Borough of Edgewater, NJ Administration, Enforcement and Fees

Subdivisions. Any owner of land lying within the Borough shall, prior to subdividing or resubdividing of land as defined in this chapter, and before conveying legal or equitable title to such subdivision or any part thereof, apply to the Planning Board for review and approval of the subdivision plat pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

Site plan. Prior to the issuance of any construction permit or certificate of occupancy, as the case may be, for any new structure, addition to or alteration of an existing structure, a site plan shall be submitted to the Planning Board or to the Board of Adjustment as provided by statute, for its review and approval.

Enforcement. The rules, regulations and standards contained in this chapter shall be considered the minimum requirements for the protection of the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Borough. Any action taken by the Borough under the terms of this chapter shall give primary consideration to the purposes and provisions of this chapter and to the welfare of the entire community. Moreover, if an applicant or his agent can clearly demonstrate that, because of the peculiar conditions pertaining to his land, the literal enforcement of one or more of these regulations is impractical or will exact undue hardship, the appropriate municipal agency may permit such exceptions as may be reasonable and within the general purpose and intent of the rules, regulations and standards established by this chapter.

§ 240-42 Enforcement officer.

It shall be the duty of the Zoning Officer to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and, in so doing, to inspect periodically the structures and land in the Borough, to investigate violations of the chapter coming to his attention, to serve notice upon property owners to abate any condition found to exist in violation of any provision(s) of this chapter, to sign complaints where justified and to cooperate with other Borough officials in the prosecution of violators. The enumeration herein of the duties of the Construction Official and Zoning Officer shall not mean that other officials and employees shall be relieved of their obligation to enforce this chapter. The Construction Official and Zoning Officer or other Borough employees authorized by the Borough shall have the right to inspect any lot or building at reasonable times for the purpose of investigating possible violations of this chapter.

If the Zoning Officer finds any substantial deviation from any approved plans, he shall notify the permittee and the Borough Clerk, in writing, of the deviation. The Zoning Officer and the Borough may take such action as is provided in this chapter.

§ 240-43 Construction permits and plans; certificates of occupancy.

No construction permit and no certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Zoning Officer except upon application therefor in conformity with all the provisions of this chapter. No sign erection permit shall be issued by the Zoning Officer except upon application therefor in conformity with the terms of this chapter.

§ 240-44 Stop orders and construction permit revocations.

Stop orders. In the event that a permittee shall fail to comply with any condition or regulation or provisions of an approved plan, the Borough Engineer or the Zoning Officer may issue a stop order on all construction work within the area encompassed by the approved plan and which order may include requirements for the prompt correction of adverse conditions. Thereafter, no construction work of any type shall be performed within the area of the approved plan except such work as is in accordance with the requirements of the Borough official as set forth in said order or in accordance with the approved plan.

Permit revocation. In the event of a failure to comply with any condition of an approved soil erosion and sediment control plan, tree removal plan or steep slope disturbance plan, upon recommendation of the Borough Engineer or Zoning Officer, the Borough may revoke any construction permit for any property upon which such noncompliance occurs or for any property affected by such noncompliance. The Borough may also seek to enjoin the violation or take such other steps as permitted by law.

Revocation of construction permit or certificate of occupancy. In the event of a failure to comply with any condition of final site plan approval, the Zoning Officer or Borough Engineer, on his or her initiative, may revoke the construction permit or certificate of occupancy, as the case may be, and seek to enjoin the violation or take such other steps as permitted by law.

§ 240-45 Violations and penalties.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or who fails to comply with any of the requirements thereof or who erects, raises, moves, extends, enlarges, alters or demolishes any structure in violation of any detailed statement or plan submitted hereunder or who puts into use any lot or premises in violation of any detailed statement or plans submitted hereunder or who refuses reasonable opportunity to inspect any premises shall, upon conviction thereof by any court authorized by law to hear and determine the matter, be liable to a fine of not more than $1,000, or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 90 days, or both, as such court in its discretion may impose. Each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues shall be deemed a separate offense.

If before final subdivision approval any person as owner or agent transfers or sells or agrees to transfer or sell, except pursuant to an agreement expressly conditioned on final subdivision for which municipal approval is required, such persons shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $1,000, and each lot disposition so made may be deemed a separate violation.

In addition, the Borough may institute and maintain a civil action:

For injunctive relief; or

To set aside and invalidate any conveyance made pursuant to such a contract of sale if a certificate of compliance has not been issued in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-56, but only if the municipality has a Planning Board and has adopted by ordinance standards and procedures in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-38.

In any such action, the transferee, purchaser or grantee shall be entitled to a lien upon the portion of the land from which the subdivision was made that remains in the possession of the developer or his assigns or successors to secure the return of any deposits made or purchase price paid and, also, a reasonable search fee, survey expense and title closing expense, if any. Any such action must be brought within two years after the date of the recording of the instrument of transfer, sale or conveyance of said land or within six years if unrecorded.

§ 240-46 Fees.

General.

Every application for development shall be accompanied by a payment of a fee in accordance with a schedule hereinafter set forth. The application charge is a flat fee to cover direct administrative expenses and is not refundable.

Where one application for development includes several approval requests, the sum of the individual required fees shall be paid.

No fees shall be returned to the applicant after public hearing has commenced.

(4)

If any applicant desires a court reporter, the cost of taking testimony and transcribing it and providing a copy of the transcript for the Board hearing the application shall be at the expense of the applicant, who shall arrange for the reporter's attendance.

(5)

Schedule of application fees to be paid at the time of the filing of the application.

Submission		Application Fee
Sketch plat for classification/concept plan		$50
Minor subdivision plat		$100
Major subdivision/preliminary		$100 plus $25 per lot
Major subdivision/final		$50 plus $25 per proposed lots
Site plan
	For each 20,000 square feet of lot area up to 3 acres	$200
	For each acre over 3 acres	$300
	For each 1,000 square feet of floor area up to 10,000 square feet	$150
	For each 1,000 square feet of floor area over 10,000 square feet	$100
Variances
	Appeals in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70a	$200
	Interpretations in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70b	$200
	Hardship applications in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70c	$200
	Conditional use	$200
	Use in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d	$250
Amendments
	No expansion of building or outside facility	$200
	If expansion is proposed, fees established for site plans apply	See site plan fees
Appeals pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 and 40:55D-36		$100

Resolution, publication, and copy fees.

In addition to application fees, applicants or appellants to the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment or Mayor and Council shall pay the following fees:

(a)

Copy of decision (resolution), per page or part thereof: $1.

(b)

Publication in newspaper of notice of hearing and notice of final decision: cost of publication.

(c)

Copies of minutes of meetings, per page or part thereof: $1.

(d)

Copies of rules and regulations, per page or part thereof: $1.

(e)

Copies of transcript or duplicate of recording of proceedings: cost.

(f)

Copies of notices of all meetings, annual fee: $20.

The above noted fees apply only to applicants and appellants of a development application. Fees for copies requested by members of the general public are regulated under Chapter 318 of the Code of the Borough of Edgewater.

Inspection fees.

In addition to the fees set forth for the review of subdivision plans and site plans, there shall also be an inspection fee of 2.5% of the estimated cost of improvements on site plans and an inspection fee of 5% of the estimated cost of the improvements for subdivision, as estimated by the Borough Engineer and payable at the time of the commencement of construction. This charge shall be for the purpose of defraying the costs of inspections of the installation of the improvements required by the Planning Board.

All permits, determinations, resolutions or certificates of approval are subject to the payment of all fees required in this section.

All applicants or appellants other than a department, board or agency of the Borough shall pay the applicable fees unless such fee is specifically waived by the Borough Council. Such waivers shall only be considered for nonprofit organizations.

Special meeting fees.

[Added 7-16-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-013]

The fee for all special meetings, whether requested by the applicant or commenced by the Board, is $2,000.

In the event that a special meeting is necessary pursuant to § 240-33, the time of the Board's professionals required to prepare for and follow up after such special meeting shall be charged against such professional review escrow account. The professional review escrow account for such a meeting shall be a minimum of $500. The professional review escrow amount shall be posted by the applicant prior to or at the commencement of the special meeting. The applicant shall be required to deposit any additional funds into the professional review escrow account which may be required to cover costs for professional services in excess of the initial deposit.

Each sitting member of the Board shall be provided $200 from the Borough for attendance at any special meeting. Such funds shall be paid out of the amounts collected under § 240-46D(1).

§ 240-47 Payment for professional services, escrow deposits.

In addition to the filing fees and any other fees or payments required by this chapter, the applicant for any development application, appeal or other matter pursuant to this chapter shall be responsible to reimburse the Borough for payments made to professionals for services rendered to the Borough related to such application, appeal or other matter. The following provisions shall apply to such payments:

Initial deposits for professional services. The following escrow fees shall be collected by the Zoning Officer at the time of the filing of the application. These fees are to be applied for the review of applications by the professional staff/consultants and shall include all office review, phone correspondence, preparation of reports, conferences, appearance at meetings or other purposes under the provisions of this chapter or the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.). For purposes of this section, "professional staff" shall include the Borough Planner, Borough Engineer and board attorneys, and such other professionals as may be deemed necessary by the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment to review an application. Deposits shall be paid by personal check, certified check, cashier's check or bank money order. In the case of proposals requiring a combination of approvals, such as subdivision, site plan and/or variance(s), the applicant shall deposit an amount equal to the sum of the deposits required for each application. In the event that there is no new schedule of fees filed by the professionals, the schedule previously filed by the professional shall prevail.

Subsequent deposits for professional services. In the event that the amount in the individual account for professional services should become depleted to less than 25% of the initial deposit required by this chapter, and if the Zoning Officer determines that additional funds are necessary to cover the cost of processing said application, the Zoning Officer shall notify the applicant immediately of such depletion. Upon receiving such notice, the applicant shall deposit additional funds as necessary to make the amount in the account not less than 50% of the initial deposit required by this chapter for professional services.

Failure to maintain deposit for professional services. If the required funds for professional services are not deposited in a timely manner, the Zoning Officer shall notify the Borough agency having jurisdiction over the application, the applicant and all Borough experts. No further action shall be taken on the application unless the deposits have been made by the applicant as required above. In the event that the time for action by a Borough agency as required by this chapter shall expire prior to the payment of the required deposits, the reviewing agency shall have the option of dismissing the application.

Vouchers for payment of professional services. All payments charged to a deposit required by this section shall be made pursuant to written monthly vouchers for each application from the professional(s), stating the hours spent, the hourly rate and the expenses incurred. The office of the professional(s) shall render a written final accounting to the applicant on the uses to which the deposit was put.

Procedure for payment of vouchers; appeals of charges. The following procedure shall apply to the payment of vouchers for professional services pursuant to this section:

The office of the professional(s) shall submit a copy of said voucher to the applicant.

Within 14 days of the mailing of said vouchers, the applicant may request, in writing, a hearing on the reasonableness of the charges contained in said vouchers. Any such hearing shall be held by the Borough agency with jurisdiction over the application.

In the event that the applicant requests such hearing, no payments shall be made pursuant to the disputed voucher(s) until the Borough agency shall have ruled on the appeal. If the Borough agency finds in favor of the applicant, payment pursuant to said voucher(s) shall be adjusted accordingly.

(4)

All vouchers for payment of professional services pursuant to this section shall be submitted to the Borough agency for whom the services were performed. The Borough agency shall at a public hearing approve or deny payment of the vouchers. No voucher shall be denied payment without giving the professional submitting the voucher an opportunity to be heard concerning the reasonableness of said voucher.

(5)

If no hearing is requested as outlined above, or if the Borough agency finds in favor of the professional, payment shall be made pursuant to the voucher.

(6)

If approved by the Borough agency, the voucher shall be directed to the Borough Finance Director for reimbursement to the professional for services rendered.

§ 240-48 Performance and maintenance guarantees.

Before execution of the final subdivision plat, as a condition of final site plan approval, or as a condition to the granting of a development approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., the applicant shall have installed all improvements required by the Planning Board, except that the Borough Council may require and shall accept in accordance with the standards adopted herein for the purpose of assuring the installation and maintenance of on-tract improvements the following:

The furnishing of a performance guarantee in favor of the Borough in an amount not to exceed 120% of the cost of installation for all improvements not installed prior to final approval.

A maximum of 10% of the total guarantee required shall be in cash. All of the improvements shall be subject to inspection and approval by the Borough Engineer, who shall be notified by the developer at least 48 hours prior to the start of the construction. No underground installations shall be covered until inspected and approved.

Provision for a maintenance guarantee to be posted with the Borough Council for a period not to exceed two years after final acceptance of the improvements, in an amount not to exceed 15% of the cost of the improvement.

The time allowed for installation of the improvements for which the performance guarantee has been provided may be extended by the Borough Council by resolution. As a condition or as part of any such extension, the amount of any performance guarantee shall be increased or reduced, as the case may be, to an amount not to exceed 120% of the cost of installation, as determined as of the time of the passage of the resolution.

If the required improvements are not completed or corrected in accordance with the performance guarantee, the obligor and surety, if any, shall be liable thereon to the Borough for the reasonable cost of the improvements not completed or corrected, and the Borough may either prior to or after the receipt of the proceeds thereof complete such improvements.

Incomplete or unsatisfactory improvements.

Upon substantial completion of all required street improvements (except for the top course) and appurtenant utility improvements and the connection of same to the public system, the obligor may request of the Borough Council, in writing, by certified mail, that the Borough Engineer prepare, in accordance with the itemized cost estimate prepared by the Borough Engineer and appended to the performance guarantee pursuant to Subsection A of this section a list of all uncompleted or unsatisfactory completed improvements. A copy of the request shall be sent to the Borough Engineer. The request shall indicate which improvements have been completed and which improvements remain uncompleted in the judgment of the obligor. Thereupon the Borough Engineer shall inspect all improvements covered by the request and shall file a written list and report with the Borough Council, with a copy to the obligor, not later than 45 days after the receipt of the obligor's request.

The list prepared by the Borough Engineer shall state, in detail, with respect to each improvement determined to be incomplete or unsatisfactory, the nature and extent of the incompleteness of each incomplete improvement or the nature and extent of, and remedy for, the unsatisfactory state of each completed improvement determined to be unsatisfactory, or the nature and extent of, and remedy for, the unsatisfactory state of each completed improvement determined to be unsatisfactory. The report shall also identify each improvement determined to be complete and satisfactory together with a recommendation as to the amount of reduction to be made in the performance guarantee relating to the completed and satisfactory improvement, in accordance with the itemized cost estimate prepared by the Borough Engineer and appended to the performance guarantee pursuant to Subsection A of this section.

Reduction in performance guarantee.

The Borough Council, by resolution, shall either approve the improvements determined to be complete and satisfactory by the Borough Engineer, or reject any or all of these improvements and shall approve and authorize the amount of reduction to be made in the performance guarantee relating to the improvements accepted, in accordance with the itemized cost estimate prepared by the Borough Engineer. This resolution shall be adopted not later than 45 days after receipt of the list and report prepared by the Borough Engineer. Upon adoption of the resolution by the Borough Council, the obligor shall be released from all liability pursuant to its performance guarantee, with respect to those approved improvements, except for that portion adequately sufficient to secure completion or correction of the improvements not yet approved, provided that 30% of the amount of the performance guarantee posted may be retained to ensure completion and acceptability of all improvements.

In the event that the obligor has made a cash deposit with the Borough or approving authority as part of the performance guarantee, then any partial reduction granted in the performance guarantee pursuant to this subsection shall be applied to the case deposit in the same proportion as the original cash deposit bears to the full amount of the performance guarantee.

If any portion of the required improvements is rejected, the approving authority may require the obligor to complete or correct such improvements and, upon completion or correction, the same procedure of notification, as set forth in this section, shall be followed.

Nothing herein, however, shall be construed to limit the right of the obligor to contest by legal proceedings any determination or lack of a determination of the Borough Council or the Borough Engineer.

The obligor shall reimburse the Borough for all reasonable inspection fees paid to the Borough Engineer for the foregoing inspection of improvements; provided that the Borough may require of the developer a deposit for the inspection fees in an amount not to exceed, except for extraordinary circumstances, the greater of $500 or 5% of the cost of improvements, which cost shall be determined pursuant to Section 15 of P.L. 1991, c. 256 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.4). For those developments for which the reasonably anticipated fees are less than $10,000, fees may, at the option of the developer, be paid in two installments. The initial amount deposited by a developer shall be 50% of the reasonably anticipated fees. When the balance on deposit drops to 10% of the reasonably anticipated fees because the amount deposited by the developer has been reduced by the amount paid to the Borough Engineer for inspection, the developer shall deposit the remaining 50% of the anticipated inspection fees. For those developments for which the reasonably anticipated fees are $10,000 or greater, fees may, at the option of the developer, be paid in four installments. The initial amount deposited by a developer shall be 25% of the reasonably anticipated fees. When the balance on deposit drops to 10% of the reasonably anticipated fees because the amount deposited by the developer has been reduced by the amount paid to the Borough Engineer for inspection, the developer shall make additional deposits of 25% of the reasonably anticipated fees. The Borough Engineer shall not perform any inspection if sufficient funds to pay for those inspections are not on deposit.

In the event that final approval is by stages or sections of development pursuant to Subsection A of Section 29 of P.L. 1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-38), the provisions of this section shall be applied by stage or section.

To the extent that any of the improvements have been dedicated to the Borough on the subdivision plat or site plan, the Borough Council shall be deemed, upon the release of any performance guarantee required pursuant to Subsection A of this section, to accept dedication for public use of streets or roads and any other improvements made thereon according to site plans and subdivision plats approved by the approving authority, provided that such improvements have been inspected and have received final approval by the Borough Engineer.

Building permits in a subdivision or site plan or approved subsection thereof, except for model buildings in the first subsection, will be issued only when all improvements, with the exception of the following, shall have been installed to serve all lots and structures within the subdivision or site plan or approved subsection thereof and approved by the Borough Engineer:

The final bituminous surface course of streets;

Street signs;

Dry wells and swales as may be required;

Monuments;

Shade trees;

Sidewalks; and

In the case of site plans only, landscaping.

Permits for model buildings in the front subsection or 10% of the total number to be built in said subsection, whichever is less, not to exceed six, may be issued on commencement of construction of improvements.

Installation of sidewalks and/or walkways on a lot shall be completed prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for that lot.

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, upon completion of all improvements but prior to acceptance by the Borough Council of such improvements and prior to the release of any performance guarantee which may have been posted, deeds must be received, free and clear of all mortgages and encumbrances, for all fee and other property interests and improvements to be conveyed to the Borough.

A site plan bond shall be posted prior to earth disturbance.

§ 240-49 Developer's agreement.

Within 60 days of the adoption of a resolution granting either final subdivision approval or final site plan approval and prior to the execution of the final subdivision plat, there shall be an agreement submitted to the Zoning Officer by the approving board attorney.

The Zoning Officer then distributes copies of the agreement to the Mayor and Council, board members, board professional experts, developer and any other agency deemed necessary.

All comments from the individuals listed above shall be submitted to the approving board attorney prior to the next scheduled board meeting. After review by the board, the board forwards its comments to the Mayor and Council.

The agreement shall be executed by the Mayor and Council and then forwarded to the county to be filed.

§ 240-50 Off-tract improvements other than sanitary sewer and water improvements.

Pursuant to the powers established in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-42, the following standards are hereby promulgated with respect to determining the proportionate or pro rata share of an applicant for a required off-tract improvement. Prior to the granting of final approval of a site plan or subdivision, the applicant shall have installed or made cash payments in the manner provided for below with respect to the immediate or ultimate installation of any required off-tract improvement:

Allocation of costs; criteria in determining allocation. The allocation or costs for off-tract improvements as between the applicant, other property owners and the Borough, or any one or more of the foregoing, shall be determined by the Planning Board with the assistance of the appropriate Borough agencies on the basis of the total cost of the off-tract improvements, the increase in market values of property affected and any other benefits conferred, the needs created by the application, population and land use projections for the general area of the applicant's property and other areas to be served by the off-tract improvements, the estimated time of construction of the off-tract improvements and the condition and periods of usefulness, which periods may be based upon the criteria of N.J.S.A. 40A:22-2. The following criteria may also be considered as well as any other reasonable criteria which would aid in said determination:

(a)

Street, curb, gutter, sidewalk, shade trees, streetlights, street signs and traffic light improvements may also be based upon the anticipated increase of traffic generated by the application and the anticipated benefit thereto.

(b)

Drainage facilities may also be based upon or be determined by the drainage created by or affected by any particular land use, considering the percentage relationship between the acreage of the application and the acreage of the total drainage basin; the use of a particular site and the amount of area to be covered by impervious surfaces on the site itself; and the use, condition or status of the remaining area of the drainage basin.

Improvements to be constructed at the sole expense of the applicant. In cases where reasonable and necessary need for an off-tract improvement or improvements is necessitated or required by the proposed development application and where no other property owners receive a special benefit thereby, the Board may require the applicant, as a condition of approval, at the applicant's expense, to provide for and construct such improvements as if such were on-tract improvements in the manner provided hereafter and as otherwise provided by law.