[Amended 3-17-2025 by Ord. No. 25-06]
In interpreting and applying the requirements contained in this Land Use and Development Ordinance, the requirements contained herein are declared to be the minimum requirements for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the public and for the preservation and improvement of the value and aesthetics of the land. The administration and enforcement of these provisions lie with the administrative officer.
A. 
The administrative officer is hereby given the duty, power and authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter. He/she shall be responsible for the examination of all applications for permits and the issuance of zoning permits for the commencement of a use, and the construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, installation of or addition to any structure or building, including accessory structures, pillars, gates and signs, which are in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and all nonconforming uses existing at the time of passage of this chapter.
B. 
The administrative officer shall be responsible for recording and filing all applications for permits with accompanying plans and documents, and the administrative officer shall make such reports to the Board of Adjustment, the Planning Board, and the governing body as may be required.
A. 
Grant of authority, responsibility. The administrative officer (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-18) is hereby authorized to and shall administer and enforce the provisions of this Land Use and Development Ordinance.
B. 
Issuance of permits and certificates. In no case shall a zoning permit or certificate be issued by the Construction Code Official for any construction, erection, alteration or use of any building, other structure, lot or area of land that would be in violation of any provision of this Land Use and Development Ordinance.
C. 
Inspection of premises. The administrative officer or his/her duly authorized agent(s), and, in the case of excavations for or demolition of commercial properties, the Health Officer, shall have the right to enter and inspect any building, other structure, lot or area of land at all reasonable times, whether already constructed, erected, altered or put into use, or during the course of construction, erection, alteration, excavation, demolition or putting into use, for the purpose of determining whether or not the provisions of Part 3, Zoning, are being complied with.
D. 
Records and reports. The administrative officer shall keep a record of all applications for zoning permits and certificates and a record of all permits issued, together with all notations of all special conditions involved. The administrative officer shall file and safely keep copies of all plans submitted, and the same shall form a part of the records of his/her office and shall be available for the use of the Township Council, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning Board and other officials of the Township. The administrative officer shall prepare a monthly report for the Township Council summarizing for the period since his/her last previous report all permits issued and all complaints of violations and the action taken by him/her consequent thereon. A copy of each such report shall be filed with the Township Tax Assessor at the same time it is filed with the Township Council.
E. 
Cases of doubt. Should the administrative officer be in doubt as to the meaning or intent of any provision of the Land Use and Development Ordinance, as to the location of a district boundary line on the Zoning Map or as to the propriety of issuing any permit in a particular case, he/she shall appeal the matter to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for interpretation and decision. Any proposed use which is not clearly identified in the Land Use and Development Ordinance as being a permitted use in a district shall be prohibited, and no permit shall be issued by the administrative officer authorizing the proposed use.
A. 
No building, other structure, lot or area of land shall be hereafter used, nor shall any building or other structure be hereafter constructed, erected, or altered, and no excavation for any building or other structure shall be hereafter begun without the issuance of a building permit by the Construction Code Official indicating that such construction, erection, alteration or use of such building, other structure, lot or area of land conforms in every respect to the provisions of Part 3, Zoning.
B. 
All applications for a building permit shall be made by the owner or authorized agent on forms provided by the Construction Code Official in the required number of copies. Each such application shall be supplemented with a plot plan prepared in triplicate and drawn to such scale as the Construction Code Official may require, showing the exact dimensions and locations of all buildings, other structures, yards, lot lines, off-street parking facilities and such other appropriate details and information as may be necessary to provide for the enforcement of Part 3, Zoning. All dimensions shown on these plans, relating to the location and size of the lot or area of land to be used or built upon, shall be based upon actual survey or deed description or on an officially recorded subdivision plat.
C. 
No application for a building permit shall be accepted by the Construction Code Official unless all of the information required has been furnished by the applicant.
D. 
The construction, erection or alteration of any building or other structure for which a building permit was issued must begin within six months after the date of issuance of such permit, and such construction, erection or alteration of any building or other structure or use of a lot or area of land must be completed or fully effected within two years after the date of issuance of such permit, after which time such permit becomes void. The Construction Code Official, at his/her discretion, may issue a new permit granting a continuation of time where unavoidable conditions prevented the effectuation or completion of all construction, erection, alteration or use within the time periods hereinabove prescribed.
E. 
The lot or area of land and the location of all buildings or other structures to be constructed, erected, altered or used thereon shall be staked out on the ground, and an inspection thereof shall be made by the Construction Code Official before work is started.
F. 
A building permit issued in accordance with the Building Code of the Township and satisfying the provisions thereof shall further satisfy the additional regulations, conditions and requirements of Part 3, Zoning.
G. 
The Construction Code Official, at his/her discretion, may require an engineering review for any building permit.
A. 
Required.
(1) 
No building or other structure hereafter constructed, erected or altered and no lot or area of land hereafter put into use shall be occupied or used, in whole or in part, for any use whatsoever, no change of use of any building or other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof, and no sale, transfer or conveyance of any building or other structure, irrespective of the purpose for which such building or other structure may be used, shall hereafter be made until a certificate of occupancy shall have been issued by the Construction Code Official certifying that such building, other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof, complies with all applicable provisions of this Part 1, Part 3, Zoning, and all federal, state and local building, fire, electrical, plumbing and health codes.
(2) 
A code violation shall be deemed to have occurred in the event that the inspection by the Construction Code Official reveals that the structure, building or dwelling is improperly or illegally connected to the existing sanitary sewer system. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued until such violation shall have been remedied.
(3) 
Change of use does not include a change from one conforming use to another unless there is a change in the parking requirements or in other features relating to the site plan.
B. 
Time for issuance. Certificates of occupancy shall be granted or denied by the Construction Code Official within 10 days from the date of application therefor by the owner of the property for which use or occupancy or change in use is sought, or his/her authorized agent. In the event that the Construction Code Official shall decline to issue a certificate of occupancy, his/her reasons for doing so shall be stated in detail on at least one filed copy of the application, and that copy returned to the applicant.
C. 
Preexisting uses. Upon written application by the owner or authorized agent, the Construction Code Official shall, after inspection, issue a certificate of occupancy for any building, other structure, lot or area of land existing and in use at the effective date of Part 3, Zoning, provided that the Construction Code Official shall find that such building, other structure, lot or area of land is in conformity with the applicable provisions of Part 3, Zoning.
D. 
Traffic signs; regulations.
(1) 
Prior to the issuance of a final certificate of occupancy for any development which is presented to the Zoning Board of Adjustment or the Planning Board for commercial property, of whatever nature, and which provides for private entrance to and exit from such property, and where such ingress and egress shall have been determined by the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment to be one-way only, appropriate directional signs shall have been erected.
(2) 
The owners of such property shall, as a condition of issuance of a certificate of occupancy and of final approval by the Board, be required to grant to the Township the authority to enforce all motor vehicle laws and regulations on such property.
(3) 
All signs and traffic control devices required hereunder shall be in accordance with and shall be of a design and construction as provided for in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2009 Edition, or other regulations of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, as same shall be amended from time to time.
E. 
Fee. A filing fee, as set forth in Chapter 122, Uniform Construction Codes, shall accompany each application for a certificate of occupancy.
Nothing in Part 3, Zoning, shall require any change in or otherwise interfere with any construction, erection, alteration or use of any building, other structure, lot or area of land for which a building permit has been issued authorizing such construction, erection, alteration or use not more than one year prior to the effective date of enactment of Part 3, Zoning.
A. 
Any owner or agent and any person or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this Part 1 or Part 3, Zoning, or fails to comply therewith or with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall erect, structurally alter, enlarge, rebuild or move any building or buildings or any other structure, or who shall put into use any lot or land in violation of any detailed statement or plan submitted hereunder, or who shall refuse reasonable opportunity to inspect any property shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
B. 
The owner of any building or other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof, where anything in violation of this Part 1 or Part 3, Zoning, shall be placed or shall exist, and any architect, builder, contractor, agent, person or corporation employed in connection therewith and who assists in the commission of such violation, shall each be guilty of a separate violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall each be liable to the fine or imprisonment, or both, specified in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty.
C. 
In case any building, other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof, is or is proposed to be constructed, erected, altered, or used in violation of this Part 1, the Township Council, the Construction Code Official or any other agency or official, or any owner of or any person having an interest in adjacent property who would be specifically damaged by such violation, may institute an action for injunctive relief or abatement, or any other appropriate action or proceeding, to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such unlawful construction, erection, alteration, continuation or use; to prevent the occupancy of such building, other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof; or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about such building, other structure, lot or area of land or part thereof.
D. 
All permits and certificates issued under Part 3, Zoning, shall be revocable, subject to continued compliance with all requirements and conditions.
Neither this Part 1 nor Part 3, Zoning, shall be deemed to interfere with, abrogate or annul, or otherwise affect in any manner whatsoever any ordinances, rules, regulations, easements, covenants or other agreements between parties; provided, however, that where Part 3, Zoning, imposes greater restrictions upon the construction, erection, alteration or use of structures or the use of land than are imposed or required by other ordinances, rules, regulations, easements, covenants or agreements, the provisions of Part 3, Zoning, shall prevail.