No member of any municipal agency shall act on any matter in
which he/she has either directly or indirectly any personal or financial
interest. Whenever any such member shall disqualify himself/herself
from acting on a particular matter, he/she shall not continue to sit
with the Board on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any
discussion or decision relating thereto.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and
shall include the names of the persons appearing and addressing the
Board and of the persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by
the Board, the findings, if any, made by it and reasons therefor.
The minutes shall, thereafter, be made available for public inspection
during normal business hours at the office of the Township Clerk.
Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of
the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceeding concerning
the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party may be charged
a fee for reproduction of the minutes for his/her use as provided
in this chapter.
Whenever a hearing is required on an application for development
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., or to Township ordinances,
the applicant shall give notice thereof as follows:
A. Public notice in newspaper. Public notice shall be given by publication
in the official newspaper of the Township at least 10 days prior to
the date of the hearing.
B. Notice to property owners. Notice shall be given to the owners of
all real property as shown on the current tax duplicate or duplicates
located within 200 feet in all directions of the property which is
the subject of such hearing and whether located within or without
the municipality in which the applicant's land is located. Such notice
shall be given by:
(1) Serving a copy thereof on the owner as shown on the current tax duplicate
or his/her agent in charge of the property;
(2) Mailing a copy thereof by certified mail to the property owner at
his/her address as shown on the current tax duplicate;
(3) Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service of any partner.
Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon its president,
a vice president, secretary or by other person authorized by appointment
or law to accept service on behalf of the corporation.
C. Notice to adjoining municipality. In addition, notice of all hearings
on applications for development involving property located within
200 feet of an adjoining municipality shall be given to the Clerk
of such municipality.
D. Notice to County Planning Board. Notice shall be given to the County
Planning Board of a hearing on an application for development of property
adjacent to an existing county road or proposed road shown on the
Official County Map, or on the County Master Plan, adjoining other
county land or situate within 200 feet of a municipal boundary.
E. Notice to Commissioner of Transportation. Notice shall be given to
Commissioner of Transportation of a hearing on an application for
development of property adjacent to a state highway.
F. Notice to Department of Community Affairs. Notice shall be given
to the Director of the Division of State and Regional Planning in
the Department of Community Affairs of a hearing on an application
for development of property which exceeds 150 acres or 500 dwelling
units. Such notice shall include a copy of any maps or documents required
to be on file with the Township Clerk pursuant to Section 6b of C.
291, Laws of N.J. 1975, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
G. Time for notice; proof of service. All notices hereinabove specified
in this section shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date
fixed for hearing and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof
of service with the Board holding the hearing on the application for
development.
H. Notices to governmental bodies or agencies. All notices to governmental
bodies or agencies entitled thereto shall be given by personal service
or certified mail.
I. Completion of notice. Any notice made by certified mail as hereinabove
required shall be deemed to be complete upon mailing in accordance
with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-14.
J. Form of notice. All notices required to be given pursuant to the
terms of this chapter shall state:
(1) The time, date and place of hearing;
(2) The nature of the matters to be considered;
(3) The identification of the property proposed for development by street
address, if any, or by reference to lot and block numbers as shown
on the current tax duplicate in the Township Tax Assessor's office;
(4) The location and times which any maps and documents for which approval
is sought are available as required by law.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-30 and 40:55D-65,
every application for development submitted to the Planning Board
or to the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be accompanied by a certification
from the Tax Collector of the Township that no taxes or assessments
for local improvements are due or delinquent on the property which
is the subject of such application. If such taxes are due or, in the
alternative, if no certification is presented, the Planning Board
or the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall not consider such application
for processing and the application shall not be deemed to be complete.
The Township Clerk, within seven days after receipt of a request
therefor and upon receipt of payment of a fee of $10, shall make and
certify a list from the current tax duplicate of names and addresses
of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice hereunder.
A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in
the official newspaper of the Township. Such publication shall be
arranged by the Township Clerk or the secretary of the Planning Board
or the Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, at a charge
to the applicant of $10, which sum shall be paid, together with the
application fee, at the time the application is made. Such notice
shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication within 10
days of the date of any such decision.
The Township shall include as a condition of approval of an
application for development the installation of streetlighting on
a dedicated public street connected to a public utility. Upon notification
in writing by the developer to the approving authority and the governing
body of the Township that: the streetlighting on a dedicated public
street has been installed and accepted for service by the public utility;
and that certificates of occupancy have been issued for at least 50%
of the dwelling units and 50% of the floor area of the nonresidential
uses on the dedicated public street or portion thereof indicated by
section pursuant to Section 29 of P.L. 1975, c.291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-38),
the Township shall, within 30 days following receipt of the notification,
make appropriate arrangements with the public utility for, and assume
the payment of, the costs of the streetlighting on the dedicated public
street on a continuing basis. Compliance by the municipality with
the provisions of this section shall not be deemed to constitute acceptance
of the street by the municipality.
For the purposes of this chapter and Chapter
410, Zoning, of the Code of the Township of Ocean, the Township shall make all the payments to professionals for services rendered to the municipality for review of applications for development, review and preparation of documents, inspection of improvements or other purposes under the provisions of P.L. 1975, c.291. The Township shall require of the developer a deposit towards anticipated Township expenses for these professional services, and the deposit shall be placed in an escrow account pursuant to Section 1 of P.L. 1985, c.315 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.1). The amount of the deposit required shall be reasonable in regard to the scale and complexity of the development. All payments charged to the deposit shall be pursuant to vouchers from the Township professionals stating the hours spent, the hourly rate and the expenses incurred. The Township shall render a written final accounting to the developer on the uses to which the deposit was put. Thereafter the Township shall, upon written request, provide copies of the vouchers to the developer. The charges from the professionals to the deposit shall be at the same rate as all other work of the same nature by that professional for the Township.