While not specifically required under the Municipal
Land Use Law, the Township has determined that a procedure should
be established whereby an applicant may apply through proper Township
channels for a rezoning of property. By the standards hereinafter
established, an applicant is required to submit documentary evidence
and proofs which will indicate the necessity for an appropriateness
of rezoning. Rezoning is a legislative act left to the sole discretion
of the Township Council. The Township, however, is establishing a
procedure whereby the Township Council may obtain sufficient information
in order to make a proper and legally defendable determination on
the request.
A.
Municipal land use law terms. Unless the context clearly
provides otherwise, terms used in this article which are defined within
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. shall be given the meanings and be defined
in accordance with the statute, and the meanings and definitions provided
by that statute are incorporated within this article by reference.
B.
REZONING
REZONING APPLICATION
Specific definitions. As used in this article, the
following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The amendment or other alteration to any development regulation
in existence within the Township through the legislative act of the
Township of Springfield Township Council by ordinance, resolution
or motion, as those terms are defined by N.J.S.A. 40:49-1, which is
proposed by the Township Council, other agencies or Boards of the
Township, resident of the Township or other person or entities having
an interest in the development of land within the Township and which
is proposed or initiated for consideration during the time periods
between the date reports are issued by the Land Development Board
in its periodic reexamination of the Township Master Plan required
by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-89. This term shall not include any amendment or
other alteration to any development regulation which is recommended
in the periodic report required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-89d, the Township
Council finding that those amendments of alterations would be developed
from a comprehensive review of the Township Master Plan and, therefore,
should be free from the procedures set forth in this article.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
An application for rezoning.
A.
The application shall include a document, approved
as to form by resolution of the Land Development Board, which states:
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the applicant.
(2)
The nature of the amendment or other alteration sought
to the development regulations.
(3)
A brief narrative statement concerning the impact
and effect which the proposed amendment or alteration would have on
the goals, objectives, policies and assumptions set forth in the most
recently adopted Master Plan of the Township.
(4)
A brief narrative statement concerning whether and
how the proposed amendment or alteration will further any of the purposes
sought to be advanced under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2,
through the adoption of development regulations.
(5)
A brief narrative statement concerning whether and
how the proposed amendment or alteration meets the general health,
safety and welfare concerns of the community or the region of which
it is a part and a brief narrative statement concerning why the purposes
sought to be advanced by the amendment or alteration would not be
addressed in a statutorily recognized application for development
and why the purposes sought to be advanced by the amendment or alteration
cannot await consideration during the next periodic reexamination
of the Master Plan under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-89.
B.
The applicant shall affix to the document a statement
providing the specific language which (s)he seeks adopted as an amendment
or alteration to the development regulations, which shall be presented
in an ordinance format and specifically address each section of the
existing development regulations sought to be amended.
C.
If the proposed amendment or alteration affects specific
property within the Township, the document shall contain:
(1)
In addition to the above, the address, block and lot
description, size, dimensions and current zoning district designation
of the property in issue.
(2)
A narrative statement concerning whether the applicant
is the owner of the site and, if not, whether the owner consents to
the application and, if not, the nature of the applicant's interest
in the application which warrants its consideration by the Township.
(3)
A narrative description of all uses and/or physical
features currently in existence on the property in question and on
all properties within 200 feet of any point of the property in question
and the impact which the proposed amendment or alteration will have
on those existing uses or physical features.
(4)
A narrative description of the impact which the proposed
amendment or alteration will have on any regional or indigenous need
for low- to moderate-income housing, how this need was determined
and what the extent of this need is.
D.
If the proposed amendment or alteration affects the
specific property within the Township, the application shall be accompanied
by a plan, drawn in accordance with the preliminary subdivision and/or
site plan standards contained within existing land development regulations,
to indicate potential development proposals on the lands in question
in accordance with the proposed amendment or revisions, provided that
every applicant, by letter request made prior to the filing of an
application, may seek from the Land Development Board a waiver of
any requirements contained within those standards. The Land Development
Board, if it determines that any information required by a preliminary
subdivision and/or site plan is unnecessary for its evaluation of
the application, shall grant the waiver sought. It is noted that the
above plan shall not be deemed to bind either the applicant or the
Township on any subsequent development application, but is required
merely to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed development
in accordance with the requested amendment or alteration and the impact
which such development will have on adjacent properties, the zoning
district in issue and the goals, objective, policies and assumptions
set forth in the Township's Master Plan.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
Any person desiring to have the Township rezone
certain properties with the Township shall file an application for
zoning with the administrative officer of the Township. The administrative
officer shall certify the application as complete or incomplete within
45 days of receipt or it shall be deemed complete on the 46th day
after submission.
[Amended 5-14-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-3]
A complete application for rezoning shall consist
of the following:
Upon the receipt of a complete application,
the administrative officer shall retain one copy and shall distribute
copies to the officials and bodies listed below for their review and
reports:
A.
Land Development Board engineer: one copy.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
B.
Land Development Board solicitor: one copy.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
C.
Township planner: one copy.
D.
Township Clerk: one copy.
E.
Land Development Board: three copies.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
A.
Requirements. The Land Development Board shall hold a public hearing, meeting the standards of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10, on all applications for rezoning. The Land Development Board shall review the application in light of the existing Master Plan and conditions existing within the Township development to determine whether the applicant's proposal should be favorably acted upon by the Township Council. The Land Development Board shall make specific detailed findings concerning the applicant's proposal as it relates to the standards set forth in § 18-44 below. The applicant, at all times, shall bear the burden of establishing proofs sufficient to show both the desirability and necessity for rezoning of the property involved.
B.
Scheduling and time for decision. The Land Development Board
shall schedule the public hearing required under this section in accordance
with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12, provided that, unless the application will
affect a specific parcel of land within the Township, the notices
required to be served on adjacent property owners shall not be required.
Each reviewing Board shall conclude its review of the proposal within
95 days of submission of the application to the Board in question
for its action by the administrative officer.
C.
Reports. Subsequent to action by the Land Development
Board, the written findings prepared by the Land Development Board
shall be forwarded to the Township Clerk, together with a brief written
statement concerning whether the Township Council should or should
not grant the application for rezoning.
Each application for rezoning shall specifically
address and meet the burdens established by the following standards:
A.
Necessity. No application for rezoning shall be granted
where it is determined that a proper vehicle under an application
for development exists whereby the applicant could obtain the relief
sought short of rezoning.
B.
Master plan. No application for rezoning shall be
granted which substantially disrupts the findings and conclusions
addressed within the Master Plan, unless the Land Development Board
determines that it is in the best interest of the Township to amend
the Master Plan based on changed circumstances which challenge the
principles upon which the Master Plan was based.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
C.
Benefit to Township. The applicant shall demonstrate
that the proposed rezoning will substantially benefit the Township
and the goals to be achieved by proper planning, and will not unduly
burden the planned and orderly growth of the Township or place an
undue exaction upon the Township facilities required to service the
area.
D.
Advancement of regulatory purposes. No application
for rezoning shall be granted unless it addresses and advances one
or more of the purposes sought to be advanced within the Municipal
Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2.
E.
Regional need. No application for rezoning shall be
granted if it is determined that it would frustrate or impede the
Township's efforts to provide and implement its required share of
low- to moderate-income housing within the Township.
F.
General standards. No application for rezoning shall
be granted unless it is determined that it meets the general health,
safety and welfare concerns of the Township.
A.
Receipt of reports. Subsequent to receipt of the reports
referred to above, the Township Clerk will cause the question of the
applicant's rezoning request to be placed upon the agenda of a Council
meeting, whereupon a hearing will be held, a review concluded and
a decision rendered within 95 days from the date that the Township
Clerk receives the reports in question.
B.
Hearing procedure. At the Council meeting, scheduled as set forth in Subsection A above, the Township Council shall proceed to hold a hearing in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-17, except that no transcript of the proceedings before the Township Land Development Board shall be filed unless an applicant seeks their consideration by the Township Council and arranges for their production. In the absence of a transcript, the hearing shall be conducted on the report submitted by the Land Development Board. No new evidence shall be received by the Council which has not previously been considered by the Land Development Board. In the event that the applicant desires to present new testimony, the matter shall be considered a new application for rezoning and the applicant shall be required again to appear before the Land Development Board, as elsewhere provided for in the article.
[Amended 3-13-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
C.
Determination. At the conclusion of the hearing, the
Township Council, within the aforesaid ninety-five-day period, shall
determine, by resolution, whether they will authorize the preparation
of a zoning ordinance amendment which addresses the request by the
application for rezoning. Such an amendment may be consistent with
the applicant's request, contrary to the applicant's request or a
modification of the applicant's request to meet the standards for
rezoning established above.
The Township Council shall not consider rezoning
requests unless and until compliance with the procedural requirements
of this article are fulfilled.
