[Amended 12-28-1978; 3-6-19793-27-1979; 4-15-1980 by Ord. No. 80-6; 9-15-1987 by Ord. No. 1987-8; 12-7-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-17[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also amended the title of this article, which was formerly Planning Board.
A. 
Pursuant to P.L. 1975 c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.), the Land Use Board, consisting of nine members, is hereby established. The Land Use Board shall exercise, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions, all of the powers of a Planning Board and a Zoning Board of Adjustment as set forth in the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.). All applications for development and all powers granted to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., are hereby granted to the Land Use Board. All authority previously granted to the Planning Board and/or the Board of Adjustment by the Code of the Township of Holland and any ordinance shall now be vested in the Land Use Board.
B. 
Any reference to the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment in any existing Township of Holland ordinance shall be deemed to refer to the Land Use Board. The Land Use Board shall consist of four classes of members as follows:
(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 Township of Holland, other than a member of the governing body, to be appointed by the Mayor, provided that the member of the Environmental Commission, who is also a member of the Land Use Board as required by Section 1 of P.L. 1968, c. 245 (N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1), shall be deemed to be the Class II Land Use Board member for the purposes of this chapter in the event that there is among the Class IV members of the Land Use Board a member of the Board of Education.
(3) 
Class III: a member of the governing body, 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, position or employment, except that one member may be a member of the Board of Education pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-23. The member of the Environmental Commission who is also a member of the Land Use Board as required by Section 1 of P.L. 1968 c. 245 (N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1) shall be a Class IV Land Use Board member, unless there are among the Class IV members of the Land Use Board a member of the Board of Education, in which case the member common to the Land Use Board and Environmental Commission shall be deemed a Class II member of the Land Use Board.
(a) 
Alternate members: There shall be appointed by the Mayor four alternate Class IV members of the Land Use Board, who shall serve in rotation during the absence or disqualification of any regular member or members of Class IV. Said alternate members shall be designated by the Chairman of the Land Use Board as "Alternate No. 1"; "Alternate No. 2"; "Alternate No. 3"; and "Alternate No. 4."
A. 
The term of the member composing Class I shall correspond to his/her 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, except for a Class II member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission. The term of a Class II or Class IV member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission shall be for three years or terminate at the completion of his/her term of office as a member of the Environmental Commission, whichever occurs first.
B. 
The term of a Class IV member who is also a member of the Board of Education shall terminate whenever he/she is no longer a member of such other body or at the completion of his/her Class IV term, whichever occurs first consistent with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-23.
C. 
The terms of all Class IV members first appointed under this article shall be so determined that to the greatest practicable extent, the expiration of such terms shall be distributed evenly over the first four years after their appointment, provided that the initial Class IV term of no member shall exceed four years. Thereafter, the Class IV term of each such member shall be four years.
D. 
Alternate members shall serve for terms of two years; provided, however, that the initial terms of such members shall be for one and two years, respectively.
E. 
All terms shall run from January 1 of the year in which the appointment was made.
A. 
If a vacancy in any class shall occur otherwise than by expiration of the Land Use Board term, it shall be filled by appointment, as above provided, for the unexpired term. No member of the Land Use Board shall be permitted to act on any matter in which he has, either directly or indirectly, any personal or financial interest.
B. 
Any member other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if one is requested, may be removed by the governing body for cause. "Cause" shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, absence by a member, without reasonable excuse and prior notice thereof to the Chairman, from three consecutive regular or special meetings, or absence, without reasonable excuse and prior notice thereof to the Chairman, from three regular or special meetings within any six-month period.
When any hearing before a Land Use Board shall carry over two or more meetings, a member of the Board who was absent for one or more of the meetings shall be eligible to vote on the matter upon which the hearing was conducted, notwithstanding his absence from one or more of the meetings; provided, however, that such Board member has available to him a transcript or recording of the meeting from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the Board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
The Land Use Board is authorized to adopt bylaws and such other rules and regulations governing its procedural operation, which bylaws, rules and regulations shall be consistent with the provisions of this chapter and P.L. 1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1, et seq.). The Land Use Board shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from the members of Class IV, select a Secretary, who may or may not be a member of the Land Use Board or a municipal employee, and create and fill such other offices as established by ordinance.
A. 
The Land Use Board may annually appoint an Attorney and fix the compensation of or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Land Use Board Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Municipal Attorney.
B. 
The Land Use Board may also contract for the services of experts and other staff and services as it may deem necessary. The Board shall not, however, exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the governing body for its use.
No member or alternate member of the Land Use Board shall act on any matter in which he has either directly or indirectly any personal or financial interest. Whenever any such member shall disqualify himself from acting on a particular matter, he shall not continue to sit with the Board on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion or decision relating thereto.
A. 
Meetings of the Land Use Board shall be scheduled no less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of applications for development to process. Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Chairman or on the request of any two Board members, which shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.
B. 
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present. All actions shall be by majority vote of a quorum except where a specified portion of the full authorized membership is required by statute (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 and 55D-70d).
C. 
All regular meetings and all special meetings shall, as required by law, be open to the public. Notice of all such meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Law, Chapter 231 of the Laws of New Jersey 1975.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and shall include the names of the persons appearing and addressing the Board and of the persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by the Board, the findings, if any, made by it and reasons therefor. The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Municipal Clerk. Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceeding concerning the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party may be charged a fee for reproduction of the minutes for his use as provided for in the rules of the Board.
A. 
Rules. The Land Use Board may make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., or of this chapter.
B. 
Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearing or such person as he may designate shall have power to administer oaths or issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant evidence, including witnesses and documents presented by the parties, and the provisions of the County and Municipal Investigations Law, N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq., shall apply.
C. 
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the Board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
D. 
Records. The Land Use Board shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographer, mechanical or electronic means. The Board shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested party at his expense.
E. 
A member of the Land Use Board who was absent for one or more of the meetings at which a hearing was held shall be eligible to vote on the matter upon which the hearing was conducted, notwithstanding his absence from one or more of the meetings; provided, however, that such Board member has available to him the transcript or recording of all of the hearing from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the Board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
Upon written request of an applicant, the Township Clerk, Tax Assessor or the Township Clerk's designee shall, within seven business days, make and certify a list from the current tax duplicates of the Township of names and addresses of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12b. A fee, as established in Chapter 83, Fees, shall be paid to the Township for such list.
The Land Use Board shall be governed by and shall have such powers as are conferred upon it by P.L. 1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.). More specifically, the Land Use Board shall have authority to:
A. 
Prepare, adopt and from time to time amend or revise a Master Plan.
B. 
Exercise control over the review of subdivisions and site plans in accordance with Article VI of this chapter.
C. 
Exercise control over the granting of applications for conditional uses.
D. 
Whenever the proposed development requires approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use (but not a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d), grant to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Land Use Board:
(1) 
By majority vote, a variance from the strict application of the zoning provisions of this chapter 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 regulation in the zoning provisions of this chapter would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property; where in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property, the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law would be advanced by a deviation from the zoning provisions of this chapter, and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment. No variance under this Subsection D(1) shall be granted, however, from those departures enumerated in N.J.S.A. 49:55D-70d.
(2) 
Direction, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34, for issuance of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on an Official Map.
(3) 
Direction, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36, for issuance of a permit for a building or structure not related to a street.
E. 
Exercise such other duties as may be assigned to it by ordinance or resolution of the governing body and perform such other functions as may be authorized by P.L. 1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.), and other state statutes and administrative regulations.
A. 
Prior to the adoption of a development regulation or a revision or amendment thereto, the Land Use Board shall make and transmit to the governing body, within 35 days after referral, a report including recommendations concerning the proposed development regulation, revision or amendment. The governing body, when considering the adoption of a development regulation or a revision or amendment thereto, shall review the report of the Land Use Board and may disapprove or change any recommendation by a vote of a majority of its full authorized membership and shall record in its minutes the reasons for not following such recommendations. Failure of the Land Use Board to transmit its report within the thirty-five-day period provided herein shall relieve the governing body from the requirements of this subsection in regard to the proposed development regulation, revision or amendment thereto referred to the Land Use Board.
B. 
The governing body may by ordinance provide for the reference of any matter or class of matters to the Land Use Board before final action thereon by a municipal body or municipal officer having final authority thereon. Such reference shall not extend the time for action by the referring body, whether or not the Land Use Board has submitted its report. Whenever the Land Use Board shall have made a recommendation regarding a matter authorized by this chapter to another municipal body, such recommendation may be rejected only by a majority of the full authorized membership of such other body.
Whenever an application for approval of a subdivision plat, site plan or conditional use includes a request for relief pursuant to § 100-130.7D, of this chapter, the Land Use Board shall grant or deny approval of the application within 120 days after the submission by a developer of a complete application to the administrative officer or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Land Use Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute approval of the application, and a certificate of the administrative officer as to the failure of the Land Use Board to act shall be issued on request of the applicant, and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required and shall be so accepted by the county recording officer for purposes of filing subdivision plats.
The Land Use Board shall have the power to review and approve or deny conditional uses or site plans simultaneously with review for subdivision approval without the developer being required to make further application to the Land Use Board or the Land Use Board being required to hold further hearings. The longest time period for action by the Land Use Board, whether it is for subdivision, conditional use or site plan approval, shall apply; except that where the developer elects to submit separate consecutive applications, the appropriate time periods prescribed by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-61 shall apply. Whenever approval of a conditional use is requested by the developer pursuant to this section, notice of the hearing on the plat shall include reference to the request for such conditional use.
Whenever an Environmental Commission has prepared and submitted to the Land Use Board an index of the natural resources of the municipality, the Land Use Board shall make available to the Environmental Commission an informational copy of every application for development submitted to the Land Use Board. Failure of the Land Use Board to make such informational copy available to the Environmental Commission shall not invalidate any hearing or proceedings.
Whenever the Land Use Board shall have adopted any portion of the Master Plan, the governing body or other public agency having jurisdiction over the subject matter, before taking action necessitating the expenditure of any public funds, incidental to the location, character or extent of such project, shall refer the action involving such specific project to the Land Use Board for review and recommendation in conjunction with such Master Plan and shall not act thereon without such recommendation or until 45 days have elapsed after such reference without receiving such recommendation. This requirement shall apply to action by a housing, parking, highway, special district or other authority, redevelopment agency, school board or other similar public agency, state, county or municipal.
There is hereby reestablished in the Township of Holland a Planning Board of nine members consisting of the following four classes:
A. 
Class I: Mayor.
B. 
Class II: one of the officials of the municipality other than a member of the governing body, to be appointed by the Mayor, provided that if there is an Environmental Commission, the member of the Environmental Commission who is also a member of the Planning Board as required by N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1 shall be deemed to be the Class II Planning Board member for purposes of this Part 2 in the event that there are among the Class IV members or alternate members of the Planning Board both a member of the Board of Adjustment and a member of the Board of Education.
C. 
Class III: one of the members of the governing body appointed by it.
D. 
Class IV: six other citizens of the Township to be appointed by the Mayor as regular members and two other citizens of the Township to be appointed as alternates. The members of Class IV shall hold no other municipal office, position or employment, except that one such member may be a member of the Board of Adjustment. For the purposes of this section, membership on a Township board or commission whose function is advisory in nature, and the establishment of which is discretionary and not required by statute, shall not be considered the holding of municipal office. If there is a Municipal Environmental Commission, the member of the Environmental Commission who is also a member of the Planning Board, as required by N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1, shall be a Class IV Planning Board member, unless there are among the Class IV members or alternate members of the Planning Board both a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and a member of the Board of Education, in which case the member common to the Planning Board and Municipal Environmental Commission shall be deemed a Class II member of the Planning Board. Alternate members of Class IV shall be designated by the Mayor at the time of appointment "Alternate No. 1" and "Alternate No. 2." Alternate members may participate in discussion of the proceedings 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.
A. 
The term of the member composing Class I shall correspond with his official tenure. The terms of the members composing Class II and Class III shall be for one year or terminate at the completion or termination of their respective terms of office, whichever occurs first, except for a Class II member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission. The term of a Class II or Class IV member who is also a member of the Environmental Commission shall be for three years or terminate at the completion or termination of his term of office as a member of the Environmental Commission, whichever occurs first.
B. 
The terms of a Class IV member who is also a member of the Board of Adjustment or a Board of Education shall terminate whenever he is no longer a member of such other body or at the completion of his Class IV term, whichever occurs first.
C. 
The terms of all Class IV members first appointed pursuant to this article shall be so determined that to the greatest practicable extent the expiration of such term shall be distributed evenly over the first four years after their appointment as determined by resolution of the governing body; provided, however, that no term of any member shall exceed four years, and further provided that nothing herein shall affect the term of any present member of the Planning Board, all of whom shall continue in office until the completion of the terms for which they were appointed. Thereafter, all Class IV members shall be appointed for terms of four years except as otherwise herein provided. All terms shall expire at the end of a calendar year.
D. 
Any member, other than a Class I member, after a public hearing if he requests one, may be removed by the governing body for cause. "Cause" shall be deemed to include, but not be limited to, absence by a member, without reasonable excuse and prior notice thereof to the Chairman, from three consecutive regular or special meetings, or absence, without reasonable excuse and prior notice thereof to the Chairman, from three regular or special meetings within any six-month period.
E. 
The alternate members of Class IV shall serve for terms of two years; provided, however, that the initial terms of the two Class IV alternate members shall be one and two years respectively.
If a vacancy in any class or vacancy of an alternate member shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled by appointment as above provided for the unexpired term.
A. 
Authority.
(1) 
Except where a variance under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d is involved as outlined in Article XIX, Board of Adjustment, the Planning Board shall review and may approve all subdivisions, site plans and conditional uses and otherwise administer pursuant to this Part 2 the provisions hereof pertaining to subdivisions, site plans and conditional uses. The Planning Board, when reviewing these applications, shall have the power to grant variances and other relief to the same extent and in the same manner as the Board of Adjustment as follows:
(a) 
Extent.
[1] 
Grant a variance from the strict application of Part 1, Zoning:
[a] 
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 existing thereon, the strict application of any such regulation of said ordinance would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to or exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property in order to relieve such difficulties or hardship.
[b] 
Where in an application relating to a specific piece of property the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law[1] would be advanced by a deviation from Part 1, Zoning, regulations and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, to allow departure from Part 1, Zoning.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
[2] 
In no case shall a variance be granted under Subsection A(1)(a) to allow a departure of the sort enumerated under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d.
(b) 
Grant direction pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 for issuance of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-32.
(c) 
Grant direction pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for issuance of a permit for a building or structure not related to a street.
(d) 
Review and approve or deny conditional uses as outlined in the section entitled "conditional uses" in § 100-154.
(2) 
The Board has the authority to review all aspects of a development plan simultaneously without the developer being required to make further application to the Planning Board or the Planning Board being required to hold further hearings. The longest time period for action by the Planning Board, whether it be for subdivision, conditional use or site plan approval, shall apply. Whenever approval of a conditional use is requested by the developer pursuant to these provisions, notice of the hearing shall include reference to the request for such conditional use.
B. 
Whenever relief is requested pursuant to this section, notice of the hearing on the application for development shall include reference to the request for a variance or direction for issuance of a permit, as the case may be.
C. 
Hearing notices and actions taken by the Planning Board when reviewing a site plan or subdivision simultaneously with applications requiring considerations for conditional uses and variances shall be in accordance with § 100-145, entitled "Public hearing and notices."
D. 
In the event that the Planning Board disapproves a development plan, no zoning permit, industrial use permit, building permit or certificate of occupancy required prior to such development shall be issued. Any applicant wishing to make a change in an approved application shall follow the same procedure as the original application.
E. 
The Planning Board shall have the authority to permit a deviation from the final plan if caused by change of conditions beyond the control of the developer since the date of final approval and if the deviation would not substantially alter the character of the development or substantially impair the intent and purpose of the Master Plan and Part 1, Zoning.
The Planning Board shall also have the following powers and duties:
A. 
To make and adopt and from time to time amend a Master Plan for the physical development of the Township, including any areas outside its boundaries, which in the Board's judgment bear essential relation to the planning of the Township, in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28.
B. 
To participate in the preparation and review of programs or plans required by state or federal law or regulations.
C. 
To assemble data on a continuing basis as part of a continuous planning process.
D. 
To annually prepare a program of municipal capital improvement projects projected over a term of six years, and amendments thereto, and recommend the same to the governing body.
E. 
To consider and make report to the governing body 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-26a, and also pass upon other matters specifically referred to the Planning Board by the Township Committee, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-26a.
F. 
To perform such other advisory duties as are assigned to it by ordinance or resolution of the governing body for the aid and assistance of the governing body or other agencies or officers.