[Adopted 6-27-1988 by Ord. No. 35-88]
The express purpose and intent of this Article
is to enact a sewer connection ban consistent with the requirements
of N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.21 and any other applicable regulations and statutes,
and the provisions of this article shall be interpreted in a manner
consistent with said regulations.
Notwithstanding the contrary provisions of any
other ordinance of the Borough of Madison, as of the effective date
of this article, the following requirements shall apply:
A.
The Borough shall cease the further approval of any
connections to the sewer system within the Borough of Madison, which
sewer system is connected to the treatment facility operated by the
Madison-Chatham Joint Meeting.
B.
The approval by the Madison Planning Board, Madison
Board of Adjustment, Building Inspector and any other municipal officer
or entity, by way of preliminary or final subdivision approval, preliminary
or final site plan approval, issuance of a building permit or any
other form of approval, for any building project which will require
or modify a sewer connection shall be expressly conditioned upon the
terms and requirements of this article.
Within 10 days of the effective date of this
article and at intervals of no more than every six months thereafter,
notice of the sewer connection ban provided for by this article shall
be given as follows:
A.
A copy of this article shall be sent by mail to the
Department of Environmental Protection.
B.
Notice shall be given to Borough residents, landowners
and other persons who may be affected by the sewer ban by public announcements,
notices to the local newspapers and such other means as may be reasonably
expected to provide notice to such persons.
C.
A copy of this article shall be given to all persons
applying for building permits, filing development applications or
otherwise seeking approval for any building projects which will require
or modify a sewer connection.
D.
The Borough Administrator is directed to oversee and
delegate responsibility for the provision of the notices provided
for by this section.
Sewer connection ban exceptions may be granted
by the Borough Council, subject to approval by the Department of Environmental
Protection (hereinafter referred to as the "Department") in accordance
with the applicable regulations, as follows:
A.
All applicants shall be presumed to have knowledge
of the sewer connection ban after its effective date.
B.
No exemption shall be granted to any party who subsequently
proceeds with a proposed project and thereby increases or creates
the hardship which is the basis for the requested exemption.
C.
An applicant for an exemption shall submit a plan
for water conservation plumbing, and the implementation of such a
plan, as approved by the Department, shall be a condition of the exemption.
D.
An applicant for an exemption must prove to the satisfaction
of the Borough and the Department that it meets the criteria set forth
in this section.
E.
If the Borough, prior to November 3, 1986, has issued
a building permit or preliminary or final subdivision approval and
construction of improvements has taken place, the remaining construction
covered by such permit or approval may be eligible for an exemption.
The applicant must show that in good faith reliance upon the permit
or approval, substantial expenditures have been made by the applicant
for physical improvements to the property prior to the effective date
of the ban as follows:
(1)
The payment of taxes, the purchase price, expenditure
for preparation of engineering and architectural plans and for legal
fees and other costs not expended for physical improvements to the
land shall be ineligible for consideration in determination of substantial
expenditures.
(2)
All claims for eligible expenditures shall be accompanied
by certified true copies of contracts, receipts or invoices. An unverified
list of expenses will fail to establish substantial expenditures.
(3)
For the purposes of this provision, the term "substantial
expenditures" shall mean those eligible costs in excess of:
(a)
Twenty-five percent of the cost of those projects
whose total cost is less than $100,000.
(b)
Twenty-five thousand dollars, plus 10% of the
costs in excess of $100,000 for those projects whose total cost is
less than $10,000,000 but more than $100,001.
(c)
One million fifteen thousand dollars, plus 5%
of the project costs in excess of $10,000,000 for those projects whose
total cost exceeds this amount.
(4)
In addition, the applicant shall submit an estimate
of the total cost with a certification that the estimate is true and
accurate.
F.
If an existing building or group of buildings constructed
prior to the effective date of the sewer connection ban with individual
subsurface disposal system(s) is certified by the local health authorities
and proven to be presently creating a health hazard due to overflow,
contamination of the waters of the state or other malfunction and
the system cannot be reasonably rehabilitated, an exemption may be
granted.
G.
If the application for the exemption is a request
to allow the connection of a proposed project which is publicly owned
or operated, including but not limited to a long-term health-care
facility which has received a certification of need from the New Jersey
Department of Health, a school, hospital, fire or police station or
senior citizen housing, an exemption may be granted, if there exists
a sufficient public need for the proposed project and there are no
other reasonable alternatives available, including alternative sites.
H.
If the proposed project will replace a building, structure
or unit with an existing sewer connection, the proposed project is
exempt only if the building, structure or unit with the existing connection
was in use at the time the sewer connection ban was implemented and
if the proposed project will create wastewater flows equal to or less
than the flow of the former building, structure or unit and the proposed
project will be at the same location as the existing building, structure
or unit.
I.
An exemption may be granted if the proposed connection
is for a groundwater remedial action that was approved by the Department
prior to the effective date of the sewer connection ban.
J.
An exemption may be granted if the proposed project
will have a total design flow, using Department criteria in N.J.A.C.
7:9-1 et seq. of less than 400 gallons per day and will be constructed
and/or operated on a tax lot that was in existence prior to the effective
date of the ban, but the Department may decide that no exemptions
will be granted in this category and that all connections are banned
unless they meet one of the other categories outlined in this section.
K.
An exemption may be granted for the construction of
publicly assisted housing owned or operated by nonprofit organizations
incorporated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 55:141-1 et seq. for the purpose
of providing housing that is designated to be occupied exclusively
by low-income senior citizens and which provides for occupancy by
the handicapped. For the purpose of this provision, "publicly assisted"
shall mean that.
Applications for a sewer connection ban exemption
shall be governed by the following procedures:
C.
An applicant for an exemption shall submit a plan
for water conservation plumbing, and the implementation of such a
plan, as approved by the Department, shall be a condition of the exemption.
D.
If the Borough or the Madison-Chatham Joint Meeting
denies the request for an exemption, that decision shall be final.
E.
If the Borough and the Madison-Chatham Joint Meeting
find that the applicant meets the criteria in this article and in
N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.22, the request and all documentation shall be forwarded
to the Department for final approval or denial in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.23.
F.
An exemption granted for a specific property is not
transferable to any other property and is only transferable to another
person for the same property upon written application to and approval
by the Department if the original circumstances which justified granting
the exemption have not changed.
G.
The granting of an exemption does not relieve the
applicant of the following responsibilities:
(1)
Compliance with all other state and local requirements,
including compliance with No. 201, Facilities Plan, and No. 208, Water
Quality Management Plan; and
(2)
Obtaining the requisite treatment works approval from
the Department or from the Borough or Madison-Chatham Joint Meeting
in the case of a project granted an exemption under N.J.A.C. 7:14A-12.22(b)5.
This article shall be effective as of July 1,
1988, and it shall remain in effect until modified or rescinded in
accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
