[Amended by Ord. No. 98-08; 12-27-2023 by Ord. No. 13-2023
No member of the Planning Board 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 on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion or decision relating thereto.
A. 
Regular meetings. The first regular meeting after January 1 of each year shall constitute the annual organizational meeting of the board. The Planning Board shall by its rules fix the time and place for holding regular meetings for authorized business. Meetings the Planning Board shall be scheduled no less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of development applications to process.
B. 
Special meetings. Special meetings may be provided for, at the call of the chairman, or on the request of any two board members, which shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.
C. 
Quorum. No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present. All actions shall be taken by a majority vote of the members of the municipal agency present at the meeting except as otherwise required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. Failure of a motion to receive the number of votes required to approve an application for development shall be deemed an action denying the application. Nothing herein shall be construed to contravene any act providing for procedures for governing bodies.
D. 
Open to the public. All regular meetings and all special meetings shall be open to the public. Notice of all such meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Law, P.L. 1975, c. 231. An executive session for the purpose of discussing and studying any matters to come before either board shall not be deemed a regular or special meeting in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-9.
E. 
Minutes of meetings. Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and shall include the names of the persons appearing and addressing the municipal agency and of the persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by the municipal agency, 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 Municipal Clerk. Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceedings concerning the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party may be charged a reasonable fee for reproduction of the minutes for his use, as provided for in the rules of the board.
A. 
Hearing required. The Planning Board shall hold a hearing on each application for development. The Planning Board shall hold a hearing on each adoption, revision or amendment of the Master Plan.
B. 
Rules. The Planning Board may make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or of this chapter.
C. 
Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearing or such 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, c. 38 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.) shall apply.
D. 
Testimony. The testimony of all witnesses relating to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation by the presiding officer, and 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.
E. 
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
F. 
Records.
(1) 
Each board shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographer, mechanical or electronic means. The municipal agency shall furnish a transcript, or duplicate recording in lieu thereof, on request to any interested party at his expense.
(2) 
The municipal agency in furnishing a transcript of the proceedings to an interested party at his expense shall not charge such interested party more than the maximum permitted in N.J.S.A. 2A:11-15. Said transcript shall be certified in writing by the transcriber to be accurate.
G. 
Absence. A member of the board who was absent at 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 meetings; provided, however, that such board member has available to him a transcript or a recording of the meeting from which he was absent, and certifies in writing to the board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
H. 
Resolution.
(1) 
The municipal agency shall include findings of fact and conclusions based thereon in each decision on any application for development and shall reduce the decision to writing. The municipal agency shall provide the findings and conclusions through:
(a) 
A resolution adopted at a meeting held within the time period provided for action by the board on the application for development; or
(b) 
A memorializing resolution adopted at a meeting held not later than 45 days after the date of the meeting at which the board voted to grant or deny approval. Only the members of the municipal agency who voted for the action taken may vote on the memorializing resolution, and the vote of a majority of such members present at the meeting at which the resolution is presented for adoption shall be sufficient to adopt the resolution.
(2) 
The date of the adoption of the resolution shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailings, filings and publications as required. If the Board fails to adopt a resolution or memorializing resolution as hereinabove specified, any interested party may apply to the Superior Court in a summary manner for an order compelling the board to reduce its findings and conclusions to writing within a stated time and the cost of the application, including attorney's fees, shall be assessed against the municipality.
(3) 
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, and to all who request a copy of the decision for a reasonable fee. A copy of the decision shall also be filed by the board with the Municipal Clerk. The Municipal Clerk shall make a copy of such filed decision available to any interested party for a reasonable fee and available for public inspection at the Clerk's office during reasonable hours.
(4) 
A brief notice of the decision shall be published in the official newspaper of the municipality, if there be one, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such publication shall be arranged by the applicant. The period of time in which an appeal of the decision may be made shall run from the first publication of the decision.
Notice will be required for all development applications except minor subdivisions. Applicants shall give notice 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 or duplicates located within 200 feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of such hearing and whether located within or without West Amwell Township. Such notice shall be given by serving a copy thereof on the owner, as shown on the said current tax duplicate, or his agent in charge of the property, or by mailing a copy thereof by certified mail to the property owner at his address as shown on said current tax duplicate. A return receipt is not required.
(1) 
Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service upon any partner. Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon its president, a vice president, secretary or other person authorized by appointment or by law to accept service on behalf of the corporation.
(2) 
In the case of a condominium unit owner where there is a unit above it or below it; or a co-owner whose apartment has an apartment above it or below it as part of a horizontal property regime, notice under this section will be deemed satisfied by notice to the condominium association or horizontal property regime.
(3) 
In regard to common elements owned by a condominium association, horizontal property regime, community trust or homeowners' association, which are located within 200 feet of the subject property, notice 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.
C. 
Notice of all 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, in addition to any notice requirements pursuant to Subsection B of this section.
D. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Hunterdon County Planning Board of a hearing on an application for development of a 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 situated within 200 feet of a municipal boundary.
E. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a hearing on an application for development of property adjacent to a state highway.
F. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the State Planning Commission of a hearing on an application for the 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 Municipal Clerk pursuant to Subsection J of this section.
G. 
All notice hereinabove specified in this section shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for hearing and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service with the board holding the hearing on the application for development.
H. 
Any notice made by certified mail as hereinabove required shall be deemed complete upon mailing.
I. 
Form of notice. All notices required to be given pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall state the date, time and place of the hearing, the nature of the matters to be considered, an 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 maps and documents for which approval is sought are available in the office of the Municipal Clerk.
J. 
Any maps and documents for which approval is sought at a hearing shall be on file and available for public inspection at least 10 days before the date of the hearing, during normal business hours in the office of the Municipal Clerk.
K. 
Upon written request of the applicant, the Tax Assessor of the Township of West Amwell shall within seven days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of a fee of $10 or $0.25 per name, whichever is greater, make and certify a list from the current tax duplicate of the names and addresses of property owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to Subsection B. The fees so collected by such official shall be paid by said official to the municipality. The applicant shall be entitled to rely upon the information contained in such list, and failure to give notice to any property owner not on the list shall not invalidate any hearing or proceeding.
[Amended by Ord. No. 98-08]
Pursuant to authority of Subsection a of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37, approval of subdivision plats by resolution of the Planning Board is hereby required as a condition for the filing of such plats with the county recording officer and approval of site plans by resolution of the Planning Board is hereby required as a condition for the issuance of a permit for any development, except that subdivision or individual lot applications for detached one- or two-dwelling-unit buildings shall be exempt from such site plan review and approval; provided that the resolution of the Board of Adjustment shall substitute for that of the Planning Board whenever the Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction over a subdivision or site plan pursuant to Subsection b of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-76. Where the Board of Adjustment has such jurisdiction, references in this chapter to the Planning Board refer as well to the Board of Adjustment.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinance No. 13-2023, adopted 12-27-2023, provided for vesting in the Planning Board all of the powers of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
A. 
When an application for development requires approval by any other governmental agency, other than the Planning Board, the Planning Board shall, in appropriate instances, condition its approval upon the subsequent approval of such government agencies.
B. 
Whenever review or approval of any application by the County Planning Board is required, the Planning Board shall condition any approval that it grants upon timely receipt of a favorable report on the application by the County Planning Board or upon County Planning Board approval by default for failure to report thereon within the required time period.
A. 
Environmental Commission. Whenever the Environmental Commission has prepared and submitted to the Planning Board an index of the natural resources of the municipality, the Planning Board shall make available to the Environmental Commission an informational copy of every application for development submitted to either board. Failure of the Planning Board to make such informational copy available to the Environmental Commission shall not invalidate any hearing or proceeding.
[Amended 12-27-2023 by Ord. No. 13-2023]
B. 
Historic Preservation Commission. (Reserved)