[Ord. No. 564, 9-6-2000]
A.
Membership. The Planning Board shall have nine members, all of whom, except for the Class II member set forth below, shall be municipal residents. The membership shall consist of the following four classes:
(1)
Class I. The Mayor or the Mayor's designee in the absence of the Mayor.
(2)
Class II. One of the officials of the municipality other than a member of the Borough Council to be appointed by the Mayor.
(3)
Class III. A member of the Borough Council to be appointed by it.
(4)
Class IV. Six other citizens of the municipality to be appointed by the Mayor. The members of Class IV shall hold no other municipal office except that one Class IV member may be a member of the Board of Education. For the purposes of this section, membership on a municipal board or commission which is discretionary, advisory in nature and not required by statute shall not be considered the holding of a municipal office. The member of the Environmental Commission who is also a member of the Planning Board as required by N.J.S.A. 40:55A-1 shall be a Class IV Planning Board member.
B.
Terms. The term of the member composing Class I shall correspond with the Mayor's official tenure. If a Mayor's designee serves in the absence of the Mayor, the designee shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor during the Mayor's official tenure. The terms of the members composing Class II and Class III shall be for one year or terminate at the completion of their respective terms of office, whichever occurs first. The terms of the Class IV members shall be for four years, except in the case of the Class IV member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission, whose term shall either terminate at the completion of his term as a member of the Environmental Commission or shall be for three years, whichever occurs first. If a Class IV member is also a member of the Board of Education, his term shall terminate whenever he is no longer a member of that body or at the completion of his Class IV term, whichever occurs first. All terms shall run from January 1 of the year in which the appointment is made.
C.
Vacancies and removals. If a vacancy in any class shall occur otherwise than by expiration of the Planning Board term, it shall be filled by appointment as above provided for the unexpired term only. Any member other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if he requests it, may be removed by the Borough Council for cause.
D.
Organization of Board. The Planning Board shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from among the regular members of Class IV and select a Secretary who may be either a regular or alternate member of the Planning Board or a municipal employee designated by it. An alternate member shall not serve as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Board.
E.
Alternate members.
(1)
The Mayor may appoint up to two alternate Class IV members of the Planning Board. The alternates shall meet the qualifications for Class IV members. Alternate members shall be designated by the Mayor at the time of their appointment as "Alternate No. 1" and "Alternate No. 2." The terms of the alternate members shall be for two years each and shall be such that the term of not more than one alternate member shall expire in any given year, provided that no alternate member shall be appointed for a term exceeding two years. A vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled by the Mayor for the unexpired term only.
(2)
Alternate members may participate in all matters but may not vote except in the absence or disqualification of a regular member of any class. A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member. In the event that a choice must be made as to which alternate member is to vote, Alternate No. 1 shall vote.
F.
Conflict of interest. No regular or alternate member shall be permitted to act on any matter in which he or she has either directly or indirectly any personal or financial interest. Whenever any member shall disqualify himself or herself from acting on a particular matter, he or she shall not continue to sit with the Board on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion or decision relating thereto.
G.
Planning Board attorney. There is hereby created the office of Planning Board Attorney. The Planning Board may annually appoint, fix the compensation of or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Planning Board attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the municipal attorney.
H.
Experts and staff. The Planning Board may also employ or contract for the services of experts and such other staff and services as it may deem necessary. The Borough Council shall make provision in its budget and appropriate funds for the expenses of the Planning Board. Such expenses shall not exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the Borough Council for use by the Planning Board.
I.
Powers and duties generally. The Planning Board shall adopt bylaws governing its procedural operations. It shall also have the following powers and duties:
(1)
To make and adopt and from time to time amend a Master Plan to guide the use of land within the Borough in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28.
(2)
To administer the site plan and subdivision review provisions of this chapter in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.).
(3)
To participate in the preparation and review of programs or plans required of the Planning Board by state or federal law or regulations.
(4)
To assemble data on a continuing basis as part of a continuous planning process.
(5)
Upon request, to assist the Borough Council in preparation of a program of municipal capital improvement projects and amendments thereto.
(6)
To consider and make a report to the Borough Council 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-26(a), and also pass upon other matters specifically referred to the Planning Board by the Mayor and Borough Council, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26(b).
(7)
To review applications for approval of conditional uses.
(8)
To perform such other advisory duties as are assigned to it by ordinance or by resolution of the Borough Council for the aid and assistance of the Borough Council or other municipal agencies or officers.
J.
Additional powers.
(1)
The Planning Board shall exercise to the same extent and, subject to the same restrictions, all of the statutory powers of a Zoning Board of Adjustment, except that the Class I and Class III members of the Planning Board shall not participate in the consideration of applications for development which involve relief pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d [Subsection J(6) hereinbelow]. These statutory powers include the powers to:
(a)
Direct, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34, the issuance of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainage way, flood control basin or public area reserved pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-32.
(b)
Direct, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36, the issuance of a permit for a building or structure not related to a street meeting the requirements of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-35.
(c)
Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, required decision or refusal made by an administrative officer or agency based on or made in the enforcement of this chapter. The Board may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the action, order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination appealed from and to that end have all the powers of the administrative officer from whom the appeal is taken.
(d)
Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or of this chapter or for decisions upon other special questions upon which the Board is authorized by ordinance to pass.
(e)
Where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a specific piece of property, or 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 zoning regulation would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property, grant a variance from such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship; or, where in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2) would be advanced by a deviation from the zoning requirements and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant a variance to allow departure from the zoning requirements; provided, however, that the fact that a proposed use is an inherently beneficial use shall not be dispositive of a decision on a variance under this subsection and further provided that no variance from those departures enumerated in Subsection J(6) hereinbelow shall be granted under this subsection.
(f)
In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from the zoning regulations 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 pertaining solely to a conditional use;
[4]
An increase in the permitted floor area ratio;
[5]
An increase in the permitted density 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.
(3)
No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of this section, including a variance or other relief involving an inherently beneficial use, without a showing that 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 Ordinance.
(4)
An application under this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Board shall act.
(5)
Whenever relief is requested pursuant to this section, notice of a hearing on the application for development shall include reference to the request for variance or direction for the issuance of a permit, as the case may be.
(6)
The developer may elect to submit a separate application requesting approval of the variance or direction for the issuance of a permit and a subsequent application for any required approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate approval of the variance or direction for the issuance of a permit shall be conditioned upon grant of all required subsequent approvals by the Board. No such subsequent approval shall be granted unless the approval can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantial impairment of the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Ordinance. The number of votes of Board members required to grant any such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided by law for the approval in question and the special vote required for a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d [Subsection J(6) herein] shall not be required.