Borough of Highland Park, NJ Article VII Permits and Approvals

§ 230-50 Conformity required.

[Amended by Ord. No. 1231]

A. No zoning permit, building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any parcel of land or structure which was sold or on which improvements were undertaken in violation of the provisions of this chapter or for use of a lot which was created by subdivision after the effective date of and not in conformity with the provisions of this chapter. No site improvements, such as but not limited to excavation, the construction of public or private improvements, any activity covered by § 230-116 or any similar activity shall be commenced except in conformance with this chapter and in accordance with plat approvals and the issuance of required permits.

B. No application shall be accepted by the Construction Official, Zoning Officer and/or the secretary of the approving board unless the applicant provides certification from the Tax Collector that all taxes or any other outstanding fees due to the Borough have been paid to date.

§ 230-51 Issuance of zoning permit.

A zoning permit shall be issued by the Zoning Officer before the issuance of either a certificate of occupancy to a new occupant of an existing building or portion of an existing building, or a building permit.

§ 230-52 Prerequisites for certificate of occupancy.

It shall be unlawful to use or permit the use of any building or part thereof hereafter created, changed, converted, altered or enlarged, wholly or in part, until a certificate of occupancy shall have been issued by the Building Inspector, and no certificate shall be issued unless the land, building and use thereof comply with this chapter; all matters incorporated on the approved subdivision or site plan have been completed and certified by the Municipal Engineer; and the Building and Health Codes are complied with.

§ 230-53 Approval of subdivisions.

Prior to the subdivision or resubdivision of land within the municipality and as a condition of the filing of subdivision plats with the County Recording Officer, a resolution of approval of the reviewing board is required, as is the approval of site plans by resolution of approval of the reviewing board, as a condition for the issuance of a permit for any development, except that subdivision or individual lot application for detached one- or two-dwelling-unit buildings shall be exempt from such site plan review and approval.

§ 230-54 Schedule of fees.

[Amended by Ord. No. 1228; Ord. No. 1231; Ord. No. 1292; Ord. No. 1298; Ord. No. 1441; Ord. No. 1569; Ord. No. 1633; 5-1-2007 by Ord. No. 07-1721; 8-11-2009 by Ord. No. 09-1765]

A. Every application for development shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee and a separate preliminary escrow account deposit, each payable to the Borough of Highland Park in accordance with the Schedule of Application Fees and Preliminary Escrow Account Deposits set forth in Schedule A attached hereto. Where one application for development includes several approval requests (e.g., site plan, subdivision, variance, etc.), the sum of the individually required application fees and preliminary escrow account deposits shall be paid.

B. Application fees, preliminary escrow account deposits, and other escrow account deposits shall be paid with separate checks for the total application fees and for the total escrow account deposits.

C. After an application is submitted, and prior to the application being deemed complete, the Borough shall advise the applicant if a further initial escrow account deposit is due in addition to the preliminary escrow deposit, and the amount of such additional escrow account deposit. The applicant shall promptly deliver a check to the Borough in the further amount established by the Borough (escrow account deposits subsequent to the preliminary escrow account deposit shall be known as escrow account deposits). No application for development shall be deemed complete unless and until all required application fees, preliminary escrow account deposits and further initial escrow account deposits are paid in full.

D. Fees for copies of requested items, special meetings, and other items also are included in the attached fee schedule.

E. Schedules of fees.

	Schedule A
			Application Fee	+	Preliminary Escrow Account Deposit
	Subdivisions
		Minor subdivision plat	$250		$500 per lot ($1,000 minimum)
		Preliminary major	$500		$500 per lot
		Final major	$250		$250 per lot
		Informal concept Subdivision Plat/Technical Review Committee	$150 (to be credited toward application fee for minor/major)		$1,000 if professional review is required
		Amended or revised minor, preliminary major and/or final subdivision	$150		1/2 of the amount originally calculated
	Site Plans
		Minor site plan	$300		$2,000
		Preliminary major site plan	$500		$500/acre or part thereof, plus $60/dwelling unit in the case of residential units and/or $0.50/gross square foot of building area in the case of nonresidential building; a maximum $15,000 initial deposit
		Final major site plan	$250		$250/acre or part thereof, plus $30/dwelling unit in the case of residential units and/or $0.25/gross square foot of building area in the case of nonresidential building; a maximum $7,500 initial deposit
		Informal concept Minor Site Plan/Technical Review Committee	$150 (to be credited toward application fee for minor approval)		$1,000 if professional review is required
		Informal concept Major Site Plan/Technical Review Committee	$150 (to be credited toward application fee for major approval)		$2,000 if professional review is required
		Amended or revised minor, preliminary major and/or final site plan	$150		1/2 of the amount originally calculated
	Conditional uses (not including required site plan or subdivision review)		$150		$1,000
	Variances
		Appeals (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70a)	$250		$1,000
		Interpretation (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70b)	$250		$1,000
		Bulk (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70c)	$150, first variance; $50, each additional variance		$500, first variance; $300, each additional variance
		Use and others (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d)	$250		$2,500
		Permit (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 and 35)	$150		$1,000
		Signs	$75/each		$300 each
	Approval time extensions		$150		$500
	Request for waiver of site plan		$150		$500
	Zone change requests		$250		$2,000
	Master plan change requests		$500		$5,000
	Modifications to approved plan or resolution		$250		$1,000
	Requested special meeting of Planning or Zoning Board		$2,500
	Zoning permit fee		$75, residential $125, nonresidential
	Permit/application for structural retaining walls		$250		$500
	Permit/application for disturbance of steep slopes or stream corridors		$250		$500
	Certified list of property owners		$0.25/name or $10, whichever is greater
	Copy of minutes, resolutions or decisions		See Borough Fee Schedule
	Transcription of meeting proceedings		At cost, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 2A:11-15
	Subdivision approval certificate		$50/certificate
	Certificate of nonconformity (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-68)		$50/certificate
	Copy of land use ordinance		$50
	Copy of tape of meeting		$200 + $15/tape
	Video or CD of meeting		$50

F. The application fees are flat fees to cover administrative expenses incurred by the Borough of Highland Park and are nonrefundable.

G. The escrow account deposits noted in § 230-54A of this section are established to pay for the costs of professional services, including engineering, planning, legal and any other such experts or expenses connected with the review of submitted materials as may be deemed necessary by the Borough, including, without limitation, any traffic engineering, environmental, landscape, fiscal impact review, and/or any other special analyses related to the Borough's review of the submitted materials, or any necessary studies regarding off-tract improvements.

H. An applicant is responsible to reimburse the Borough of Highland Park for all expenses of professional personnel incurred and paid by the Borough for the review process of an application for development before a municipal agency, such as, but not limited to:

(1) Charges for reviews by professional personnel of applications, plans and accompanying documents currently pending before a municipal agency, or the review of an applicant's compliance with the conditions of any approval to an application for development by a municipal agency, or the review of any requests made by the applicant for modifications or amendments to the submitted material;

(2) Issuance of reports by professional personnel to the municipal agency, setting forth recommendations resulting from the review of any documents submitted by the applicant;

(3) Charges for any telephone conference or meeting requested or initiated by the applicant, his attorney or any of his experts or representatives;

(4) Review of additional documents, maps and/or plans submitted by the applicant and issuance of reports relating thereto;

(5) Review or preparation of easements, developer's agreements, leases, licenses, deeds, approval resolutions, and the like;

(6) Preparation for and attendance at all meetings by all professionals serving the Board;

(7) The cost of expert advice or testimony obtained by the municipal agency for the purpose of corroborating testimony of applicant's experts; and

(8) Actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the process of reviewing the applications, plans and accompanying documents in connection with the application, including, without limitation, fees for publication of notices.

I. Each applicant shall pay all costs for professional review of the application.

(1) If additional escrow sums are deemed necessary at any time, the applicant shall be notified of the required additional escrow account deposit that is required and shall pay such additional escrow account deposit not later than two business days prior to any scheduled hearing. In no event shall an application be permitted to proceed if there are outstanding fees at the time of any scheduled hearing or meeting.

(2) All costs for review must be paid before any approved plat, plan or deed is signed and before any zoning permit, construction permit, certificate of occupancy, and/or other permit is issued.

(3) Escrow account sums not utilized in the review process shall be returned to the applicant.

J. If an applicant desires a court reporter, the cost for taking testimony and transcribing it and providing a copy of the transcript to the Borough shall be at the expense of the applicant, who also shall arrange for the reporter's attendance. If an applicant has a transcript of any hearing(s) prepared, the applicant shall provide a copy thereof to the Borough at the applicant's expense within three business days of the applicant's receipt thereof.

K. The fee schedule attached hereto as Schedule A (in Subsection E above) may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.