In addition to the initial fees or charges, the Township of Woolwich shall require escrow review deposits in accordance with the provisions of the fee and deposit schedule set forth in §
95-8.4. The Chief Financial Officer of the municipality shall make all of the payments to professionals for services rendered to the municipality or approving authority for review of applications for development, review and preparation of documents, inspection of improvements or other purposes under the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. The application review and inspection charges shall be limited only to professional charges for review by outside consultants when an application is of a nature beyond the scope of the expertise of the professionals normally utilized by the municipality. The only cost that shall be added to any such charges shall be actual out-of-pocket expenses of such professionals or consultants, including normal and typical expenses incurred in processing applications and inspecting improvements. No applicant shall be charged for any municipal, clerical or administrative functions, overhead expenses, meeting room charges or any of the municipal costs and expenses except as provided for specifically by statute, nor shall a municipal professional add any such charge to his bill.
The municipality shall be entitled to be reimbursed for the
review of applications, both as to completeness and as to content,
and for the review and preparation of documents such as, but not limited
to, drafting resolutions, developer's agreements, and necessary correspondence
with the applicant or applicant's professionals.
Deposits received from any applicant in excess of $5,000 shall
be held by the Chief Financial Officer in a special interest-bearing
deposit account; and upon receipt of bills from professionals and
approval of said bills as hereinafter provided for, the Chief Financial
Officer may use such funds to pay the bills submitted by such professionals
or experts. The municipality shall not be required to refund an amount
of interest paid on a deposit which does not exceed $100 for the year.
If the amount of interest exceeds $100, the entire amount shall belong
to the applicant and shall be refunded to him by the municipality
annually or at the time the deposit is repaid or applied for the purposes
for which it was deposited, as the case may be, except that the municipality
may retain for administrative expenses a sum equivalent to no more
than 33 1/3% of that entire amount, which shall be in lieu of
all other administrative and custodial expenses. All sums not actually
so expended shall be refunded to the applicant within 90 days after
the final decision by the appropriate municipal agency with respect
to such application, upon certification by the Board Secretary that
such application has been finally decided. The Township's professionals
shall notify the Board Secretary and Finance Department of any outstanding
unpaid balances regarding a specific development application within
30 days of the identification of the escrow shortage.
No zoning permits, building permits, certificates of occupancy
or any other types of permits may 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 made.
All professional charges for review of an application for development,
review and preparation of documents or inspection of improvements
shall be reasonable and necessary, given the status and progress of
the application or construction. Review fees shall be charged only
in connection with an application for development presently pending
before the approving authority or upon review of compliance with the
conditions of approval, or review of a request for modification or
amendment made by the applicant. A professional shall not review items
which are subject to approval by any state governmental agency and
not under municipal jurisdiction except to the extent consultation
with a state agency is necessary due to the effect of state approvals
on the subdivision or site plan.
Inspection fees shall be charged only for actual work shown
on a subdivision or site plan or required by an approving resolution.
Professionals inspecting improvements under construction shall charge
only for inspections that are reasonably necessary to check the progress
and quality of the work, and such inspections shall be reasonably
based on the approved development plans and documents.
If the municipality retains a different professional or consultant
in the place of a professional originally responsible for development
application review, or inspection of improvements, the municipality
or approving authority shall be responsible for all time and expenses
of the new professional to become familiar with the application or
the project, and the municipality or approving authority shall not
bill the applicant or charge the deposit or the escrow account for
any such services.
The cost of the installation of improvements for the purposes
of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53 shall be estimated by the Municipal Engineer
based on documented construction costs for the public improvements
prevailing in the general area of the municipality. The developer
may appeal the Municipal Engineer's estimate to the County Construction
Board of Appeals, established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:27D-127.
The following fee schedule shall apply with respect to the filing
of all applications for development or appeals before the Joint Land
Use Board and/or the Woolwich Township Committee:
A. Minor subdivision: a nonrefundable application fee of $275 for a
lot line adjustment or the creation of one lot in addition to the
retained lot, plus an additional nonrefundable fee of $125 for each
additional lot created or recreated; a review escrow deposit in the
amount of $2,000 shall be posted for each additional lot that is created
($4,000 for 2 lots and $6,000 for 3 lots); the review escrow deposit
shall be $1,500 for a lot line adjustment when no additional lots
are created.
B. Preliminary major subdivision: a nonrefundable application fee of
$500 for up to 25 lots, a nonrefundable application fee of $1,000
for Lots 26-100, a nonrefundable application fee of $1,500 for Lots
100-500, a nonrefundable application fee of $2,000 for in excess of
500 lots; a review escrow deposit in the amount of $2,000 shall be
posted, plus $500 per lot (1-10), plus $200 per lot (11-60), plus
$150 per lot (61-110), and plus $100 for each lot in excess of 110.
C. Final major subdivision: a nonrefundable application fee of $450
for up to 25 lots, a nonrefundable application fee of $800 for Lots
26-100, a nonrefundable application fee of $1,200 for Lots 100-500,
a nonrefundable application fee of $1,750 for in excess of 500 lots;
a review escrow deposit in the amount of $2,000 shall be posted, plus
$500 per lot (1-10), plus $200 per lot (11-60), plus $150 per lot
(61-110), and plus $100 for each lot in excess of 110.
D. Conceptual review: a nonrefundable application fee of $100; a review
escrow deposit in the amount of $1,500 shall be posted; any and all
funds from the review escrow deposit remaining after conceptual review
will be transferred into the escrow account for any subsequent application.
E. Use variance or variance sought under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d: a nonrefundable
application fee of $400; a review escrow deposit in the amount of
$2,000 shall be posted.
F. Bulk and/or other variances: a nonrefundable application fee of $200;
a review escrow deposit in the amount of $1,000 shall be posted.
G. Conditional use (special exception): a nonrefundable application
fee of $300; a review escrow deposit in the amount of $1,250 shall
be posted.
H. Minor site plan: a nonrefundable application fee of $250; a review
escrow deposit in the amount of $1,000 shall be posted.
I. Preliminary site plan: a nonrefundable application fee of $500 for
all preliminary site plan applications; for a residential development
site plan with structures, a review escrow deposit in the amount of
$2,500 for 0-5 units, $6,000 for 6-20 units, $8,500 for 21-49 units,
$11,500 for 50-100 units, and $19,000 for 101-1,000 units shall be
posted; for a commercial/industrial development site plan without
structures, a review escrow deposit in the amount of $5,000 for 0-3
acres, or $7,500 for in excess of 3 acres, shall be posted; for a
commercial/industrial site plan with structures, a review escrow deposit
in the amount of $2,000 for 1,250 - 2,500 square feet, or $5,500 for
2,501-20,000 square feet, or $8,000 for in excess of 20,000 square
feet shall be posted.
J. Final site plan: a nonrefundable application fee of $750 for all
final site plan applications; for a residential development site plan
with structures, a review escrow deposit in the amount of $2,500 for
0-5 units, $6,000 for 6-20 units, $8,500 for 21-49 units, $11,500
for 50-100 units, and $19,000 for 101-1,000 units shall be posted;
for a commercial/industrial development site plan without structures,
a review escrow deposit in the amount of $5,000 for 0-3 acres, or
$7,500 for in excess of 3 acres shall be posted; for commercial/industrial
site plan with structures, a review escrow deposit in the amount of
$2,000 for 1,250 - 2,500 square feet, or $5,500 for 2,501-20,000 square
feet, or $8,000 for in excess of 20,000 square feet shall be posted.
K. Zoning Board component of Joint Land Use Board interpretation: a
nonrefundable application fee of $150; a review escrow deposit in
the amount of $750 shall be posted.
M. General development plan: a nonrefundable application fee of $1,000;
a review escrow deposit in the amount of $5,000 per each component
plan, plus $500 per each report/schedule.
N. Zoning Officer permits and appeals: a nonrefundable fee of $40 for
the Zoning Officer's review of a project presented for a zoning permit;
if there is an appeal of the Zoning Officer's determination with respect
to the zoning permit, a nonrefundable application fee of $50 is required
to process the appeal to the Zoning Board component of the Joint Land
Use Board, and a review escrow fee in the amount of $750 shall be
posted for the Joint Land Use Board's professionals' review of the
appeal.
O. In the event that there are multiple separate components involved
in one application (i.e., a use variance, bulk variance, minor subdivision
and/or site plan at the same time of submission of an application),
then the maximum nonrefundable fee to be paid to the Township shall
be the amount of the highest individual component fee, as delineated
above, plus an additional one-time fee of $150 total to cover all
of the other separate components of the application. Escrow shall
be posted according to each and every separate component submission
of the application as delineated above.
P. Waiver of site plan: a nonrefundable application fee of
$250; a review escrow deposit in the amount of $1,000 shall be posted.
[Added 4-3-2017 by Ord.
No. 2017-08]