A site plan is a drawing prepared by a surveyor, engineer, architect or landscape architect showing detailed plans for a particular land use or development project. The site plan is used to study both on-site and off-site impacts of a proposed development and compliance with Township ordinances and regulations. A site plan should show existing and proposed topography and grading, parking, landscaping, lighting, access, buildings, storm water management, and other key site features.
Special Land Uses are also known as Conditional Land Uses or Principal Uses Permitted Subject to Special Conditions. These are uses that may be acceptable in certain situations, but not in others. For example, a use may be acceptable next to a commercial development, but not next to residential property.
PUD stands for Planned Unit Development. PUD is a flexible method of combining the legislative process (Zoning) with the administrative process (Site Plan) to typically result in a more innovative, integrated and creative development.
A variance is a special deviation from ordinance standards granted by the Board of Appeals. A variance typically deals with setback, height or area requirements and is designed to release property owners when a requirement is posing a practical difficulty unique to their property.
A site condominium is a project where individual parcels of land are developed under the rules and procedures of the State Condominium Law rather than the State Land Division Law. A site condominium looks no different than a subdivision developed under the same standards.
There are two different answers to this question: One is because the Township is divided into various zoning districts, each with its own regulations, and the other is because what is commonly referred to as the “Grandfather Clause.”
The technical term for “Grandfather Clause” is Legal Pre-Existing Non-Conforming Use. This means that although some property or use does not meet current standards, it either met ordinance standards when it started or has existed since before the Township had zoning regulations. Non-conforming rights run with the land and are allowed to continue even though property changes ownership, as long as the use is not abandoned.
Clustering is a method of developing property by concentrating building sites in one area, while allowing the balance of the property to be used for common open space or recreation. In Springfield Township, no additional building sites are allowed for clustering.