There is hereby created the office of Attorney to the Zoning Board of
Adjustment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment may annually appoint, fix the compensation
of or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Zoning Board of Adjustment
Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Municipal Attorney.[1]
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.
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. 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, but 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 of any term, clause, sentence or word hereof, and the Zoning Map, in accordance
with the general rules of construction applicable to legislative enactments.
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 Municipal Land Use Law, Chapter 291 of the Laws of 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.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall, in addition to
the powers specified above, have power to do the following:
(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 Zoning 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 the Municipal
Land Use Law, Chapter 291 of the Laws of 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 N.J.S.A.
40:55D.70(d).
A.
Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by any
interested party. Each appeal shall be taken within the 65 days prescribed
by the statute by filing a notice of appeal with the officer from whom the
appeal was taken, together with three copies of said notice with the Secretary
of the Zoning 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.
B.
Applications addressed to the original jurisdiction of
the Board of Adjustment without prior application to an administrative officer
shall be filed with the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Three
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.
Any variance from the terms of this chapter hereafter granted by the
Zoning 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.
