New ordinances aim to change face of Brick BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - Devel-opers and redevelopers who want to do business on the township's main highways won't be able to throw up concrete-block strip malls so easily much longer. The Township Council voted to introduce four land use ordinances at the May 22 meeting that reflect state Smart Growth principles. The "streetscape" and mixed-use overlay ordinances apply to all new development and redevelopment of commercial uses within the designated Town Center boundaries. The purpose of the measures is to encourage the redevelopment of commercial uses that enhance neighborhoods, generate pedestrian activity and limit car use. The uses include cafes, restaurants, bookstores, floral shops, retail shopping, commercial recreation and entertainment, bakeries, travel agencies, child care facilities, art galleries and offices. "The streetscape ordinance and the mixed-use overlay ordinance incorporate what a traditional downtown looks like in New Jersey," said Assistant Township Planner Tara Paxton. "You have to be very careful in regulating architecture and zoning. What we try to do is incorporate standards by which anybody can develop or redevelop in town." That includes brick pavers, sidewalks, outdoor seating for restaurants, balconies, awnings, brick face and even clapboard facades to reflect the area's shore location, she said. "Any kind of treatment that is welcoming and warm and inviting in creating a downtown atmosphere is what we incorporated in these ordinances," she said. The mixed-use ordinance allows one site to have residential, commercial and office use all in the same lot, eliminating buffers, fences and "no way to get from one place to another without a car," Paxton said. Brick is in the process of crafting a new master plan to be consistent with the state master plan. The goal is to earn the state's "plan endorsement" label, which would streamline the permitting process for development projects and make it easier for Brick to obtain grant funding, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said after the meeting. "It's to incorporate more development where it already is, instead of spreading it out all over town," he said. State plan endorsement also calls for the designation of an area as a CAFRA (Coastal Area Facilities Review Act) Coastal Center, which would allow developed areas to have a maximum impervious coverage of 70 percent. Brick's designated Town Center border wraps around Chambers Bridge Road, Route 70, portions of Brick Boulevard and Jack Martin Boulevard. Councilman Daniel Toth said the streetscaping ordinance was his "favorite" out of the four land use ordinances. "This is really the one that people will actually be able to see," he said. "It will be a tangible change you are going to see over the course of time. It's something I wish we had done a long time ago. It's nice to see we are trying to incorporate a historical genre of design in town." Council members also introduced a habitat protection ordinance that will require all applicants for a major subdivision or major site plan approval to document any threatened or endangered species and identify any critical habitat areas for those species. The threatened or endangered wildlife and plants include any that appear on the federal Department of the Interior's list, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Endangered and Non-game Species Conservation Act. No development can take place unless it is designed to avoid "irreversible adverse impacts" or disturbance of the habitats the threatened or endangered animals need to survive, the ordinance states. If a project site does contain threatened or endangered wildlife and their habitats, a habitat evaluation must be performed and must include plants for habitat preservation and protection, according to the ordinance. The Planning Board will not approve any major subdivision or major site plan unless the developer provides a certificate stating there are no threatened or endangered species on the site. If there is, the developer must furnish a complete habitat evaluation that includes plans for habitat preservation and protection, the ordinance states. The fourth ordinance requires all major and minor subdivisions and site plans to provide a 300-foot-wide riparian buffer along all streams or waters, unless the DEP has approved a decreased buffer.