The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman
and Vice Chairman from its members and shall also select a Secretary
who may be either a Board member or another Township employee.
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 Township Attorney.
In addition, 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 Township Committee 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.
In exercising the above-mentioned power, the
Board of Adjustment may, in conformity with the provisions of N.J.S.A.
40:55D-1 et seq., or amendments thereto or subsequent statutes applying,
reverse or affirm wholly or partly or may modify the order, requirement,
decision or determination appealed from and make such other requirement,
decision or determination as ought to be made and to that end have
all the powers of the administrative office from whom the appeal was
taken.
Any variance from the terms or provisions of Article
VIII of this chapter granted by any municipal agency shall lapse unless the construction or alteration of any structure so authorized shall have been actually commenced on each and every structure so authorized or unless such permitted use has actually been commenced within nine months from the adoption of the resolution of the municipal agency granting such variance; except, however, that the running of said period of limitation herein provided shall be tolled from the date of filing of an appeal from the decision of the municipal agency to a court of competent jurisdiction until the termination in any manner of such appeal or proceeding or until the expiry of two years from the date of final approval of any site plan or subdivision sought as part of the application to the municipal agency for such variance. An applicant may request an extension of such period by application to the municipal agency on notice in accordance with the provisions of §
240-35.
The Board of Adjustment shall have such powers
as are granted by law to:
A. Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the
appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision
or refusal made by an administrative officer based on or made in the
enforcement of the zoning provisions of this chapter.
B. Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the
map or zoning provisions of this chapter or for decision upon other
special questions upon which the Board is authorized to pass by provisions
in the zoning provisions of this chapter.
C. Variances.
(1) Where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness
or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional
topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a specific
piece of property, or by reason of an extraordinary and exceptional
situation uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures
lawfully existing thereon, the strict application of any regulation
pursuant to the zoning provisions of this chapter would result in
peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional
and undue hardship upon, the developer of such property, grant, upon
an application or an appeal relating to such property, a variance
from such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such
difficulties or hardship.
(2) Where, in an application or appeal relating to a specific
piece of property the purposes of this act would be advanced by a
deviation from the zoning ordinance requirements and the benefits
of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant
a variance to allow departure from such regulations of the zoning
provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that the fact that
a proposed use is an inherently beneficial use shall not be dispositive
of a decision on a variance under this subsection and provided that
no variance from those departures enumerated in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d
shall be granted under this subsection; and provided further that
the proposed development does not require approval by the Planning
Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use, in conjunction
with which the Planning Board has power to review a request for a
variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60a of the Municipal Land Use
Law; and
D. In particular cases and for special reasons, grant
a variance to allow departure from regulations set forth in the zoning
provisions of this chapter to permit:
(1) A use or principal structure in a district restricted
against such use or principal structure;
(2) An expansion of a nonconforming use;
(3) Deviation from a specification or standard pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67 pertaining solely to a conditional use;
(4) An increase in the permitted floor area ratio, as
defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4;
(5) An increase in the permitted density, as defined in
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, except as applied to the required lot area for
a lot or lots for detached one- or two-dwelling unit buildings, which
lot or lots are either an isolated undersized lot or lots resulting
from a minor subdivision; or
(6) A height of a principal structure which exceeds by
10 feet or 10% the maximum height permitted in the district for a
principal structure.
E. A variance under this subsection shall be granted
only by the affirmative of at least five members of the Board.
F. If an application for development requests one or more variances, but not a variance for the purpose hereinabove enumerated, the decision on the requested variance or variances shall be rendered under Subsection
C of this section.
G. No variance or other relief may be granted under the
terms of this section, including a variance or other relief involving
an inherently beneficial use, without a showing that such variance
or other relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the
public good and will not substantially impair the intent and purpose
of the zone plan and zoning ordinance. In respect of any airport hazard
areas delineated under the Air Safety and Hazardous Zoning Act of
1983, N.J.S.A. 6:1-80 et seq., no variance or other relief may be
granted under the terms of this section permitting the creation or
establishment of a nonconforming use which would be prohibited under
the standards promulgated pursuant to that Act, except upon issuance
of permit by the Commissioner of Transportation. An application under
this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency other
than the Planning Board for its report, provided that such reference
shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board
of Adjustment shall act.