Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., the Planning
Board, as heretofore established, is hereby continued. The Planning
Board shall consist of four classes of members as follows:
A.Â
Class I: the Mayor.
B.Â
Class II: one of the officials of the Borough other
than a member of the governing body, to be appointed by the Mayor,
provided that the member of the Environmental Commission who is also
a member of the Planning Board as required by N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1 shall
be deemed to be the Class II Planning Board member for the purposes
of this chapter in the event that there are among the Class IV members
of the Planning Board both a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment
and a member of the Board of Education.
C.Â
Class III: a member of the governing body to be appointed
by it.
D.Â
Class IV: six citizens of the municipality, to be
appointed by the Mayor. The members of Class IV shall hold no other
municipal office, except that one such member may be a member of the
Zoning Board of Adjustment and one member may be a member of the Board
of Education. The member of the Environmental Commission who is also
a member of the Planning Board, as required by N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1,
shall be a Class IV Planning Board member, unless there are among
the Class IV members of the Planning Board both a member of the Zoning
Board of Adjustment and a member of the Board of Education, in which
case the member common to the Planning Board and the Environmental
Commission shall be deemed a Class II member of the Planning Board.
There shall be appointed by the Mayor two alternate
Class IV members of the Planning Board, who shall serve in rotation
during the absence or disqualification of any regular member or members
of Class IV. Said alternate members shall serve for terms of two years;
provided, however, that the initial terms of such members shall be
for one and two years, respectively. Said alternate members shall
be designated at the time of appointment by the Mayor as "Alternate
No. 1" and "Alternate No. 2." Participation of alternate members shall
not be deemed to increase the size of the Planning Board established
by ordinance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-23.
The term of the member composing Class I shall
correspond to his official tenure. The terms of the members composing
Class II and Class III shall be for one year or terminate at the completion
of their respective terms of office, whichever occurs first, except
for a Class II member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission.
The term of a Class II or Class IV member who is also a member of
the Environmental Commission shall be for three years or shall terminate
at the completion of his term of office as a member of the Environmental
Commission, whichever occurs first. The term of a Class IV member
who is also a member of the Board of Adjustment or Board of Education
shall terminate whenever he is no longer a member of such other body
or at the completion of his Class IV term, whichever occurs first.
The terms of all Class IV members first appointed under this chapter
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 Class
IV term of no member shall exceed four years. Thereafter, the Class
IV term of each such member shall be four years. All terms shall run
from January 1 of the year in which the appointment was made.
If a vacancy in any class shall occur otherwise
than by expiration of the Planning Board term, it shall be filled
by appointment, as above provided, for the unexpired term. Any member
other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if he requests
one, may be removed by the governing body for cause.
A.Â
No member of the Planning Board shall act on any matter
in which he has either directly or indirectly any 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 side of such matter nor participate in any discussion
or decision related thereto.
B.Â
If the Planning Board lacks a quorum because any of
its regular or alternate members are prohibited from acting due to
a conflict, regular members of the Board of Adjustment shall be called
upon to serve, for that matter only, as temporary Planning Board members.
They shall be called in order of seniority of continuous service,
until a quorum of qualified members is reached. Where members have
equal seniority, the Chairman of the Board of Adjustment shall choose
the order in which they are called.
When any hearing before a Planning Board shall
carry over two or more meetings, a member of the Board who was absent
for one or more of the meetings 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 a transcript or recording of the meeting(s)
from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the Board that
he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
The Planning Board is authorized to adopt bylaws
and such other rules and regulations governing its procedural operation,
which bylaws, rules and regulations shall be consistent with the provisions
of this chapter and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. The Planning Board shall
elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from the members of Class IV, select
a Secretary, who may or may not be a member of the Planning Board
or a municipal employee, and create and fill such other offices as
established by ordinance.
There is hereby created the office of Planning
Board Attorney. The Planning Board may annually appoint and fix the
compensation of or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Planning
Board Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Municipal
Attorney.
The Planning Board may also employ or contract
for the services of experts and other staff and services as it may
deem necessary. The Board shall not, however, exceed, exclusive of
gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the governing body for
its use.
The Planning Board shall be governed by and
shall have such powers as are conferred upon it by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1
et seq. More specifically, the Planning Board shall have authority
to:
A.Â
Prepare, adopt and, from time to time, amend or revise
a Master Plan.
B.Â
Exercise control over the review of subdivisions and site plans in accordance with Part 3, Subdivision and Site Plan Review, of this chapter.
C.Â
Exercise control over the granting of applications
for conditional uses.
D.Â
Whenever the proposed development requires approval
of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use (but not a variance
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d), grant to the same extent and subject
to the same restrictions as the Board of Adjustment:
(1)Â
Variances pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70c.
(2)Â
Direction pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 for issuance
of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street
or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved
on an Official Map.
(3)Â
Direction pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for issuance
of a permit for a building or structure not related to a street.
E.Â
Exercise such other duties as may be assigned to it
by ordinance or resolution of the governing body and perform such
other functions as may be authorized by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
and other state statutes and administrative regulations.
A.Â
Prior to the adoption of a development regulation
or a revision or amendment thereto, the Planning Board shall make
and transmit to the governing body, within 35 days after referral,
a report including recommendations concerning the proposed development
regulation, revision or amendment. The governing body, when considering
the adoption of a development regulation or a revision or amendment
thereto, shall review the report of the Planning Board and may disapprove
or change any recommendation by a vote of a majority of its full authorized
membership and shall record in its minutes the reasons for not following
such recommendations. Failure of the Planning Board to transmit its
report within the thirty-five-day period provided herein shall relieve
the governing body from the requirements of this subsection in regard
to the proposed development regulation, revision or amendment thereto
referred to the Planning Board.
B.Â
The governing body may, by ordinance, provide for
the reference of any matter or class of matters to the Planning Board
before final action thereon by a municipal body or municipal officer
having final authority thereon. Such reference shall not extend the
time for action by the referring body, whether or not the Planning
Board has submitted its report. Whenever the Planning Board shall
have made a recommendation regarding a matter authorized by this chapter
to another municipal body, such recommendation may be rejected only
by a majority of the full authorized membership of such other body.
Whenever an application for approval of a subdivision plat, site plan or conditional use includes a request for relief pursuant to § 415-39A(3) of this chapter, the Planning Board shall grant or deny approval of the application within 120 days after the submission by a developer of a complete application to the administrative officer or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Planning Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute approval of the application, and a certificate of the administrative officer as to the failure of the Planning Board to act shall be issued on request of the applicant, and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required and shall be so accepted by the County Recording Officer for purposes of filing subdivision plats.
The Planning Board shall have the power to review
and approve or deny conditional uses or site plans simultaneously
with review for subdivision approval without the developer being required
to make further application to the Planning Board or the Planning
Board being required to hold further hearings. The longest time period
for action by the Planning Board, whether it is for subdivision, conditional
use or site plan approval, shall apply; except that, where the developer
elects to submit separate consecutive applications, the appropriate
time periods prescribed by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-61 shall apply. Whenever
approval of a conditional use is requested by the developer pursuant
to this section, notice of the hearing on the plat shall include reference
to the request for such conditional use.
After the appointment of a Planning Board, the
Mayor may appoint one or more persons as a Citizens' Advisory Committee
to assist or collaborate with the Planning Board in its duties, but
such person or persons shall have no power to vote or take action
required of the Board. Such person or persons shall serve at the pleasure
of the Mayor.
Whenever the Planning Board shall have adopted
any portion of the Master Plan, the governing body or other public
agency having jurisdiction over the subject matter, before taking
action necessitating the expenditure of any public funds, incidental
to the location, character or extent of such project, shall refer
the action involving such specific project to the Planning Board for
review and recommendation in conjunction with such Master Plan and
shall not act thereon without such recommendation or until 45 days
have elapsed after such reference without receiving such recommendation.
This requirement shall apply to action by a housing, parking, highway,
special district or other authority, redevelopment agency, school
board or other similar public agency, state, county or municipal.
