N.J. Admin. Code § 19:31C-3.18

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 19:31C-3.18 - Building design and sustainability

(a) The following concern massing and articulation:

1. In center and neighborhood districts, buildings should have a traditional, pedestrian-friendly massing, echoing forms of the historic Fort Monmouth. Buildings in neighborhood districts should have massing and articulation appropriate to a residential focus. In campus districts, larger-scale massing may be employed, in keeping with the allowable uses of office, institutional, and hospitality.

i. The following concern horizontal massing of buildings:

(1) Along streets, facade planes of buildings should appear as a series of distinct bays. Bays in center and neighborhood districts should not exceed 60 feet in width. Bays in campus districts should not exceed 100 feet in width. Bays may be defined through elements such as columns, pilasters, gutters or expansion joints, changes in facade plane, size and rhythm of window spacing, pattern of balconies, and/or variation in surface material and pattern. Facade articulation should vary in the design and dimensions of bays along one building facade; a monotonous repetition of the same bay along a very wide facade is discouraged.

(2) Bay definition should extend through all levels of the building(s), except where horizontal massing changes in the facade plane are provided to break up the bulk of a building.

ii. The following concern vertical massing of buildings:

(1) The following concern the base of buildings:

(A) The base of buildings should be highlighted architecturally and differentiated from upper floors in order to visually ground the building. Suggested means are: varied fenestration, materials, floor heights, horizontal banding, detailing, and/or textures/patterns. On shorter buildings such as stand-alone retail or low-density residential buildings, the base may be the lower portion of the first level; on taller buildings, the base may be the lowest one or two floors.

(B) The pattern of window openings within a building's base should relate to the building's vertical bay pattern.

(C) Retail storefronts and lobbies to upper-story offices and apartment buildings should have large clear glass windows. Overhangs, light shelves, canopies, and straight awnings should be considered along storefronts and over major building entrances. Retail signage and building-mounted lighting are also recommended to help highlight the base where appropriate.

(D) Single-family homes, townhouses, and attached residential products should have full-width porches, stoops, porticos, or entry overhangs, echoing the historic pattern of housing at the Fort Monmouth. Individual unit entries with similar defining features should also be considered for ground-floor apartments in multi-family buildings.

(2) Middle of buildings: Except on low-density residential types, the middle levels of a building should be distinguished from the base and top by horizontal belt courses, cornices, or changes in material, facade detailing, or fenestration pattern and proportion.

(3) The following concern the top of buildings:

(A) The tops of buildings should be highlighted with a parapet wall, balustrade, or deep cornice.

(B) Flat roofs should be considered on stand-alone retail and office buildings. Flat or sloping roofs may be used for institutional/civic buildings and for mixed-use buildings. Residential buildings, both low and medium-density, should have sloping roofs in side-gabled, cross-gabled, or hipped shapes. All sloping roofs should have a minimum slope of 1:2 rise/run. Roofs exceeding 50 feet in length should have frequent dormer windows or be broken up by variations in plane and/or roofing mass.

(C) The rooflines of buildings should coordinate with, and reinforce, the variation in bay massing (horizontal differentiation).

(b) The following concern the transparency of buildings:

1. Entries: Pedestrian building entries should be clearly visible and highlighted within the front facade through projections, recessions, and/or material changes, as well as canopies, overhangs, and lighting. The distinguishing features of such entries should be carried vertically through the building mass.

2. The following concern windows:

i. The following refers to the amount of building facade in various locations that should include transparent glazing.

(1) The following concern ground-floor facade transparency:

(A) Fronting onto a recommended build-to line, any retail use should have transparent glazing occupying at least 75 percent of the ground-floor facade area. Any non-retail use fronting onto a build-to line should have transparent glazing occupying at least 50 percent of the ground-floor facade area.

(B) Fronting onto a recommended street, but not located along a recommended build-to line, facades for any use should have transparent glazing occupying at least 40 percent of the ground-floor facade area.

(C) Adjacent to (or across a street from) a recommended open space of type formal park, active recreation, or passive open space, but not located on a build-to line, facades should have transparent glazing occupying at least 40 percent of the ground-floor facade area. However, if the ground-floor facade also faces a recommended build-to line, the higher minimum described above should instead apply.

(2) The following concern upper-story transparency:

(A) Upper-story facades (any story above the ground floor) for any use facing a recommended build-to line should have transparent glazing occupying at least 40 percent of the upper-floor facade area.

(B) Upper-story facades (any story above the ground floor) for any use facing a recommended street should have transparent glazing occupying at least 25 percent of the upper-floor facade area. However, if the upper-story facade also faces a build-to line, the higher minimum described in (b)2i(2)(A) above should instead apply.

(C) Adjacent to (or across a street from) a recommended open space of type formal park, active recreation, or passive open space should have transparent glazing occupying at least 25 percent of the upper-floor facade area. However, if such facade also faces a recommended build-to line or recommended street, the appropriate higher minimum described in (b)2i(2)(A) above should instead apply.

(c) The following concern architectural style:

1. Relationship to historic Fort Monmouth buildings: Within the Oceanport Horseneck Center district and the Eatontown Golf/Conference Campus district, design of new buildings shall draw inspiration from the traditional forms of the buildings within these districts that are required to be adaptively reused. This includes the pedestrian-friendly scale; building height and footprint; symmetrical massing; traditional building materials and detailing; the relationship of the buildings to streets and open space; and the use of key iconic buildings as focal points to terminate or highlight key views.

2. Elsewhere in Fort Monmouth Project Area: Elsewhere in the Fort Monmouth Project Area, new buildings may be built with more modern architectural styles, materials, and forms, provided they comport with this subchapter.

(d) The following concern materials:

1. The following concern building materials:

i. Stone, masonry, brick, wood, fiber cement siding, precast, cast stone, manufactured stone masonry, and glass, as well as cast iron, steel, aluminum, and other types of metal should be the primary materials for facades. No more than three different primary materials should be used on any one building facade. Within the primary materials, variations in colors, textures, and pattern may be employed to further break up the bulk or mass of a building.

ii. Any security grates, access panels, and garage window grilles should be enlivened with artwork, decorative tiling, or ornamental metalwork where possible.

2. Consistent application: Facade design and finish materials should be considered in three-dimensions, particularly as buildings turn corners. Materials and/or details should be extended around building corners and extensions in order to avoid a "pasted-on" appearance. All building facades adjacent to or easily visible from a street, walkway, or open space should exhibit the same or similar degree of architectural detailing as the building's primary, street-facing facade.

3. The following concern transparency of glazing:

i. The following applies to ground floor facades. Reflective, mirrored, smoked, and dark tinted glass should not be used. Lightly-tinted glass may be used for energy-efficiency reasons only if the lightest-color tint that is closest to clear is used. Translucent glass, which allows for shadows and silhouettes behind the glass, should be used rather than spandrel glass, which is virtually opaque, in areas where light is to be admitted while direct views are obscured (such as screened parking areas or mechanical rooms). Spandrel glass should be used only to conceal structural elements (for example, supporting columns and floor slabs) and to maintain a glazed facade appearance.

ii. On upper-story facades, there is no restriction on the type or transparency of glazing.

(e) The following concern screening of service, mechanical, and related areas:

1. Loading areas: Building trash and recycling collection bins should be located on the interior of buildings or screened from view of streets and open space by means of fencing and/or landscaped buffers. Loading docks should have operable doors or gates so that they may be closed when not in use. Except where a building is completely surrounded by recommended streets, leaving no other possible location, loading docks should be located away from recommended street frontages.

2. Mechanical equipment: Building mechanical equipment on the first floor or at-grade is encouraged to be fully contained within the building. Alternately, it should be located in the rear yard or within the interior side yard area and screened with evergreen trees and shrubs and attractive fencing.

3. Rooftop mechanical equipment: Any rooftop mechanical equipment that may be visible from a street should be screened from view in a manner consistent with the architectural design and materials of the building, or set back far enough from the building edge that it is not visible from any street or open space.

4. Outdoor retail sales areas: Any exterior sales areas should be enclosed by screening that is compatible to the overall building form and comprised of quality materials that are in keeping with the building architectural style. No chain link fencing should be allowed for screening purposes.

(f) Private open space: Private open spaces should include both shared/common and individual spaces. Where possible, private open space shall be integrated and coordinated with the multi-use trail and public open spaces. Specific suggestions for each type of private open space follow below.

1. The following concern shared/common private open space:

i. A shared/common private open space such as a rooftop terrace, courtyard, or lawn area should be provided at each residential or mixed-use building containing multi-family units. Examples of where shared private open spaces could be provided include: atop the roof of a parking garage that is directly linked to or integral to the residential building; atop the roof or a mid-level terrace of the residential building itself; at-grade within an interior courtyard; to the front or side of the building; or any combination of these locations.

ii. For office-only and mixed-use buildings that are primarily occupied by office uses, shared private open space should also be considered.

iii. Shared open spaces should be appropriately sited with respect to the height and setback of the surrounding buildings to maximize light and minimize shadow impacts for the users and the public. These spaces should be attractively landscaped, easily accessible to all users, and include seating and amenities appropriate to their size.

2. The following concern individual private open space for residences:

i. Each low-density residential unit should include individual private open space in the form of a front stoop or porch as well as a front yard. Terraces and/or balconies, and rear patios or yards, should be considered as well. These private open spaces should provide an extension of the interior living space and a transition zone from the public to private realm.

ii. Medium density residential types, as well as residential units in mixed-use buildings, should similarly include individual private open spaces such as balconies or terraces, and yards and patios for ground-floor units.

(g) The following concern green design/sustainability:

1. Developers within the Fort Monmouth Project Area should attain LEED certification for individual buildings through LEED-NC, for New Construction; LEED-EB: O&M, Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance; LEED-CS, Core & Shell; LEED-Homes; or other LEED rating system. Developers applying for site plan review should achieve LEED-ND, Neighborhood Development at the minimum certification level.

2. Preservation of existing geothermal fields: Several geothermal fields for alternative energy lie within Eatontown's Route 35 Lifestyle/Tech Center district. One of these geothermal fields is recommended as a formal park within this development district, the town green as specified in 19:31C-3.1 6(b). Other geothermal fields at the Fort Monmouth Project Area should also be preserved where possible, through integration with the open space and/or surface parking system, as they provide valuable low-cost sustainable energy. For operational reasons, the only uses that should be allowed over active geothermal fields are surface parking lots and open space.

3. Green roofs: Green roofs should be considered on all new and existing buildings. Green roofs may be intensive (light shrubbery not to be walked on) or extensive (landscaping that can be walked and played on, as shared/common open space for building occupants). Green roofs may be used at the top roof level of a building as well as on lower-level courtyards atop parking garage levels.

4. Building preservation and adaptive reuse: 19:31C-3.4(b) specifies the preservation and adaptive reuse of various existing buildings within the Fort Monmouth Project Area.

5. Reuse of construction and demolition materials: Building debris created from demolition of existing buildings at Fort Monmouth should be reused for new foundations, roads, and walkways, where possible. All construction waste should also be reused or recycled on-site wherever possible, to minimize truck trips off-site.

6. Low-impact landscaping: Development within the Fort Monmouth Project Area should use native plants in all landscaped areas, in order to reduce the need for irrigation and fertilization, and select organic alternatives whenever the use of fertilizers is unavoidable for pest control. The proper selection of native and drought-tolerant plant materials should minimize the need for chemical treatment of landscaped areas. An integrated turf management and pest control program should be considered, in conjunction with selection of appropriate turf grasses, to strictly control the application of pesticides and fertilizer so as to minimize potential impact to groundwater and potential transport to nearby waterways via surface runoff.

7. Tree preservation: Existing street trees and trees within forested open space areas throughout the Fort Monmouth Project Area should be preserved wherever possible. All trees within recommended open spaces should be protected with fencing during construction, and preserved after construction is completed.

N.J. Admin. Code § 19:31C-3.18