[Adopted 6-6-1996 by Ord. No. 96-01; amended
in its entirety 10-2-2008 by Ord. No. 08-08]
A.
Applicants must pay the following application fees
and review fee escrow fund deposits upon filing applications for development:
B.
For any resubmission or revision of a development
plan or application, there shall be paid the same fees and deposits
as for a new application, which fees and deposits shall be in addition
to the amounts paid or owed for the original application and for any
previous resubmissions and revisions. Fees and deposits on account
of a revised plan or application shall, in the discretion of the reviewing
agency, not be required for any revision not necessary for approval
but requested by the reviewing agency, nor for any revision not involving
any additional costs of review by professional personnel or other
hearing expenses.
A.
Applicants must reimburse the Township pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2, and maintain a review fee escrow fund from which
such reimbursement shall be made, for:
(1)
All expenses charged to the Township, Planning Board,
or any other Township board or agency by professional personnel, experts
and consultants in connection with an application for development
or appeal, such as, but not limited to:
(a)
Charges for reviews of applications and accompanying
documents;
(b)
Issuance of reports to the Township, Planning
Board, or any other Township board or agency setting forth recommendations
resulting from the review of any documents submitted by the applicant;
(c)
Charges for any telephone conference or meeting
requested or initiated by the applicant, the applicant's attorney
or any of the applicant's personnel, experts or consultants;
(d)
Review of additional documents submitted by
the applicant and issuance of reports thereto;
(e)
Review or preparation of easements, developers'
agreements, deeds, declarations of covenant, or other documents or
forms;
(f)
Preparation for and attendance at regular and
special meetings of the Township Committee, Planning Board, or any
other Township board or agency;
(g)
Any other fees, charges or expenses for professional,
consultant or expert services for which the Township, Planning Board,
or any other Township board or agency may require payment or reimbursement
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2.
(2)
The costs of expert or professional advice or testimony
obtained by the Township, Planning Board, or any other Township board
or agency for the purpose of reviewing, corroborating or rebutting
testimony of the applicant's experts or professionals.
(3)
Reimbursement of the Township's costs for attendance
by the professional personnel of the Township, Planning Board, or
any other Township board or agency, as well as any other professional
personnel or professional services or experts retained or designated
by the Township, Planning Board, or any other Township board or agency,
for attendance at regularly scheduled and special meetings of the
Township, Planning Board, or any other Township board or agency, whether
or not said professional personnel, professional services or experts
are in the regular employment of the Township, Planning Board, or
any other Township board or agency, or retained specifically or only
for services in regard to that applicant's application.
B.
The terms "professional personnel," "experts," "consultants,"
or "professional services," as used herein, shall include the services
of a duly licensed engineer, surveyor, planner, attorney, hydrologist,
traffic engineer, environmental consultant, realtor, appraiser, or
any other professional, consultant or expert who provides professional
services to help ensure that an application meets performance standards
set forth in the ordinance, and any professional, consultant or expert
who provides testimony pertaining to a subject or field of study,
knowledge, or expertise on which the applicant's professional, consultants
or experts provide testimony.
C.
Upon the filing of an application for development, the applicant shall deposit with the Municipal Treasurer sums of money as specified in § 46-5, above, which the Municipal Treasurer shall in turn deposit in a separate escrow account and carry under the municipality's trust fund section of accounts on the books of the municipality as a review fee escrow fund to be administered pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2 et seq. Whenever a review fee escrow fund balance falls below 50% of the initial deposit amounts for the application as specified in § 46-5, above, the applicant must replenish the review fee escrow fund to the full amount of the initial deposit. In addition to the foregoing, if at any time a review fee escrow contains insufficient funds to enable the Township or any approving authority to perform required application reviews or improvement inspections, the Municipal Treasurer shall provide the applicant with a notice of the insufficient escrow or deposit balance. In order for work to continue on the development or the application, the applicant shall, within a reasonable time period specified by the Municipal Treasurer, post a deposit to the account in an amount in excess of the foregoing replenishment requirements to be agreed upon by the Township or approving authority and the applicant. In the interim, any required health and safety inspections shall be made and charged back against the replenishment of funds. Any excess of funds in the escrow following payment and reimbursement of all review fees shall be returned to the applicant pursuant to close-out procedures specified in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2 et seq.
D.
No plat or site plan shall be signed, nor shall any zoning permits, building permits, certificates of occupancy or any other types of permits be issued with respect to any approved application for development until all bills for reimbursable services have been received by the municipality from professional personnel rendering services in connection with such application, and payment has been approved by the governing body, unless the applicant replenishes the review fee escrow fund as required by this § 46-6, provided that, if the charges submitted and approved by the governing body exceed the amount of the deposit, the developer shall be liable for payment of such deficiency.
E.
No professional personnel submitting charges to the municipality for any of the services referred to in § 46-6A, above, of this section shall charge for any of the services contemplated by § 46-6A, above, at any higher rate or in any different manner than would normally be charged the municipality for similar work as ascertained by the professional's contract of employment with the municipality or by provisions of the Municipal Salary Ordinance.[1] Payment of any bill rendered by a professional to the
municipality with respect to any service for which the municipality
is entitled to reimbursement under this article shall in no way be
contingent upon receipt of reimbursement by a developer, nor shall
any payment to a professional be delayed pending reimbursement from
a developer.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Municipal Salary Ordinance
is on file in the Township offices.
A.
The developer shall reimburse the Township for all
reasonable inspection fees paid to the Township Engineer for the inspection
of improvements pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53 or other provisions
of the Municipal Land Use Law or this article. Prior to final approval
of the subdivision, site plan or other application for which inspections
are required, the developer shall deposit with the Municipal Treasurer
a sum of money, which the Municipal Treasurer shall in turn deposit
in a separate escrow account and carry under the municipality's trust
fund section of accounts on the books of the municipality as an inspection
fee escrow fund. The initial amount to be deposited shall not exceed,
except for extraordinary circumstances, the greater of $500 or 5%
of the cost of improvements, which cost shall be determined pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.4.
(1)
For those developments for which the inspection fees
as initially calculated are less than $10,000, the fees may, at the
option of the developer, be paid in two installments, in which case
the initial amount deposited by a developer shall be 50% of the inspection
fees. When the balance on deposit drops to 10% of the inspection fees
because the amount deposited by the developer has been reduced by
the amount paid to the Township engineer for inspections, the developer
shall deposit the remaining 50% of the inspection fees.
(2)
For those developments for which the inspection fees
as initially calculated are $10,000 or greater, the fees may, at the
option of the developer, be paid in four installments, in which case
the initial amount deposited by a developer shall be 25% of the inspection
fees. When the balance on deposit drops to 10% of the inspection fees
because the amount deposited by the developer has been reduced by
the amount paid to the Township Engineer for inspections, the developer
shall make additional deposits of 25% of the inspection fees.
B.
The foregoing notwithstanding, if at any time it becomes
evident to the Municipal Treasurer and Engineer that the inspection
fee escrow fund as originally calculated will be insufficient to cover
the inspection fees, the developer shall increase the fund as required
by the Municipal Treasurer. The Township Engineer shall not perform
any inspection if sufficient funds to pay for those inspections are
not on deposit.
C.
Any excess of funds in the escrow following reimbursement
of all inspection fees shall be returned to the developer.
