Union County Planning Board, Bureau of Planning and Economic Development

County Planning Board Site Plan Review (Building or Expanding a Commercial Site Along a County Road)

This applies to a business when building or expanding a commercial site along a county road. Section 302 of the Union County Land Development Standards states that, 'Prior to the issuance of any municipal building permit by a local building official', a site plan for any proposed land development along a county road or affecting county drainage facilities, including proposed commercial development or any development requiring off-street parking or standing for five or more vehicles, must be submitted to the County for review and action. Section 302 exempts site plans for land development not along a county road that include less than one acre of impervious surface. The review fees are those in the schedule adopted by Ordinance 819-2020 on October 1, 2020, and the county's March 2025 Land Development Review application form reproduces the same schedule. Section 311 sets the 2% inspection fee, payable to the County of Union with written notice to the County Engineer before the improvements are installed. Under §306, a site plan adjacent to a county road must include a peak-hour traffic assessment; for a project generating 100 or more peak-hour trips, the independent review of the applicant's traffic impact study is funded through an escrow that §306 sets at $5,000. The Bureau of Planning can be reached at 908-527-4268.