A.
A Zoning Board of Adjustment is hereby established
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 et seq., consisting of seven residents
of the City of Garfield appointed by the Council to serve for terms
of four years from January 1 of the year of their appointment. The
terms of the members first appointed shall be so determined that to
the greatest practicable extent the expiration of such terms shall
be distributed evenly over the first four years after their appointment,
provided that the initial term of no member shall exceed four years.
Thereafter the term of each member shall be for four years. Nothing
in this chapter shall, however, be construed to affect the term of
any present member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, all of whom
shall continue in office until the completion of the term for which
they were appointed.
B.
In addition to the seven regular members of the Zoning
Board, there shall be up to four alternate members, each being residents
of the City of Garfield, appointed by the Council to serve for terms
of two years from January 1 of the year of their appointment.
[Added 6-26-2007 by Ord. No. 2500; amended 9-11-2007 by Ord. No.
2505]
If the Board of Adjustment lacks a quorum because
any of its regular or alternate members is prohibited by N.J.S.A.
40:55D-69 from acting on a matter due to the member's personal or
financial interest therein, Class IV members of the Planning Board
shall be called upon to serve, for that matter only, as temporary
members of the Board of Adjustment. The Class IV members of the Planning
Board shall be called upon to serve in order of seniority of continuous
service to the Planning Board until there are the minimum number of
members necessary to constitute a quorum to act upon the matter without
any personal or financial interest therein, whether direct or indirect.
If a choice has to be made between Class IV members of equal seniority,
the Chair of the Planning Board shall make the choice.
The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman
and Vice Chairman from its members and shall also select a Secretary,
who may or may not be a Board member or another municipal employee.
There is hereby created the office of Attorney
to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment
may annually appoint the Attorney, who shall be an attorney other
than the Municipal Attorney.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment may also employ
or contract for and fix the compensation of such experts and other
staff and services as it may deem necessary. The Board shall not authorize
expenditures which exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount
appropriated by the governing body for its use.
The Board shall adopt such rules and regulations
as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions and purposes
of this chapter. In the issuance of subpoenas, administration of oaths
and taking of testimony, the provisions of the County and Municipal
Investigations Law of 1953 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.) shall apply.
A.
The powers of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall
be in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 et seq., and amendments and
supplements thereto, and with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
It is further the intent of this chapter to confer
upon the Zoning Board of Adjustment as full and complete powers as
may lawfully be conferred upon such Board, including, not by way of
limitation, the authority, in connection with any case, action or
proceeding before the Board, to interpret and construe the provisions
of this chapter or any term, clause, sentence or work hereof and the
Zoning Map in accordance with the general rules of construction applicable
to legislative enactments.
C.
The Board may, in appropriate cases and subject to
appropriate conditions and safeguards, grant variances from the terms
of this chapter in accordance with the general or specific rules contained
herein and with the general rules hereby laid down, that equity shall
be done in cases where the strict construction of the provisions of
this chapter would work undue hardship. The powers and duties of the
Board having been delegated to and imposed upon it by statute, the
Board shall in all cases follow the provisions applicable to it in
said Chapter 291, P.L. 1975 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.), or subsequent
statutes in such case made and provided, and it shall from time to
time furnish to any person requesting the same a copy of its rules
and information as to how appeals or applications may properly be
filed with the Board for its decision thereon.
A.
Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by
any interested party. Each appeal shall be taken within 20 days prescribed
by the statute by filing a notice of appeal with the officer from
whom the appeal is taken, together with 11 copies of said notice with
the Secretary of the Board of Adjustment. Said notice of appeal shall
specify the grounds for said appeal. The officer from whom the appeal
is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board all the papers constituting
the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
[Amended 1-22-2008 by Ord. No. 2519]
B.
Applications addressed to the original jurisdiction
of the Board of Adjustment without prior application to an administration
officer shall be filed with the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Eleven copies of the application shall be filed. At the time of filing
the appeal or application, but in no event less than 10 days prior
to the date set for hearing, the applicant shall also file all plot
plans, maps or other papers required by virtue of any provision of
this chapter or any rule of the Board of Adjustment. The applicant
shall obtain all necessary forms from the Secretary of the Zoning
Board of Adjustment. The Secretary of the Board shall inform the applicant
of the steps to be taken to initiate proceedings and of the regular
meeting dates of the Board. The Board shall have the full authority,
within its discretion, to waive any and all of its application requirements,
when the requirement sought to be waived is not needed to render an
informed decision.
[Amended 3-26-2013 by Ord. No. 2650]
C.
An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of
the action in respect of which the decision appealed from was made
unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the
Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed
with him, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay
would, in his opinion, cause immediate peril to life or property.
In such cases, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a
restraining order, which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment
or by the Superior Court of New Jersey on application or notice to
the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
In exercising the above-mentioned power, the
Board of Adjustment may, in conformity with the provisions of c. 291,
P.L. 1975 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.), or amendments thereto or subsequent
statutes applying, reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify
the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from, and
make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to
be made, and to that end have all the powers of the administrative
officer from whom the appeal was taken.
Any variance from the terms of this chapter
hereafter granted by the Board of Adjustment, 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 been actually commenced on each and every
structure permitted by said variance, or unless such permitted use
has actually been commenced, within one year from the date of publication
of the notice of the judgment or determination of the Board of Adjustment;
except, however, that the running of the period of limitation herein
provided shall be tolled from the date of filing an appeal from the
decision of the Board of Adjustment to the governing body or to a
court of competent jurisdiction until the termination in any manner
of such appeal or proceeding.
A.
The Board of Adjustment shall have such powers as
are granted by law to:
(1)
Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by an administrative official or agency based on or made in the enforcement of Chapter 341, Zoning.
(3)
Where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions, or by reason of other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of such piece of property, the strict application of any regulation in Chapter 341, Zoning, would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon, the owner of such property, to grant, upon an application or an appeal relating to such property, a variance from such strict application, so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship; provided, however, that no variance shall be granted under this subsection to allow a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use; and further provided that the proposed development does not require approval by the Planning Board of a sub-division, site plan or conditional use in conjunction with which the Planning Board shall review a request for a variance pursuant to Subsection 47a of the Municipal Lane Use Law of 1975, Chapter 291, P.L. 1975 [N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60(a)].
(4)
Grant a variance to allow a structure or use in a
district restricted against such structure or use, in particular cases
and for special reasons, but only by the affirmative vote of at least
2/3 of the full authorized membership of the Board.
B.
No variance or other relief may be granted under the provisions of this section unless such variance or other relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Chapter 341, Zoning. Any application under any subsection of this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, including the Planning Board, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act.
A.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall, in addition to the powers specified in § 188-22 of this article, have power given by law to:
(1)
Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34
for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public
drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official
Map.
(2)
Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36
for a building or structure not related to a street.
B.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Planning Board, subdivision or site plan approval pursuant to Article 6 of Chapter 291, P.L. 1975 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37 et seq.), or conditional use approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67, whenever the Board is reviewing an application for approval of a use variance pursuant to Article II, § 188-22A(4).
