[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Clinton
9-13-1988 by Ord. No. 88-14. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
No further sewer connections to the Clinton Wastewater
Treatment Plant shall be approved unless the following conditions are met:
(1)
An applicant, unless exempted from the sewer connection
ban, would suffer substantial harm due to the timing of the ban (no exemption
shall be granted to any party who subsequently proceeds with a proposed project
and thereby increases or creates the hardship which is the basis for the requested
exemption); or
(2)
There is a compelling public need for a proposed facility
that would otherwise be inoperable due to a sewer connection ban.
B.
A plan for water conservation plumbing, and implementation
of such a plan as approved by the Department of Environmental Protection,
shall be a condition for the exemption from the sewer connection ban.
C.
A "connection" means any physical or operational change
to a collection system or to the plumbing or piping of any building, project
facility or other structure, either proposed or existing, for which a building
permit or other municipal approval, including a site plan or subdivision approval,
is required and which connects directly or indirectly to any portion of the
Town of Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Additionally, an applicant for an exemption from the sewer connection
ban must prove to the satisfaction of the Town of Clinton and the Department
of Environmental Protection that it meets any of the following criteria:
A.
If the Town of Clinton, prior to July 1, 1988, has issued
a building permit, or preliminary or final subdivision approval, provided
that construction of improvements has taken place, the remaining construction
covered by such permit or approval may be eligible for an exemption.
(1)
The applicant must show that, in good-faith reliance
upon the permit or approval, substantial expenditures have been made by the
applicant for physical improvements to the property prior to the effective
date of the ban.
(a)
The payment of taxes, the purchase price, expenditures
for preparation of engineering and architectural plans and for legal fees
and other costs not expended for physical improvements to the land of substantial
expenditures.
(b)
All claims for eligible expenditures shall be accompanied
by certified true copies of contracts, receipts or invoices. An unverified
list of expenses will fail to establish substantial expenditures.
(2)
For the purposes of these regulations, "substantial expenditures"
shall mean those eligible costs in excess of:
(a)
Twenty-five percent of the cost of those projects whose
total cost is less than $100,000.
(b)
Twenty-five thousand dollars, plus 10% of the costs in
excess of $100,000 for those projects whose total cost is less than $10,000,000
but more than $100,001.
(c)
One million fifteen thousand dollars, plus 5% of the
project costs in excess of $10,000,000 for those projects whose total cost
exceeds this amount.
(d)
In addition, the applicant shall submit an estimate of
the total cost with a certification that the estimate is true and accurate.
B.
If an existing building or group of buildings constructed
prior to the effective date of the sewer connection ban with individual subsurface
disposal system(s) is certified by the local health authorities and proven
to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Protection to be presently
creating a health hazard due to overflow, contamination of the waters of the
state or other malfunction, and the system cannot be reasonably rehabilitated,
an exemption may be granted.
C.
If the application for the exemption is a request to
allow the connection of a proposed project which is publicly owned or operated,
including but not limited to a long-term health care facility which has received
a certification of need from the New Jersey Department of Health, a school,
hospital, fire or police station, or senior citizen housing, an exemption
may be granted by the Department of Environmental Protection, if in the Department
of Environmental Protection's opinion there exists a sufficient public need
for the proposed project and there are no other reasonable alternatives available,
including alternative sites.
D.
If the proposed project will replace a building, structure
or unit with an existing sewer connection, the proposed project is exempt
only if the building, structure or unit with the existing connection was in
use at the time the sewer connection ban was implemented; and if the proposed
project will create flow equal to or less than the flow of the former building,
structure or unit, and the proposed project will be at the same location as
the existing building, structure or unit.
E.
If the proposed connection is for a groundwater remedial
action at was approved by the Department of Environmental Protection prior
to the effective date of the sewer connection ban.
F.
If the proposed project will have a total design flow,
using Department of Environmental Protection criteria in N.J.A.C. 7:9-1 et
seq., of less than 400 gallons per day (GPD) and will be constructed and/or
operated on a tax lot that was in existence prior to the effective date of
the ban.
(1)
The Department of Environmental Protection may decide
that no exemption will be granted in this category and that all connections
are banned unless they meet one of the other categories outlined in this section.
G.
The Department of Environmental Protection may grant
additional sewage capacity for a specific project when it has been demonstrated
that substantial improvement in effluent quality, through a reduction in actual
flow or other measures, has occurred.
H.
The Department of Environmental Protection may grant
an exemption for the construction of publicly assisted housing owned or operated
by nonprofit organizations incorporated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:14I-1 et seq.[1] for the purpose of providing housing that is designed to be occupied
exclusively by low-income senior citizens and which provides for occupancy
by the handicapped. For the purpose of this chapter, "publicly assisted" shall
mean that:
(1)
The project is to be built with funds provided pursuant
to Section 202 of the Federal Housing Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701q.
(2)
The monthly rents are to be subsidized by funds provided
pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C.
§ 1437.
[1]
Editor's Note: Repealed by L. 1991, c. 431. See now N.J.S.A. 40A:20-1
et seq.
B.
An applicant for a sewer connection ban exemption shall
submit an application, including the appropriate documentation, to the Town
of Clinton.
C.
An applicant for an exemption shall submit a plan for
water conservation plumbing, and the implementation of such a plan, as approved
by the Department of Environmental Protection, shall be a condition of the
exemption.
D.
In accordance with the Department of Environmental Protection
regulations, if the Town of Clinton denies the request for an exemption, that
decision shall be final, except that the town will not object to any application
by the applicant to the Department of Environmental Protection for waiver
of this provision so that the applicant may have the right to appeal a denial.
E.
If the Town of Clinton finds that the applicant meets
the criteria in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.22, it shall forward the request and all
documentation to the Department of Environmental Protection for final approval
or denial.
F.
After reviewing the application for a sewer connection
ban exemption, the Department of Environmental Protection shall notify the
Town of Clinton of the results of its review.
G.
An exemption granted for a specific property is not transferable
to any other property and is only transferable to another person, upon written
application to and approval by the Department of Environmental Protection,
for the same property if the original circumstances which justified granting
the exemption have not changed.
H.
The granting of an exemption by the Department of Environmental
Protection and the Town of Clinton does not relieve the applicant of the following
responsibilities:
(1)
Compliance with all other state and local requirements,
including compliance with 201 Facilities and 208 Water Quality Management
Plans.
(2)
Obtaining the requisite treatment works approval from
the Department of Environmental Protection or from the Town of Clinton in
the case of a project granted an exemption under N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.22(b)5.
I.
An applicant who is denied a connection ban exemption,
a treatment works approval or a construction only approval by the Department
of Environmental Protection may request an adjudicatory hearing with the Department
of Environmental Protection within 30 days of receipt of the Department of
Environmental Protection's denial of the approval or exemption according to
the rules contained in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.26.
A.
B.
An applicant shall apply for a treatment works approval for construction only by submitting to the Department of Environmental Protection an application for a treatment works approval in accordance with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.11 through 7:14A:12.14 and Subsection C below.
C.
An applicant for a treatment works approval for construction
only shall include with the application a certification in which the applicant
shall certify that the applicant understands and agrees to the following:
(1)
The Town of Clinton shall not approve the use of the
proposed treatment works.
(2)
The applicant proceeds at his or her own risk that a
treatment works approval for use may not be granted.
(3)
Construction of the treatment works based on the treatment
works approval for construction only does not qualify the applicant for an
exemption pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-22.
(4)
The applicant shall not use the treatment works, and
the Town of Clinton shall not approve the operation of the treatment works,
until the Department of Environmental Protection has determined that adequate
treatment and conveyance capacity exists at the receiving treatment works
and has granted approval to operate.
D.
A treatment works approval for construction only of any
treatment works shall be filed with the Hunterdon County Clerk as notice to
prospective purchasers of the restrictions on the property. The treatment
works approval for construction only shall remain in the record until such
time as a treatment works approval for operation and use has been issued by
the Department of Environmental Protection.
Notice of this sewer connection ban shall be given to all residents
of the affected area, landowners therein, local planning boards and other
persons or legal entities affected by the ban, within 10 days of the effective
date of the ban and at intervals of no more than six months in a manner reasonably
expected to be received by such persons.
The Town of Clinton shall institute a Department of Environmental Protection
approved capacity assurance program in compliance with N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.20.
Upon approval of the program by the Department of Environmental Protection,
the Town of Clinton shall give public notice of the program in a manner designed
to inform local residents, developers, the local planning board(s) and other
affected persons, consistent with the requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.20(c).
