[Adopted 8-18-1997 by Ord. No. 986-97]
Any person may apply for an allocation permit to the Middle Township Sewage Utility under the following terms and conditions:
A. 
The application for an allocation permit shall be on a form approved by the Township Committee.
B. 
The granting of said application shall not entitle the applicant to connect to the Middle Township Sewage Utility until such time as capacity is available at the Cape May County Municipal Utility Authority Wildwood-Lower Treatment Plant, the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority Seven Mile Middle Treatment Plant, or the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority Treatment Plant, whichever may be applicable to the lands and premises in question; and until the applicant qualifies for priority as set forth in this Article.
C. 
The applicant must conform to all other regulations set forth in this chapter and all other applicable ordinances of the Township, and nothing herein shall be deemed to alter, change or amend the various provisions of Chapter 250 of the Zoning Ordinance and Chapter 218 Site Plan Review Ordinance, nor other general laws of the State of New Jersey involving the use of public sewers.
D. 
A sewer allocation permit may aggregate all of the proposed lots in a subdivision and/or units in a site plan, but the specific number of connections sold shall be set forth on said permit.
E. 
Payment of any sewer allocation fee is expressly in addition to any other costs for constructing or installing any lateral, main or other appurtenance to the sewer system and inspection fees or other governmental charges required of the applicant in order to make said connection.
No sewer allocation permit shall be traded, sold, transferred, or otherwise entitle any person to connect, except for the specific lot and block or unit or building number, for which said permit was issued. In the event of the sale of the lot, unit, subdivision and/or site plan which a sewer allocation permit has been issued but not yet connected, the applicant shall notify the Township and request an amended permit listing the new owner, to be issued to the new owner of record.
A. 
Subject to the right of the Township to repurchase any sewer allocation permit, as set forth in Section 204-41 below, the owner of any lot, parcel or tract of land in the Township where construction or extension of the public sewer is permitted may purchase sewer allocation permits for said lot, parcel or tract. The maximum number of permits which may be purchased shall not exceed the maximum number of residential dwelling units or nonresidential units which could be constructed on the lot, parcel or tract under the applicable density, zoning, use and performance standards and provisions of the said Development Ordinance.
B. 
The issuance of said sewer allocation permits does not in any way constitute approval to construct said units; and the Township, by issuing said permits, does not warrant or guarantee that the use proposed will in fact be approved or that the applicant will receive approval to conduct the number of units for which permits have been purchased; nor does the issuance of any permits replace, alter or supersede any approval, without limitation, otherwise, required or which may, in the future, be required for the construction, development or use of said lot, parcel or tract.
C. 
If not previously purchased in accordance with the provisions above, it shall be a condition of preliminary subdivision and/or preliminary site plan, or any other approval required pursuant to Chapter 250 - the Zoning Ordinance, and Chapter 218 - Site Plan Review, for any use or development of land in the Township that proposes or is required to construct or connect units or structures to the public sewer system that, within 30 days of the date of said permit becomes available.
The fee for sewage allocation permits shall be payable as follows:
A. 
Upon receipt of preliminary site plan approval from the Middle Township Planning Board, the applicant shall pay a nonrefundable fee equal to 25% of the total cost of the sewage allocation permit or permits required for the ground to be developed.
B. 
The balance of the sewer allocation permit fee shall be due upon the issuance of a construction permit for the site in question by the Middle Township Construction Office.
C. 
In the event that no construction permit is issued by the Middle Township Construction Office within two years from the date of preliminary site plan approval, then an additional 25% of the total fee or fees required shall be paid to the Middle Township Sewage Authority. In the event that said monies are not paid, then the permits may be deemed null and void, and the Township may resell the allocation.
D. 
The Township will not issue refunds of allocation fees paid for any connection not utilized by a developer.
At any time the Township may elect, at the Township's sole option, to repurchase any number of sewer allocation permits so long as the criteria set forth below are met. This repurchase shall be accomplished by giving written notice to the record owner of any such permit, stating the Township's intention to repurchase the permit or permits at least one year from the date of said notice. In the event that the unit or units for which the allocation permits were issued are not physically connected to the sewage system within said one-year period, said repurchase shall be completed by the payment by the Township of the original sewer allocation fee paid by the applicant, together with interest on said connection fee in an amount and at the rate of interest received by the Township at the time on ordinary passbook savings accounts, up to a maximum of 5.25% per annum. At the time that the Township tenders said payment, the sewer allocation permits which are repurchased shall be null, void and of no legal effect; and the Township shall be free to sell new permits covering the capacity which had been reserved under the repurchased permits, subject to the remaining provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and Chapter 218 Site Plan Review. The Township may, in its sole discretion, designate any or all of the sewer allocation permits that it obtains through purchase as not available for resale unless the applicant satisfies the hardship criteria set forth below.
A. 
Repurchase criteria and methodology. All sewer allocation permits that have been issued by Middle Township shall be subject to repurchase, except as set forth below.
(1) 
No permits may be repurchased to the extent of and for so long as such permits provide sewer service for any existing building or structure.
(2) 
No permits shall be repurchased for which sewer allocation has been reserved and/or approval has been received from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy (NJDEPE) for so long as said approval remains valid, including any extensions of said approvals, and for so long as construction pursuant to such approval is ongoing, provided that 10 years has not expired since the original permit was issued.
(3) 
No permits shall be repurchased to the extent that the underlying property or development project for which the permit or permits were purchased satisfies any of the following criteria: The permit is in use for a building or buildings; the applicant or property owner has made substantial expenditures (as that term is defined below), for construction of the sewer system on the property, the permit is issued for a sewer connection or connections that will remedy a proven public health hazard or population problem; the permit or permits are or will be used for a long-term health facility, a hospital, a fire or police station, senior citizen housing or housing for the handicapped; the permits will be used for the construction of a development which allows for or aids the Township in satisfying its obligations to provide housing to households of low and moderate income, pursuant the Middle Township Housing and Fair Share Plan; or the permit is for a building that was previously sewered and which was constructed prior to the imposition of the moratorium, but only to the extent of the prior usage (no additional sewer shall be obtained for future expansion or reconstruction).
B. 
The Township may, but need not, repurchase any or all of the sewer allocation permits available for repurchase. In particular, the Township shall analyze the above criteria and the needs of the Township and the status of the permittee's property, tax payments in considering whether and the extent to which to repurchase sewer allocation permits from a permittee. In addition, the Township may consider the type of development that is proposed for the property in light of the Township's stated desire to maintain an appropriate mix of commercial and noncommercial development in Middle Township. The Township, if it desires to repurchase sewer allocation permits, shall commence such repurchase with the first permit which is available and not exempt as set forth above; however, the Township may decide to allow a permittee to retain up to 10% of the total number of permits so as not to deprive such permittee and property owner of all use of the property for which the permits were purchased. The Township shall proceed down its sewer permit list, which lists sewer allocation permits by date of purchase, in effectuating the repurchase of any permits.
There is hereby established a sewer allocation priority list for the Township of Middle. The sewer priority list shall be maintained in the office of the Department of Sewage and Water, and shall be utilized to determine who shall have priority for the purchase of sewer allocation permits at such time or times as the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority and/or the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority shall afford the Township of Middle additional sewage allocation. At such time or times as said additional allocation is awarded to the Township of Middle, sewer allocation permits may be purchased pursuant to the following schedule:
A. 
The owner of any existing structure within the area served by the treatment plant for which additional capacity has been allotted to the Township of Middle shall be afforded first priority in purchasing a sewer allocation permit. Within this Class, said applications shall be approved in the order in which they are received.
B. 
Second priority for the purchase of sewer allocation permits shall be afforded to those property owners who have obtained preliminary site plan approval from the Middle Township Planning Board for the development of the ground in question. Within this Class, priority shall be granted according to the date of preliminary site plan approval from the Middle Township Planning Board. For purposes of this subsection, each approved site plan shall be placed into one of three groups in accordance with the sewage treatment plant by which it would be serviced (Wildwood-Lower Sewage Treatment Plant, Seven Mile Middle Sewage Treatment Plant, Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority Treatment Plant), and priority shall be afforded by date of preliminary site plan approval within each respective Group.
C. 
Lowest priority shall be afforded to those properties without preexisting structure and without site plan approval from the Middle Township Planning Board.