If a vacancy in any class shall occur otherwise than by expiration
of term, it shall be filled by appointment as above provided for the
unexpired term.
The Planning Board shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman
from the members of Class IV and shall select a Secretary who may
be either a member of the Planning Board or a municipal employee designated
by it.
The Planning Board may employ, or contract for, and fix the
compensation of legal counsel, experts and other staff and services
as it may deem necessary. The Board shall not, however, exceed, exclusive
of grants, the amount appropriated by the Governing Body for its use.
The Planning Board is authorized to adopt bylaws governing its
procedural operation. It shall also have the following powers and
duties:
A. To make and adopt and from time to time amend a Master Plan for the
physical development of the Borough, including any areas outside its
boundaries which, in the Board's judgment, bear essential relation
to the planning of the Borough, in accordance with the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28.
B. To approve conditional use applications as authorized by state statute.
C. To administer the provisions of the Land Use and Development Ordinance
of the Borough in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and
the Municipal Land Use Law of 1975, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
D. To participate in the preparation and review of programs or plans
required by state or federal law or regulations.
E. To assemble data on a continuing basis as part of a continuing planning
process.
F. To review and make recommendations to the Council on the Official
Map of the Borough pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-32 and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26.
G. To annually prepare a program of municipal capital improvement projects
over a term of six years, and amendments thereto, and recommend same
to the Governing Body.
H. To consider and make reports to the Governing Body within 35 days
after referral as to any proposed development regulation submitted
to it pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26a, and also
pass upon other matters specifically referred to the Planning Board
by the Borough Council pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26b.
I. When reviewing applications for approval of subdivision plats, site
plans or conditional uses, to grant, to the same extent and subject
to the same restrictions as the Zoning Board of Adjustment, a variance
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70c, and to direct the issuance of a permit
for a building or structure either not related to a street (N.J.S.A.
40:55D-36) or in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway,
flood-control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map (N.J.S.A.
40:55D-32). Whenever relief is requested pursuant to this subsection,
notice of a hearing on the application for development shall include
reference to the request for a variance or direction for issuance
of a permit, as the case may be.
J. To perform such other advisory duties as are assigned to it by ordinance
or resolution of the Governing Body or other agencies or officers.
Applications for development within the jurisdiction of the
Planning Board, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et
seq., shall be filed with the Secretary of the Planning Board. The
applicant shall file, at least 45 days before the date of the meeting
of the Board, one copy of an application and one plan. This initial
submittal will be reviewed and returned to the applicant with notations
and/or suggestions for the applicant to prepare the final application.
Within 15 days of the scheduled meeting, the applicant shall submit
16 copies of an application, 16 plans, and reports associated with
the application. The applicant shall obtain all necessary forms from
the Secretary of the Planning Board. The submission of an application
for either preliminary or final approval shall be accompanied by a
completed application form and the appropriate completed checklist
as adopted as part of this chapter. (See Appendix A.) The Secretary of the Board shall inform the applicant
of the steps to be taken to initiate applications and of the regular
meeting dates of the Board.
Whenever the Environmental Commission (if any Environmental
Commission exists) has prepared and submitted to the Planning Board an index
of the natural resources of the municipality, the Planning Board shall
make available to the Environmental Commission a copy of every application
for development to the Planning Board. Failure of the Planning Board
to make such informational copy available to the Environmental Commission
shall not invalidate any hearing or proceeding.
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.