[Amended 9-4-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-9]
A. Any applicant for subdivision or site plan review and approval, shall obtain all necessary forms and checklists as per §
120-60 of this chapter from the Land Use Board administrative officer. Said Officer shall inform the applicant of the steps to be taken in securing Land Use Board action and of the regular meeting dates of the Board. Except as otherwise provided in §
120-42B of this chapter, an applicant seeking subdivision or site plan approval shall, with the knowledge of the Zoning Officer, submit 15 copies of all plans, together with a completed application form and the appropriate checklists for the type(s) of development proposed as required by §
120-60 herein, to the Land Use Board administrative officer at least 20 days prior to a regularly scheduled Land Use Board meeting.
B. The Land Use Board shall determine, on the basis of
advice from the Board's administrative officer and its professional
staff and/or the Township Engineer as detailed herein below, that
the application is complete and properly submitted as of that date,
or that the application is incomplete, as provided in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.3,
in which latter case the applicant shall be notified in writing of
the deficiencies therein by the Board or the Board's designee for
the determination of completeness within 45 days of the applicant's
initial submission as to the additional information or materials required.
The applicant may request that one or more of the submission requirements
be waived, in which event the Board or its designee shall grant or
deny said waiver request within 45 days. The Board may subsequently
require correction of any information found to be in error and submission
of additional information not specified in the chapter or any revisions
in the accompanying documents, as are reasonably necessary to make
an informed decision as to whether the requirements have been met.
The application shall not be deemed incomplete for lack of any such
additional information or any revision in the accompanying documents
so required by the Board.
(1) Administrative determination of preliminary completeness.
The administrative officer in conjunction with the Board engineer
and/or planning consultant shall make a determination of preliminary
completeness prior to listing any matter on the agenda for a meeting
of the Board. In the event that the administrative officer determines
that the application is not complete, the administrative officer shall
so advise the applicant in writing, indicating the items which the
administrative officer has found or been advised by the Board Engineer
and/or Planning Consultant, to be lacking. The failure of the administrative
officer to have mentioned an item to an applicant shall not preclude
the Board from finding an application incomplete. Only the Board shall
have the authority to make final determinations of completeness and
shall make a determination of completeness prior to hearing any application.
(2) Advance filing requirement. Any applicant for which
a hearing is required shall receive a determination of preliminary
completeness at least 10 days prior to the meeting date, and the completeness
of the application shall be determined as of that date. If the application
is not determined to be preliminarily complete as of that date, the
application shall not be placed on the agenda for the meeting unless
the applicant has requested waivers as to the items which are incomplete,
and included in any public notice the request for waivers. In such
case, the request for waivers shall be placed on the agenda if the
application is otherwise determined to be preliminarily complete,
and if the Board approves the waivers and otherwise finds the application
complete, the application may be heard at that meeting.
No development application as defined in this
chapter shall be accepted unless submitted in proper form, and no
plat or plan shall be accepted for consideration unless it conforms
to the requirements, as set forth herein, as to form, content and
accompanying information, and complies with the provisions of the
New Jersey Map Filing Law, as amended. All plats and plans shall bear the signature, seal, license
number and address of the professional authorized to draw same.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39
and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-65, every application for development submitted
to the Land Use Board shall be accompanied by proof that no taxes
or assessment for local improvements are due or delinquent on the
property which is the subject of such application; or, if it is shown
that taxes or assessments are delinquent on said property, and approvals
or other relief granted by the Board shall be conditioned upon either
the prompt payment of such taxes or assessments or the making of adequate
provision for the payment thereof in such manner that the municipality
will be adequately protected.
The Land Use Board shall hold a hearing on each
application for development consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A.
40:55D-1 and this chapter, and such hearings shall conducted according
to the provisions of this section.
A. Rules. The Land Use Board shall 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 the power to administer oaths
and 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. Testimony. The testimony of all witnesses relating
to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation
by the presiding officer, and the right to cross examination shall
be permitted to all interested parties through their attorneys, if
represented, or directly, if not represented, subject to the discretion
of the presiding officer and to reasonable limitations as to time
and number of witnesses.
D. Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be
applicable to the hearing, but the Board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial
or unduly repetitious evidence.
E. Records. The Land Use Board shall provide for the
verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographic, mechanical
or electronic means. The Board shall furnish a transcript or duplicate
recording in lieu thereof on request of any interested party at his/her
expense. The Land Use Board in furnishing a transcript of the proceedings
to an interested party at his/her expense shall not charge such interested
party more than the maximum permitted in N.J.S.A. 2A:11-15. Said transcript shall be certified in writing by the transcriber
to be accurate.
Whenever a hearing on an application for development
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. is required the applicant shall
give notice thereof as follows:
A. Public notice shall be given by publication in the
official newspaper of the Township at least 10 days prior to the date
of the hearing.
B. Notice shall be given to the owners of all real property
as shown on the current tax duplicate or duplicates located in the
state and within 200 feet in all directions of the property which
is the subject of such hearing, provided that this requirement shall
be deemed satisfied by notice to the condominium association in the
case of any unit owner whose unit has a unit above or below it, or
horizontal property regime, in the case of any co-owner whose apartment
has an apartment above or below it.
(1) Such notice shall be given by serving a copy on the
owner as shown on the said current tax duplicate or his agent in charge
of the property or by mailing a copy thereof by certified mail to
the property owner at his address as shown on the said current tax
duplicate. A return receipt is not required.
(2) Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service
upon any partner. Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service
upon its president, a vice president, secretary or other person authorized
by appointment or by law to accept on behalf of the corporation. Notice
to a condominium association, horizontal property regime, community
trust or homeowners' association, because of its ownership of common
elements or areas located within 200 feet of the property which is
the subject of the hearing, may be made in the same manner as to a
corporation, without further notice to unit owners, co-owners or homeowners
on account of such common elements or areas.
C. Notice of hearings on applications for development involving property located within 200 feet of an adjoining municipality shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Clerk of such municipality, which notice shall be in addition to notice required to be given pursuant to §
120-55B of this article to the owners of lands in such adjoining municipality which are located within 200 feet of the subject premises.
D. Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the County Planning Board of a hearing on an application for
development of property adjacent to an existing county road or proposed
road shown on the Official County Map or on the County Master Plan,
adjoining other county land or situated within 200 feet of the subject
premises.
E. Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a hearing on an application
for development of property adjacent to a state highway.
F. Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the State Planning Commission of a hearing on an application
for development of property which exceeds 150 acres or 500 dwelling
units. The notice shall include a copy of any maps or documents required
to be on file with the Township Clerk pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.
G. All notices hereinabove specified in this section
shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for hearing,
and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service with
the Land Use Board.
H. Any notice made by certified mail as hereinabove required
shall be deemed to be complete upon mailing in accordance with the
provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-14.
I. Form of notice. All notices required to be given pursuant
to the terms of this chapter shall state:
(1) The date, time and place of the hearing;
(2) The nature of the matters to be considered;
(3) Identification of the property proposed for development
by street address, if any, and by reference to lot and block number
as shown on the current tax duplicate in the Township Tax Assessor's
Office;
(4) The location at which any maps and documents for which
approval is sought are available for inspection as required by law;
and
(5) The time during which such inspections can be made.
Public notice shall be given for all applications
for development as stipulated in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12, and for minor
and major site plans involving multifamily, commercial or industrial
uses or activities; for appeals of determination of administrative
officers pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60a and for requests for interpretation
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60b.
An applicant for waiver by the Land Use Board of site plan review approval shall publish and serve notices of the date, time, and place of the meeting of the Land Use Board to consider such application. Such notice shall be published and served in the same manner and it shall contain the same information as required for a notice of a hearing on an application for development as required pursuant to §
120-55 of this chapter.
The Land Use Board shall include findings of
fact and conclusions based thereon in each decision on any application
for development and shall reduce the decision to writing. The Land
Use Board shall provide the findings and conclusions through:
A. A resolution adopted at a meeting held within the
time period provided by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. For action by the
Land Use Board on the application for development; or
B. A memorializing resolution adopted at a meeting held
not later then 45 days after the date of the meeting at which the
Land Use Board voted to grant or deny approval. Only the members of
the Land Use Board who voted for the action taken may vote on the
memorializing resolution, and the vote of a majority of such members
present at the meeting at which the resolution is presented for adoption
shall be sufficient to adopt the resolution. An action pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-9 (resulting from failure of a motion to approve an
application) shall be memorialized by resolution as provided above,
with those members voting against the motion for approval being the
members eligible to vote on the memorializing resolution. The vote
of any such resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of
the action of the Land Use Board and not to be an action of the Land
Use Board; however, the date of the adoption of the resolution shall
constitute the date of the decision for purposes of mailings, filings
and publications required by Subsections h and I of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.
If the Land Use Board fails to adopt a resolution or a memorializing
resolution as hereinabove specified, any interested party may apply
to the Superior Court in a summary manner for an order compelling
the Land Use Board to reduce its findings and conclusions to writing
within a stated time and the cost of the application, including attorney's
fees, shall be assessed against the Township.
C. A copy of the decision shall be mailed by the Land
Use Board within 10 days of the date of the decision to the applicant,
or if represented, then to his attorney, without separate charge,
and to all who request a copy of the decision for a reasonable fee.
A copy of the decision shall also be filed by the Land Use Board in
the office of the administrative officer. The administrative officer
shall make a copy of such filed decision available to any interested
party for a reasonable fee and make available for public inspection
at his/her office during reasonable hours.
A brief notice of every final decision shall
be published in the official newspaper of the Township. At a minimum,
the notice shall clearly identify the nature of the Board action requested;
the public meeting or meetings at which the matter was heard and decided;
and whether or not the application was granted. Such publication shall
be arranged by the administrative officer of the Land Use Board without
charge to the applicant. Said notice shall be sent to the official
newspaper for publication within 10 days of the date of such decision.
A corporation or partnership applying to Land Use Board for permission to subdivide a parcel of land into six or more lots, or applying for a variance to construct a multiple dwelling of 25 or more family units or for approval of a site to be used for commercial purposes shall list the names and addresses of all stockholders or individual partners owning at least 10% of its stock of any class or at least 10% of the interest in the partnership, as the case may be. Said disclosure shall be in compliance with the provisions of §
120-48B(2) through
(4) of this article.