is introduced to the public at an open meeting of council.
- The ordinance is referred to the planning board for a consistency review with the master plan (and possibly the County if applicable).
- The ordinance is again heard and adopted by the Town Council at an open meeting.
At each step in the process, the ordinance, in full, is made available to the public. It is reviewed by various agencies (e.g. police, building, etc…) and comments from the council, planning board and the public are taken into account.
After all those hearings, there is then a grace period where a legal challenge may be brought.
What do the Ordinances do?
At the Planning Board meeting last Thursday, the Township sent their attorney to provide an explanation of each ordinance for the benefit of the public. He described its purpose and the rationale behind it. After the explanations, questions were posed by the board to the attorney and the building zoning official present.
So what do the ordinances say and what do they do? Let’s try a little Q&A (a link to each ordinance appears below).
Ordinance 11-2018:
Q: What does the ordinance change?
A: This ordinance changes the requirements for fences within front yards of residential areas. The old rule allowed for fences up to 4 feet in height, while the new rule will let them be up to 6 feet high under certain conditions.
Q: Why is this ordinance changing?
A: Some residents, especially those with young children or people living on corner lots (where the side yard is subject to front yard requirements) have requested the ability to install fences for safety. This change enables them to add fences to their property.
Q: So will my neighbor be allowed to put up a 6 foot high fence obstructing views of traffic?
A: No. The rules about sight triangles under Township Code Section 33-29(b)(1) are still in effect and the sight triangle must still be present and unobstructed. In fact, the ordinance specifically states that the fence must be “set back at least 12 [feet] from the front property line and comply with the requirements of Section 33-29(b)(1).”
Q: Did anyone check with the building department and the police department to make sure this wasn’t going to negatively impact sight lines for drivers coming out of driveways and increase potential for accidents?
A: Yes. As part of the zoning process, review is sought by both the police and building officials. At the Planning Board meeting of June 14th, the zoning official indicated that he reviewed the ordinance and found no issues with it. This ordinance merely changes height requirements, taking safety and angles into account. It also does not change rules such as 33-29(b)(3) which require “[f]ences over two feet in height located in any front yard area shall be at least 50% open.”
Ordinance 14-2018:
Q: What does the ordinance change?
A: This ordinance changes the requirements with regards to widths permitted for driveways in residential areas. The old rule allowed a maximum of 12 feet for a single driveway leading from the curb cut to a single-car garage (or off-street parking space) or 20 feet for a driveway leading from the curb cut to a two or more car garage (or off-street parking space). The new rule says there is no restriction in driveway width (subject only to impervious surface coverage limitations and that curb cuts shall be limited to 20 feet in width.
Q: Why is this ordinance changing?
A: Parking is at a premium in the Township and many residents have come to council requesting that streets prohibit parking during certain hours / days in order to prevent commuters and others from taking all available spots in front of their homes. In order to help alleviate the traffic burden for these residents, this ordinance will allow them to create additional parking opportunities at their home if they have excess coverage available.
Q: What does excess coverage mean?
A: This ordinance does not change any rules regarding the percentage of impervious surfaces allowed in the residential zones. The Township maintains strict rules regarding impervious surface coverage. For ever square foot of property that is covered, water runoff impacts your neighbor. Therefore, the limitations on building are taken into account when it comes to paving any residential property. If your neighbor is not yet using their permitted amount of impermeable lot coverage, they may be able to take advantage of this ordinance to create additional parking opportunities.
Ordinance 15-2018:
Q: What does the ordinance change?
A: This ordinance changes the requirements for side yard paving in residential zones found in Sec. 33-24(a)(5)(f). The old rules stated that driveways were to be no wider than 12 feet. The new rule says that driveways shall be no less than 9, but no wider than 12. In addition there shall be a minimum buffer of two feet of unimproved area from the side property line and any driveway or walkway. [Update: the ordinance also removes the requirement that the driveway must “provide ingress to and egress from an attached garage, detached garage or parking space in the rear yard”. Thank you to the resident that pointed this out.]
Q: Does this ordinance reduce the distance from my side property line that I can pave over?
A: No, it actually increases it. The new ordinance contains the following language: “There shall be a minimum buffer of two feet of unimproved area from the side property line and any such driveway or walkway.” The old ordinance does not have any minimum buffer between the property line and the driveway. Without this ordinance, you may go right up to the side property line.
Ordinance 16-2018:
Q: What does the ordinance change?
A: This ordinance allows for temporary tents in front yards for a period less than 7 days.
Q: Why is this Ordinance changing?
A: This Ordinance is being amended to permit residents to add temporary tents for parties and other occasions.
Q: Will they be permitted to add these within sight triangles affecting traffic?
A: No. The ordinances regarding safety and sight triangles are unaffected. This merely permits tents to be put up in areas where they were previously permitted.
Ordinance 17-2018:
Q: What does the ordinance change?
A: This ordinance removes the uniformity requirement in the code for business signs.
Q: What did the uniformity requirement do?
A: It required business owners to file an appeal and come before the Planning Board if their sign wasn’t “uniform” with other signs in the area. That meant that a sign with red lettering may not be permitted if the other sign on the building had blue lettering. Or if the signs were different sizes.
Q: Why is the Ordinance changing?
A: The change was nearly unanimously favored by sign makers, business owners, the entire Planning Board, zoning officer and 6 out of 7 council members.
Thank you to Chuck Powers for providing video of the Township Attorney explaining the ordinances:
History of Ordinances:
- Ordinance 11-2018 (33-2017) was introduced at the Township Council hearing of May 15, 2018
- Ordinances 14 through 17-2018 were introduced at the Township Council hearing of May 29, 2018
- Ordinances 11 as well as 14 through 17-2018 were discussed before the Planning Board on June 14, 2018
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Links to Ordinances to be heard:
11-2018: Allowing 6′ fences in the front yard will change the look and feel of many neighborhoods. If corner lots are the issue, however, limit the solution to corner lots.
14-2018: This proposed ordinance, when paired with the ordinance that states impervious pavers do not count for lot coverage, WILL, in fact, allow entire front yards to be “improved.” This has the real potential to adversely affect the look and feel and value of many neighborhoods.