Prior to the subdivision or resubdivision of
land and prior to the issuance of a permit for any development, an
application for subdivision, site plan or conditional use, as the
case may be, shall be submitted to and approved by the Board in accordance
with the requirements of this chapter, except that individual lot
applications for detached one- or two-family dwelling unit buildings
shall be exempt from site plan review and approval.
Where approval of the County Planning Board
is required, the applicant shall file the appropriate application
with that agency in accordance with its rules and regulations.
[Added 5-15-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-17]
In the event that any person, partnership, corporation
or entity requests a meeting to discuss development plans or alternatives
with the Township Attorney or other professionals retained by the
Township, said person, partnership, corporation or other entity shall
be responsible to reimburse the Township for the cost to the Township
of its professional(s) attending such meeting or meetings. This cost
shall be in addition to all other fees and charges heretofore or hereafter
established. An escrow deposit of $1,000 shall be submitted by such
person, partnership, corporation or other entity before any such meeting
is held. Where the professional fee costs exceed the escrow deposit,
the party who requested the meeting shall pay the additional amount
upon receipt of a statement from the Township. Where the professional
fee costs are less than the escrow deposit, the difference shall either
be refunded to the party who requested the meeting within 60 days
of his request for a refund or credited toward any fees required to
be paid for submission of a subsequent concept plan or formal application
for development.
[Amended 9-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-17; 9-3-1997 by Ord. No.
1997-12; 9-2-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-24; 2-3-1999 by Ord. No.
1999-02; 11-1-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-27]
A. As part of the submission of an application for approval
from either the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, the
applicant shall submit application fees as provided for in the schedule
in the attachment entitled "243 Attachment 10." All application fees must be paid for in accordance with
the schedule prior to the certification of a complete application.
B. Where a subdivision plan application or site plan
review application requires other relief or action such as a conditional
use permit and various relief, the application fees shall be cumulative
and reflect all reviews required by the Planning Board and Zoning
Board of Adjustment.
C. In order for an application to qualify for the lower
fees established in the schedule for residential applications, an
application must be exclusively residential in character and can only
be for a single use on the lot. Any applications not complying with
each of these conditions shall fall under the higher fee schedule.
D. Special meetings.
(1) Requests for the calling of a special meeting of the
Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment for the purpose of considering
an application for development when such meeting date does not fall
on the Planning Board's or Zoning Board's regular meeting night must
be made in writing; must be 14 days prior to the requested meeting
date; and must be accompanied by a fee of $500; provided, however,
that in the event that a special meeting is requested by an applicant
because of the inability of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of
Adjustment to meet on its regular meeting date because of a lack of
a quorum, no additional fee shall be charged.
(2) If the Board determines that the cost of professional
services required at such special meeting exceeds the above amount,
the applicant requesting the special meeting will be required to deposit
an additional sum to cover the cost of review and inspection services
provided by the Board's Attorney, Township Engineer and other Township
personnel, professional consultants and other required experts.
(3) The Township Treasurer shall place such deposit in
a trust account, make disbursements and return any unused portion
of the deposit to the applicant. If such costs exceed the amount of
the deposit, additional funds shall be deposited by the applicant.
[Amended 2-19-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-02; 9-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-17; 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-12; 6-3-1998 by Ord. No.
1998-14; 12-2-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-31; 8-2-2000 by Ord. No.
2000-21; 11-1-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-27]
A. Escrow deposit.
(1) In addition to the above general nonrefundable fees,
for each conceptual, preliminary or final application filed, the applicant
shall reimburse the municipality for all professional or technical
review fees deemed necessary or desirable by the approving authority
and shall establish an escrow fund with the Township Chief Financial
Officer to pay such fees or charges. The escrow fund shall be utilized
to reimburse the municipality for all costs which are reasonable and
related to the review of such application.
(2) As part of the application submission, the applicant
shall be required to make a deposit to the escrow account in an amount
provided for in the schedule in the attachment entitled "243 Attachment
10." All fees and escrow deposits must be paid prior to the
certification of a complete application. If the amount posted is not
sufficient to cover the Township's professional charges associated
with the application, the Board shall require additional funds.
(3) After approval of an application and prior to the start of construction, the applicant shall be required to make a further deposit to the escrow account to provide for anticipated inspection fees and any anticipated additional professional review services in accordance with Subsection
B below.
(4) Additional escrow funds shall be required when the
balance of any escrow account reaches 20% of the initial deposit.
The Township shall notify the applicant, who shall be requested to
deposit up to 35% of the original escrow account. No further consideration,
review, processing or inspection shall take place until the additional
escrow has been paid.
(5) For escrow deposits over $5,000, the procedures under
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.1 shall prevail.
(6) At the applicant's written request, an account of
the expenses or fees paid by him for professional services shall be
provided. Township professionals shall submit vouchers for all services
to be assessed against an escrow account.
(7) Any unexpended monies remaining after the completion
of the project and maintenance period shall be returned to the applicant.
B. Escrow deposit for inspection. Prior to the start
of construction, the applicant shall post inspection funds in the
amount of 5% of the estimated construction costs.
C. Board secretaries, special meetings. The applicant
shall be billed for the Board Secretary at a rate of $12 per hour
(minimum two hours) for the meeting, plus preparation before and after
the meeting.
D. Tax Map maintenance fees.
(1) The following fees shall be paid by the applicant
at the time of passage of a resolution of subdivision approval by
the Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment of the Township of Lopatcong
for the cost of making updates and modifications to the Tax Map of
the Township of Lopatcong relating to said applications:
(a)
Minor subdivision, two to three lots: $500.
(b)
Final major subdivision:
[1]
Four to seven lots: $750.
[2]
Eight to 12 lots: $1,000.
[4]
20 lots or more: $1,500, plus $50 per lot in
excess of 20.
(2) Payment of the fees required hereunder shall be an
expressed condition of any subdivision approval granted by either
the Lopatcong Township Planning Board or the Lopatcong Township Board
of Adjustment, as the case may be.
(3) At the time the final plat is submitted for signatures
of municipal officials, the applicant shall submit a CAD-generated
data file(s) directly translatable into an identical image of the
final plat, conforming to the following:
(a)
Format. The file shall be either:
[1]
An AutoCAD drawing file (i.e., a DWG extension
file) compatible with AutoCAD Release 13 or later; or
[2]
An ACSII drawing interchange file (i.e.; DXF
extension file) compatible with AutoCAD Release 13 or later.
(4) At the direction of the applicant, the Department
of Planning and Engineering staff can be requested to do the required
conversion to CAD at a fee to be set by the Engineer.
[Amended 7-2-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-08]
A. Upon initial submission of an application for development,
the Municipal Engineer shall have 28 days from the date of the submission
to render an initial report, in respect of the project, to be considered
by the Board in making a determination as to completeness and further
considered at the public hearing. The Municipal Engineer shall have
21 days within which to review any subsequent submissions by an applicant
and to render a written report to the Board. The Municipal Engineer
shall be responsible to issue a written report with a copy to the
applicant not fewer than five business days prior to any scheduled
public meeting, to the end that the applicant may appear at the open
public meeting prepared to respond to the Municipal Engineer's report.
B. Once an application has been deemed complete by the
Planning Board, the Planning Board shall grant or deny the application
within the time frames prescribed below or within such further time
as consented to by the applicant:
Application
|
Period of Time for Action Type of by Planning
Board (days)
|
---|
Minor subdivision plat
|
45
|
Minor site plan
|
45
|
Preliminary subdivision plat:
|
|
10 lots or fewer
|
45
|
More than 10 lots
|
95
|
Preliminary site plan:
|
|
10 acres or fewer
|
45
|
More than 10 acres
|
95
|
Final subdivision plan
|
45
|
Final site plan
|
45
|
C. Failure of the Board to act within the period prescribed
or extended shall constitute approval. Any applicant claiming approval
of his application by reason of the failure of the Township to act
within the prescribed time period shall comply with the default provisions
of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.4.
All applicants shall submit copies of all documents
and maps submitted in support of other regulatory applications in
respect to or affecting any pending application. In the event of a
conditional approval, such copies of all documents and maps shall
be submitted until the condition is satisfied.
In the event that, during the period of approval
heretofore granted to an application for development, the developer
is barred or prevented, directly or indirectly, from proceeding with
the development otherwise permitted under such approval by a legal
action instituted by any state agency, political subdivision or other
party to protect the public health and welfare or by a directive or
order issued by any state agency, political subdivision or court of
competent jurisdiction to protect the public health or welfare and
the developer is otherwise ready, willing and able to proceed with
said development, the running of the period of approval shall be suspended
for the period of time said legal action is pending or such directive
or order is in effect.