No member of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act on any matter in which he has, either directly or indirectly, and personal or financial interest. Whenever any such member shall disqualify himself from acting on a particular matter, he shall not continue to sit with the Board on the hearing of such matters nor participate in any discussion or decision thereon.
A. 
Meetings of both the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be scheduled no less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of applications for development to process.
B. 
Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Chairman or on the request of any two Board members, which meetings shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.
C. 
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present.
D. 
All actions shall be taken at any meeting by a majority vote of the members present, except as otherwise required by any provision of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
E. 
All regular meetings and all special meetings shall be open to the public. Notice of all such meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Law, P.L. 1975, c.231.[1] An executive session for the purpose of discussing and studying any matters to come before either Board shall not be deemed a regular or special meeting in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-9.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
A. 
Minutes of every regular and 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 the reasons therefor. The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Township Clerk.
B. 
Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceedings concerning the subject matter of such minutes.
C. 
Any such party who shall compel the production of minutes for use as evidence in a legal proceeding or any other party requesting copies of minutes shall be charged at the rate of $1 per page for the same, plus a flat fee of $2 to cover postage and administration.
D. 
Such request shall be in writing, addressed to the Secretary of the Board whose minutes are sought. After the receipt of such request, the Board Secretary shall advise the party requesting the production of the minutes as to the total cost thereof which shall be payable prior to the delivery of such copies to the interested party.
E. 
Requests for production of agendas in advance of any regular or special meeting of the Board shall be made in writing and shall be accompanied by an advance payment in the amount of ($3) for the agenda of each meeting requested.
Fees for applications shall be as set forth in Article IV of this chapter.
A. 
Application forms. All applicants shall obtain application forms from the Secretary of the municipal agency to which the application is to be submitted.
B. 
Completeness checklists. Whenever a development application form is issued to an applicant for development by the Secretary of the municipal agency, the Secretary shall also furnish to the applicant a copy of the appropriate checklist or checklists pertinent to the application or applications to be submitted by the applicant as follows:
(1) 
Concept Subdivision and Concept Site Plan Checklist.
(2) 
Minor Subdivision and Minor Site Plan Checklist.
(3) 
Preliminary Subdivision and Preliminary Site Plan Checklist.
(4) 
Final Subdivision and Final Site Plan Checklist.
(5) 
General Development Plan Checklist.
C. 
Completeness of application.
(1) 
An application for development shall be complete for purposes of commencing the applicable time period for action by the municipal agency when so certified by the municipal agency or its authorized committee or designee.
(2) 
Certification as to the completeness of an application shall be in the form of a motion of that agency duly adopted at a regular meeting or by the determination of the authorized committee or designee.
(3) 
In the event that the agency does not certify the application to be complete within 45 days of the date of its submission, the application shall be deemed complete upon the expiration of the forty-five-day period for purposes of commencing the applicable time period unless the application lacks information required by a checklist authorized by Subsection B hereof and the municipal agency or its authorized committee or designee has notified the applicant, in writing, of the deficiencies in the application within 45 days of submission of the application.
(4) 
Notice of an incomplete application shall be mailed to the applicant at the address set forth in the application form.
D. 
Waiver of defects. The applicant may request that one or more of the submission requirements be waived, in which event the agency or its authorized committee shall grant or deny the request within 45 days of the making thereof.
E. 
Proof of substantiation not relieved. No provisions of this section shall be construed as diminishing the applicant's obligation to prove, in the application process, that he is entitled to approval of the application.
A. 
Rules. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment may make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or of this chapter.
B. 
Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearing, or such person as he may designate, shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant evidence, including witnesses and documents presented by the parties, and the provisions of the County and Municipal Investigations Law P.L. 1953, c.38 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.) shall apply.
C. 
Testimony. The testimony of all witnesses relating to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation by the presiding officer, and the right of cross-examination shall be permitted to all interested parties through their attorneys, if represented, or directly, if not represented, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer and to reasonable limitations as to time and number of witnesses.
D. 
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the Board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
E. 
Records. Each Board shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographic, mechanical or electronic means. The Board shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording, in lieu thereof, on request to any interested party at his expense.
F. 
Absence from meetings. A member of the Board of Adjustment or Planning Board who was absent for one or more meetings at which a hearing was held shall be eligible to vote on the matter upon which the hearing was conducted, notwithstanding his absence from one or more of the meetings; provided, however, that such Board member has available to him the transcript or recording of all of the hearings from which he was absent and certifies to the Board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
Public hearings shall be required prior to approval of any application for preliminary subdivision approval, preliminary site plan approval, general development plan approval, conditional use approval or on any application where relief is requested pursuant to § 45-7G. Whenever a hearing is required, the applicant shall give notice thereof as follows:
A. 
Public notice shall be given by publication in the official newspaper of the municipality at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing.
B. 
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. Notice to a condominium association or horizontal property regime shall be in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12. Such notice shall be given by serving a copy thereof on the owner, as shown on the said current tax duplicate, or his agent in charge of the property or by mailing a copy thereof by certified mail to the property owner as his address as shown on the said current tax duplicate. A return receipt is not required. Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service upon any partner. Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon its president, a vice president, secretary or other person authorized by appointment or by law to accept service on behalf of the corporation.
C. 
Notice of all hearings on applications for development involving property located within 200 feet of an adjoining municipality shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Clerk of such municipality, which notice shall be in addition to the notice required to be given pursuant to § 45-33B of this article to the owners of land in such adjoining municipality which are located within 200 feet of the subject premises.
D. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail 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 shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a hearing on an application for development of property adjacent to a state highway.
F. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the State Planning Commission 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 N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.
G. 
Notice of hearings on applications for approval of a major subdivision or a site plan not defined as a minor site plan and otherwise requiring public notice pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12a shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the corporate secretary of all public utilities and the general manager of all cable television companies that own land or any facility or that possess a right-of-way or easement within 200 feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of such hearing.
H. 
In addition to any notice requirement otherwise imposed by the foregoing provisions, an applicant seeking approval of a development which does not otherwise require notice shall be required to provide such notice, by personal service or certified mail, to the corporate secretary of any public utility and the general manager of any cable television company that possesses a right-of-way or easement situated within the property limits of the property which is the subject of the application for development approval.
I. 
All notices hereinabove specified in this section shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for the hearing, and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service with the Board holding the hearing on the application for development.
J. 
Any notice made by certified mail, as hereinabove required, shall be deemed complete upon mailing in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-14.
K. 
Form of notice. All notices required to be given pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall state the date, time and place of the hearing; the nature of the matters to be considered; 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 Municipal Tax Assessor's office; and the location and times at which any maps and documents for which approval is sought are available as required by law.
L. 
Any maps and documents for which approval is sought at a hearing shall be on file and available for public inspection at least 10 days before the date of the hearing during normal business hours in the office of the Municipal Clerk.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12c, the Tax Collector of the Township of Pohatcong shall, within seven days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of a fee not to exceed $0.25 per name or $10, whichever is greater, 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 pursuant to Article III, § 45-33B, of this chapter.
A. 
Each decision on any application for development shall be set forth in writing as a resolution of the Board, which resolution shall include findings of fact and legal conclusions based thereon. The resolution shall be adopted at a meeting held not later than 45 days after the date of the meeting at which the municipal agency voted to grant or deny approval.
B. 
A copy of the decision shall be mailed by the Board within 10 days of the date of decision to the applicant, or if represented, then to his attorney, without separate charge. A copy of the decision shall also be mailed to all persons who have requested it and who have paid the fee prescribed by the Board for such service. A copy of the decision shall also be filed in the office of the Municipal Clerk, who shall make a copy of such filed decision available to any interested party upon payment of a fee calculated in the same manner as those established for copies of other public documents in the municipality.
A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in the official newspaper of the municipality. Such publication shall be arranged by the Secretary of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, without separate charge to the applicant. Said notice shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication within 10 days of the date of any such decision, which shall be deemed to be the date of adoption of the Board's memorializing resolution.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39 and 40:55D-65, every application for development submitted to the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be accompanied by proof that no taxes or assessments for local improvements are due or delinquent on the property which is the subject of such application. The application shall not be deemed to be complete pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.3 until such proof is provided.
[Added 10-19-2004 by Ord. No. 04-30]
Any variance from the terms of Chapter 285, Zoning, of the Code of the Township of Pohatcong hereinafter granted by the Land Use Board permitting the erection or alteration of any structure or structures or permitting a specified use of any premises shall expire by limitation unless such construction or alteration shall have actually been commenced and diligently pursued on each and every structure permitted by said variance or unless such permitted use had been actually commenced within one year from the date of entry of the judgment or determination of the Land Use Board.