Ordinance No. 2022-27 created a Land Use Board, which combined
the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment. All references
to the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment shall now refer
to the Land Use Board.
The Land Use Board shall have the powers listed below in addition
to other powers established by law:
A. Make, 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.
B. Review and either approve or deny subdivision and site plan and conditional
use applications.
C. Participate in the preparation and review of programs or plans required
by state or federal law or regulation.
D. Assemble data on a continuing basis as part of a continuous planning
process.
E. Annually, prepare a program of municipal capital improvements projects
projected over a term of six years and amendments thereto and recommend
same to the governing body.
F. Consider and make report to the governing body within 35 days after
referral as to any proposed development regulations submitted to it
and also pass upon other matters specifically referred to the Land
Use Board by the governing body.
G. Whenever the proposed development requires approval of a subdivision,
site plan or conditional use, but not a use variance, the Land Use
Board shall receive, review and act upon applications for hardship
variances and applications for special permits. The developer may
elect to submit a separate application requesting approval of the
hardship variance or special permit and a subsequent application for
any required approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use.
The separate approval of the hardship variance or special permit shall
be conditioned upon grant of all required subsequent approvals by
the Land Use Board. No such separate 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 Land Use Board shall grant
or deny approval of the application within 120 days after the date
of submission of the complete application to the administrative officer
or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant.
In the event that the developer elects to submit a separate consecutive
application pursuant to this section, the aforesaid 120-day limitation
shall apply to the application for approval of the hardship variance
or special permit, and the period for granting or denying any subsequent
approval shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter.
[Amended 4-18-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-19]
(1) Variances pursuant to §
142-67H of this chapter.
(2) Direction pursuant to §
142-67J of this chapter 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.
(3) Direction pursuant to §
142-67K of this chapter for issuance of a permit for a building or structure on a lot not abutting a street.
H. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-25c(2), the Land Use Board shall exercise,
to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions, all the powers
of a board of adjustment, but the Class I and Class III members shall
not participate in the consideration of applications for development
which involve relief pursuant to Subsection d of section 57 of P.L.
1975, c. 291 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70). These powers shall include, in
addition to other powers established by law:
(1) Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that
there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made
by any municipal official based on or made in enforcement of the Zoning
Ordinance.
(2) Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or
Ordinance or for decisions upon other special questions upon which
such Board is authorized to pass by any Zoning or Official Map Ordinance.
(3) Special difficulties or hardship.
(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
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, upon an application or an appeal relating to such property,
a variance from such strict application of such regulation so as to
relieve such difficulties or hardship.
(b)
Where, in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property, the purpose of this chapter set forth in §
142-3 and the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.) would be advanced by deviation from the Zoning Ordinance requirements and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant a variance to allow the departure from zoning regulations; provided, however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in §
142-67H(4) shall be granted under this subsection; and provided, further, that the proposed development does not require approval by the Land Use Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use in conjunction with which the Land Use Board has power to review a request for a variance pursuant to §
142-67G(1).
(4) Grant a variance to allow departure from zoning regulations in particular
cases and for special reasons to permit:
(a)
A use or principal structure in a district restricted against
such use or principal structure;
(b)
An expansion of a nonconforming use;
(c)
Deviation from a specification or standard pertaining solely
to a conditional use;
(d)
An increase in the permitted floor area ratio as defined in §
142-7; or
(e)
An increase in the permitted density as defined in §
142-7 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. A variance under this subsection shall be granted only by the affirmative vote of at least five members.
I. No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of this
section unless such variance or other relief can be granted without
substantial detriment to the public good and will not impair the intent
and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Ordinance.
J. Direct issuance of a building permit for the construction of a building
or structure within the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway,
flood control basin or public areas as shown on a duly adopted Official
Map of the municipality whenever one or more parcels of land within
the bed cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a building
permit is granted. The Land Use Board may grant such relief only by
an affirmative vote of a majority of the full authorized membership
of the Board, ensuring that such relief will tend to cause a minimum
change of the Official Map and will not significantly add to the cost
of opening any proposed street. The Board shall impose reasonable
requirements as a condition of granting the building permit so as
to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public.
K. Direct issuance of a building permit for the construction of a building
or structure on a lot not abutting a street which is shown on a duly
adopted Official Map of the municipality; or which is an existing
state, county or municipal street or highway; or a street shown upon
a plat approved by the municipal Land Use Board; or a street on a
plat duly filed in the office of the county recording officer. The
Board may grant such relief only where the enforcement of the statute
requirement that a building lot abut a street would entail practical
difficulty or unnecessary hardship or where the circumstances of the
case do not require the building or structure to abut a street. The
Board shall impose requirements or conditions that will provide adequate
access for fire-fighting equipment, ambulances and other emergency
vehicles necessary for the protection of the health and safety and
will protect any future street layout shown on the Official Map or
on the general circulation plan element of the municipal Master Plan.
L. The power to grant subdivision, site plan or conditional use approval whenever the proposed development requires approval of a variance pursuant to Subsection
H(4) of this section. The developer may elect to submit subsequent application for any required approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon the grant of all required subsequent approvals by the Board. No such subsequent approval shall be granted unless such 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 the zoning provisions of this chapter. The number of votes of Board members required to grant any such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant to Subsection
H(4) of this section shall not be required.
Any decision of the Land Use Board when acting upon an application
for development shall be given notice in the following manner:
A. A copy of the decision shall be mailed to the applicant or appellant,
or, if represented, then to his attorney, without charge and, for
a reasonable charge, to any interested party who has requested it,
not later than 10 days after the date of the decision.
B. A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in the
official newspaper of the Township. Such publications shall be arranged
by the administrative officer without separate charge to the applicant.
The notice shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication
within 10 days of the date of any such decision.
C. A copy of the decision and all submitted documents of record shall
be filed with the Municipal Clerk.