No member of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment 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 both the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment 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.
B. 
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.
C. 
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present.
D. 
All actions shall be taken by majority vote of a quorum except as otherwise required by any provision of P.L. 1975, c. 291.
E. 
All regular meetings and all special meetings shall be open to the public. Notice of all such meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Law, P.L. 1975, c. 231.
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.
[Amended 5-19-1981 by Ord. No. 81-10-791; 10-2-2002 by Ord. No. 02-12-1254; 4-20-2011 by Ord. No. 11-04-1406]
A. 
Zoning Board of Adjustment.
(1) 
All fees, as provided by existing ordinances of the Borough of Cresskill, shall be preserved and saved from repeal except as herein specifically changed or modified.
(2) 
A filing fee of $30 shall be paid to the Borough Clerk prior to consideration by the Zoning Board of Adjustment of any request or application for a variance, except that a fee for an application for a use variance to the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be $50. The fees provided for herein shall be in addition to the fees required pursuant to § 38-32 of this chapter.
B. 
Planning Board.
(1) 
All fees, as provided by existing ordinances of the Borough of Cresskill, shall be preserved and saved from repeal except as herein specifically changed or modified.
(2) 
A filing fee of $200 shall be paid to the Borough Clerk prior to consideration by the Planning Board of any request or application for a site plan or subdivision. The fees provided for herein shall be in addition to the fees required pursuant to § 38-19 of this chapter.
(3) 
Escrow account.
(a) 
In addition to the required filing fees established herein, the applicant shall be required to establish with the Borough of Cresskill an escrow account to cover all charges for professional services, including but not limited to engineering, planning, legal and landscaping services. Said escrow fees shall be required for preliminary site plan approval, final site plan approval and subdivision approval.
(b) 
Said escrow account shall be as follows: For subdivision applications, $1,500 for legal and $3,000 for engineering; for site plan applications, $1,500 for legal and $1,500 for engineering, unless the Planning Board determines that some other amounts are more appropriate, in which case the applicant shall be required to post such security as the Board may require to cover all charges for professional services.
A. 
Rules. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment 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 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 P.L. 1953, c. 38 (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 of 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 limitation 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. Each 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 to any interested party at his expense.
F. 
Definitions. For purposes of this Code, use of the term "testimony of all witnesses" shall be interpreted to mean persons making a declaration or statement of facts. Neither Subsection B nor C above shall be construed to require an oath or affirmation from any person whose purpose for speaking is to ask a question or point of information.
Whenever a hearing is required on an application for development, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or pursuant to the determination of the municipal agency in question, the applicant shall give notice thereof as follows:
A. 
Public notice shall be given by publication in the official newspaper of the municipality 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 within 200 feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of such hearing and whether located within or without the municipality in which the applicant's land is located. Such notice shall be given by serving a copy thereof on the owner, as shown on 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 said current tax duplicate. A return receipt is not required. 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 service on behalf of the corporation.
C. 
Notice of all 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 the notice required to be given pursuant to Subsection B of this section to the owners of land 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 situate within 200 feet of a municipal boundary.
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 Director of the Division of State and Regional Planning in the Department of Community Affairs of a hearing on an application for development of property which exceeds 150 acres or 500 dwelling units. Such notice shall include a copy of any maps or documents required to be on file with the Municipal Clerk pursuant to Section 6b of P.L. 1975, c. 291.
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 Board holding the hearing on the application for development.
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 the date, time and place of the hearing; the nature of the matters to be considered; identification of the property proposed for development by street address, if any, or by reference to lot and block numbers as shown on the current tax duplicate in the Municipal Tax Assessor's office; and the location and times at which any maps and documents for which approval is sought are available as required by law.
[Amended 2-20-1990 by Ord. No. 90-2-1025[1]]
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12c, the Tax Assessor of the municipality shall, within seven days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of a sum not to exceed $0.25 per name, or $10, whichever is greater, make and certify a list from the current tax duplicate of names and addresses of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to § 38-31B of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Amended 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 85-15-905]
A. 
The municipal agency 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 municipal agency shall provide the findings and conclusions through:
(1) 
A resolution at a meeting held within the time period provided in the act for action by a municipal agency on the application for development; or
(2) 
A memorializing resolution adopted at a meeting held not later than 45 days after the date of the meeting at which the municipal agency voted to grant or deny approval. Only the members of the municipal agency 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. The 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 in the memorializing resolution. The vote of any such resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of the action of the municipal agency and not to be an action of the agency; however, the date of the adoption of the resolution shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailing, filing and publications required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10. If the municipal agency fails to adopt a resolution or memorializing resolution as hereinabove specified, any interested party may apply to the Superior Court in a summary manner for an order compelling the municipal agency to reduce its findings and conclusions to writing within a stated time, and the cost of the application, including attorneys' fees, shall be assessed against the municipality.
B. 
A copy of the decision shall be mailed by the Board within 10 days of the date of decision to the applicant or, if represented to his attorney without separate charge. A copy of the decision shall also be mailed to all persons who have requested it and who paid the fee prescribed by the Board for such service. A copy of the decision shall also be filed in the office of the Municipal Clerk, who shall make a copy of such filed decision available to any interested party upon payment of a fee calculated in the same manner as those established for copies of other public documents in the municipality.
A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in the official newspaper of the municipality. Such publication shall be arranged by the Secretary of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be, without separate charge to the applicant. Said notice shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication within 10 days of the date of any such decision.
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 Planning Board or to the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be accompanied by proof that no taxes or assessments 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, any approvals or other relief granted by either Board shall be conditioned upon either 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.
In all instances wherein the Planning Board or, in the proper case, the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall grant subdivision, site plan or conditional use approval requiring the construction or extension of municipal improvements, the dedication of lands for public use, the construction of site improvements or other performance for which a security may be required, there shall be executed by the developer an agreement between it and the Borough of Cresskill, to be drawn by the Borough Attorney, specifying the nature and extent of the developer's obligations.
In all actions wherein a review is sought of a final determination of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment before the Superior Court and in the case of any further appeal therefrom wherein the Borough, its Building Inspector or any municipal agent or employee is also named as a party defendant, the Borough Attorney shall appear in such actions and appeals on behalf of all parties therein named; provided, however, that the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment shall have the right to advise the governing body, in writing, that such Board believes that the governing body has assumed a position contrary to or inconsistent with the final determination of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment then under review. In the event of such written notification, the governing body shall determine if such a conflict exists. In the event it determines that no such conflict exists, then the Borough Attorney shall appear on behalf of all party defendants. The determination of the governing body shall be final.