No member of the Planning Board, governing body
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 or
body on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion
or decision relating thereto.
A.
Meetings of both the Planning Board, governing body
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 cancelled in accordance with the requirements of law.
B.
Special meetings may be provided for at the call of
the Board's presiding officer or on the request of any two members,
which shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance
with all applicable legal requirements; special meetings of the governing
body shall be called in accordance with the Township's Administrative
Code.[1]
C.
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a
quorum being present.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting
shall be kept and shall include the names of 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 Administrative
Officer. 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 chapter or by the rules of the Board involved.
Fees for applications or for rendering of any
service under provisions of this chapter by the Planning Board, governing
body or the Zoning Board of Adjustment or any member of their administrative
staffs, which are not otherwise provided by this chapter, may be provided
for and adopted as part of the rules of the board, and copies of said
rules or of the separate fee schedule shall be available to the public.
A.
Rules. The Planning Board, the governing body and
the Zoning Board of Adjustment may make rules governing the conduct
of hearings before such bodies under this chapter, 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
other 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 the County and Municipal
Investigations Law, P.L. 1953, Chapter 1938 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et
seq.) shall apply.
C.
Testimony. Testimony of all witnesses relating to
an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation
by the presiding officer. 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 limitations as to time and number
of witnesses.
D.
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be
applicable to the hearing, but the board or body may exclude irrelevant,
immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
E.
Records. Each board or body shall provide for the
verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographer, mechanical
or electronic means. The board or body shall furnish a transcript
or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested
party, at his expense.
F.
Eligibility to vote. A member of the reviewing board
who was absent for one or more of the meetings at which a hearing
was held shall be eligible to vote on the matter upon which the hearing
was conducted notwithstanding his absence from one or more of the
meetings; provided, however, that such board member has available
to him the transcript or recording of all of the hearing from which
he was absent and certifies in writing to the reviewing board that
he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
Whenever a public hearing is required on an
application for development pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.,
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, located in the state and within
200 feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of
such hearing, provided that this requirement shall be deemed satisfied
by notice to the condominium association, in the case of any unit
owner whose unit is above or below it, or horizontal property regime,
in the case of any co-owner whose apartment has an apartment above
or below it. Such notice shall be given by:
C.
Notice to a partnership may be made by service upon
any partner. Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon
its president, vice president, secretary or other person authorized
by appointment or by law to accept service on behalf of the corporation.
Notice to a condominium association, horizontal property regime, community
trust or homeowners' association, because of its ownership of common
elements or areas located within 200 feet of the property which is
the subject of the hearing, may be made in the same manner as to a
corporation without further notice to unit owners, co-owners, or homeowners
on account of such common elements or areas.
D.
Notice of all public 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 § 330-16B to the owners of lands in such adjoining municipality which are located within 200 feet of the subject premises.
E.
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the County Planning Board of a public 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.
F.
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a public hearing on
an application for development of property adjacent to a state highway.
G.
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified
mail to the State Planning Commission of a public 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 Administrative Officer pursuant to Section
6B of Chapter 291, Laws of New Jersey, 1975.[1]
H.
All notices hereinabove specified in this section
shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for the public
hearing, and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service
with the Board holding the public hearing on the application for development.
I.
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.
J.
All notices required to be given pursuant to the terms
of this chapter shall state the date, time and place of the public
hearing, the nature of the matters to be considered and 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 map and documents for which approval is sought
are available as required by law.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12c, the Administrative Officer shall, within seven days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of a fee 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 § 330-16B of this chapter.
A.
Each decision on any application for development shall
be set forth in writing as a resolution of the Board, which shall
include findings of fact and legal conclusions based thereon.
(1)
Failure of a motion to approve an application for
development to receive the number of votes required for approval shall
be deemed an action denying the application.
(2)
The reviewing board may provide for such written decision
and findings and conclusions either on the date of the meeting at
which the reviewing board takes action to grant or deny approval or,
if the meeting at which such action is taken occurs within the final
45 days of the applicable time period for rendering a decision on
the application for development, within 45 days of such meeting by
the adoption of a resolution of memorialization setting forth the
decision and findings and conclusions of the reviewing board thereon.
An action resulting from the failure of a motion to approve an application
shall be memorialized by resolution as provided above, notwithstanding
the time at which said action occurs within the applicable time period
for rendering a decision on the application.
(3)
The adoption of a resolution of memorialization pursuant
to this subsection shall not be construed to alter the applicable
time period for rendering a decision on the application for development.
Such a resolution shall be adopted by a vote of a majority of the
members of the reviewing board who voted for the action previously
taken, and no other member shall vote thereon. The vote on such resolution
shall be deemed to be a memorialization of action of the reviewing
board and not to be an action of the reviewing board, except that
failure to adopt such a resolution within the forty-five-day period
shall result in the approval of the application for development, notwithstanding
any prior action taken thereon.
(4)
Whenever a resolution of memorialization is adopted
in accordance with this subsection, the date of such adoption shall
constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailings,
filings and publications required by any other provision of this chapter.
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,
then to his attorney, without separate charge. A copy of the decision
shall also be mailed to all persons who have requested it and who
have paid the fee prescribed by the Board for such service. A copy
of the decision shall also be filed in the office of the Administrative
Officer, 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 Administrative Officer for matters involving
the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment and by the Municipal
Clerk in matters involving the governing body, without a separate
charge to the applicant. This 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, governing body, 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. Any approvals
or other relief granted by either board or body shall be conditioned
upon either the prompt payment of such taxes or assessment, or the
making of adequate provision for the payment thereof in such manner
that the municipality will be adequately protected.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 330-21, Appeals to governing
body, as amended, was repealed 11-26-2013 by Ord. No. 13-OR-039.
