[Ord. No. 97-29 § 402]
The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman
from its members and shall also select a Secretary who may be either
a Board member or another municipal employee.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 403]
There is hereby created the office of Attorney to the Zoning
Board of Adjustment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment may annually appoint,
fix the compensation of, or agree upon the rate of compensation of
the Zoning Board of Adjustment Attorney, who shall be an attorney
other than the Municipal Attorney.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 404]
The Zoning Board of Adjustment may also employ or contract for
and fix the compensation of such experts and other staff and services
as it may deem necessary. The Board shall not authorize expenditures
which exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated
by the Governing Body for its use.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 405]
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.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 408]
In exercising the above mentioned power, the Board of Adjustment
may, in conformity with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
or amendments thereto or subsequent statutes applying, reverse or
affirm wholly or partly or may modify the order, requirement, decision,
or determination appealed from, and make such other requirement, decision
or determination as ought to be made, and to that end have all the
powers of the administrative officer from whom the appeal was taken.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 409]
Any variance from the terms of the Zoning Regulations hereafter
granted by the Board of Adjustment permitting the erection of alteration
of any structure or structures, or permitting a specified use of any
premises shall expire by limitation unless such construction or alteration
shall have been actually commenced on each and every structure permitted
by said variance, or unless such permitted use has actually been commenced,
within one year from the date of entry of the judgment or determination
of the Board of Adjustment; except however, that the running of the
period of limitation herein provided shall be extended from the date
of filing an appeal from the decision of the Board of Adjustment to
the Governing Body, or to a Court of competent jurisdiction, until
the termination in any manner of such appeal or proceeding, and provided
further, that in the event another agency approval is required and
the application is pending before the other agency at the time of
approval, then the nine-month period shall commence after receipt
of that other approval.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 410]
The Board of Adjustment shall have such powers as are granted
by law to:
a. Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that
there is error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made
by an administrative office based on or made in the enforcement of
the Zoning Regulations.
b. Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the map or Zoning
Regulations or for decisions upon other special questions upon which
the Board is authorized to pass by provisions in the Zoning Regulations.
c. Where:
1.
(a)
By reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of
a specific piece of property; or
(b)
By reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical
features uniquely affecting a specific piece of property; or
(c)
By reason of an extraordinary and exceptional situation uniquely
affecting a specific piece of property or the structures lawfully
existing thereon, the strict application of any regulation pursuant
to the Zoning Regulations would result in peculiar and exceptional
practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon,
the developer of such property, a grant, upon an application or an
appeal relating to such property, a variance from the strict application
of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship;
2. Where in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of
property the purposes of this act would be advanced by a deviation
from the Zoning Regulations requirements and the benefits of the deviation
would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant a variance to allow
departure from such regulations of the Zoning Regulations; provided,
however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in N.J.S.A.
40:55D-70(d) shall be granted under this subsection; and provided
further that the proposed development does not require approval by
the Planning Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use
in conjunction with which the Planning Board has power to review a
request for a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60(a) of the Municipal
Land Use Law.
d. In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from regulations pursuant to Article
VIII of this chapter to permit: (1) a use or principal structure in a district restricted against such use or principal structure; (2) an expansion of a nonconforming use; (3) deviation from a specification or standard pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67 pertaining solely to a conditional use; (4) an increase in the permitted floor area ratio as defined in Section
35-201; (5) an increase in the permitted density as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, except as applied to the required lot area for a lot or lots for detached one or two dwelling unit buildings, which lot or lots are either an isolated undersized lot or lots resulting from a minor subdivision; or (6) a height of a principal structure which exceeds by 10 feet or 10% the maximum height permitted in the district for a principal structure. A variance under this subsection shall be granted only by affirmative vote of at least five members. If an application for development requests one or more variances but not a variance for a purpose enumerated in subsection
d of this section, the decision on the requested variance or variances shall be rendered under subsection
c of this section.
e. No variance or other relief may be granted under the provisions of
this section unless such variance or other relief can be granted without
substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially
impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Chapter.
In respect of any airport hazard areas delineated under the "Air Safety
and Hazardous Zoning Act of 1983" N.J.S.A. 6:1-80 et seq., no variance
or other relief may be granted under the terms of this section permitting
the creating or establishment of a nonconforming use which would be
prohibited under the standards promulgated pursuant to the Act, except
upon issuance of a permit by the Commissioner of Transportation. An
application under this section may be referred to any appropriate
person or agency other than the Planning Board for its report; provided
that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which
the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 411]
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall in addition to the powers specified in Section
35-406 and Section
35-410 have power given by law to:
a. Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 for a
building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainage,
flood control basin or public area reserved on the official map;
b. Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for a
building or structure not related to a street; and
c. To grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions
as the Planning Board, subdivision or site plan approval pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37 et seq., or conditional use approval pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67 whenever the proposed development requires approval
by the Board of Adjustment of a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70.
The developer may elect to submit a separate application requesting
approval of the variance and a subsequent application for any required
approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate
approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon grant of all required
subsequent approvals by the Board of Adjustment. No such subsequent
approvals shall be granted unless such approval can be granted without
substantial detriment to the public good and without substantial zoning
regulations. The number of votes of Board members required to grant
such subsequent approvals shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter
for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant to the
aforesaid N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d shall not be required.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 413]
The Borough Council may reverse, remand or affirm, with or without the imposition of conditions, the final decision of the Board of Adjustment approving a variance pursuant to Section
35-410d. The review shall be made on the record before the Board of Adjustment. The affirmative vote of a majority of the full authorized membership of the Governing Body shall be necessary to reverse or remand to the Board of Adjustment or to impose conditions on or alter conditions to any final action of the Board of Adjustment. Otherwise the final action of the Board of Adjustment shall be deemed to be affirmed. A tie vote of the Governing Body shall constitute affirmance of the decision of the Board of Adjustment appealed to the Governing Body.
[Ord. No. 97-29 § 414]
The Board of Adjustment shall, at least once a year, review
its decisions on applications and appeals for variances and prepare
and adopt by resolution a report on its findings on Zoning Regulation
provisions which were the subject of variance request and its recommendations
for Zoning Regulation amendment or revision, if any. The Board of
Adjustment shall send copies of the report and resolution to the Governing
Body and Planning Board.