[Amended 10-3-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-35; 10-16-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-39; 5-21-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-22; 12-11-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-51]
A. The application charge shall be a flat fee to cover
administrative expenses and shall be paid in one check. The escrow
account shall be established to cover the costs of professional services,
including planning review, inspection and engineering review, and
shall be paid in a separate check.
B. The application charge shall be a flat fee to cover
administrative expenses. The escrow account shall be established to
cover the costs of professional services, including planning review
and inspection, engineering review and inspection, legal, Health Department
and other expenses connected with the proposed development application.
Sums not utilized in the review and inspection process shall be returned
to the applicant. At no time shall the application fee or the initial
escrow fee exceed $10,000. If additional escrow sums are deemed necessary,
the applicant shall be notified of the required additional amount
and shall add such sum to the escrow prior to the hearing of the application.
C. The application charges and escrow charges are set forth in Chapter
414, Fees, Land Development.
[Amended 4-6-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-11; 4-19-2000 by Ord. No.
2000-6; 3-26-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-006]
A. In addition to the base application fees set forth pursuant to §
470-26, the applicant shall also pay to the Township of West Milford a review fee escrow deposit in the amount set forth in Chapter
414, Fees, Land Development.
B. Deposits received from any developer pursuant to this
section shall be deposited in a banking institution or savings-and-loan
association in New Jersey insured by an agency of the federal government
or any other fund or depository approved for such deposits by the
State of New Jersey.
(1) Deposits under $5,000 received from any developer
pursuant to this section will be placed in one account and monitored
by separate ledger.
(2) Deposits in excess of $5,000 received from any developer
pursuant to this section shall be placed in an account bearing interest
at the minimum rate currently paid by the institution or depository
on time or savings deposits. The deposits shall be deposited to a
review fee trust account identified with the name of the applicant
and the filing number of the application for development. The Township
shall notify the applicant, in writing, of the name and address of
the institution or depository in which the deposit is made and the
amount of the deposit. The Township shall not refund an amount of
interest paid on a deposit which does not exceed $100 for the year.
If the amount of interest exceeds $100, that entire amount shall belong
to the applicant and shall be refunded to him by the Township annually
or at the time the deposit is repaid, as the case may be, except that
the Township shall retain for administrative expenses a sum equivalent
to no more than 33 1/3% of that entire amount, which shall be
in lieu of all other administrative and custodial expenses.
C. The review fee escrow deposit shall be applied to
defray the actual and reasonable expenses incurred by the Township
of West Milford for professional services in connection with the processing
of the application for development.
(1) An applicant shall be responsible to reimburse the
Township for:
(a)
All expenses of professional personnel incurred
and paid by it necessary to process an application for development
before a municipal agency, such as, but not by way of limitation:
[1]
Charges for reviews by professional personnel
of applications and accompanying documents.
[2]
Issuance of reports by professional personnel
to the municipal agency setting forth recommendations resulting from
the review of any documents submitted by the applicant.
[3]
Charges for any telephone conference or meeting
requested or initiated by the applicant, his attorney or any of his
experts.
[4]
Review of additional documents submitted by
the applicant and issuance of reports relating thereto.
[5]
Review or preparation of easements, developer's
agreements, deeds or the like.
[6]
Preparation for and attendance at the board
meetings under certain circumstances in accordance with the Municipal
Land Use Law, including special meetings that were called at the applicant's
request.
[7]
The preparation of a resolution or memorializing
resolution setting forth the findings and conclusions of the municipal
agency with respect to the application.
(b)
The cost of expert advice or testimony obtained
by the municipal agency for the purpose of corroborating testimony
of the applicant's experts, provided that the municipal agency gives
prior notice to the applicant of its intention to obtain such additional
expert advice or testimony and affords the applicant an opportunity
to be heard as to the necessity for such additional advice or testimony
and definition of the limitations of the nature and extent thereof.
(c)
All professionals are required to submit their
respective vouchers for the professional services rendered in the
processing of the applications for development within the statutory
time period as provided by the Municipal Land Use Law.
(d)
If the salary, staff support and overhead for
a Township professional are provided by the Township (and not through
an independent contractor), the charge imposed shall be 200% of the
hourly base salary of each Township professional, which salary is
established by ordinance.
(2) If, during the processing of the application, the
funds remaining in the escrow account are depleted below a sum equal
to 25% of the original deposit or $500, whichever is greater, the
applicant shall deposit additional funds to bring the escrow account
equal to the larger of either $500 or 50% of the original deposit
before the application shall continue to be processed by the approving
authority and prior to action on the application. By mutual agreement,
the applicant and the approving authority may agree to another payment
schedule where the size and scope of the application may warrant it.
Upon final disposition of the application, unused funds in the escrow
deposit account shall be returned to the applicant, pursuant to the
procedure set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D53.2. If there should become
a delinquency in an escrow account that goes unpaid and the applicant
fails to deposit the additional funds as required by this section,
such failure shall be considered a violation of this chapter, which
payment may be enforced by the land use administrator or his/her designee
by way of summary action in municipal court.
[Amended 6-24-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-010]
All charitable, philanthropic, fraternal and
religious nonprofit organizations holding a tax-exempt status under
the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954 U.S.C. § 501(c)
or (d) shall be exempt from any application charge established under
this chapter. The aforementioned organizations shall, however, be
required to make all review fee escrow deposits established under
this chapter.