[Amended 2-8-1990 by Ord. No. 1099]
A. 
There is hereby established a Board of Adjustment consisting of seven residents of the Borough of Palisades Park, appointed by the Mayor and Council. No member of the Board of Adjustment shall hold any municipal elective office or position nor shall any such member be permitted to act on any matter in which he or she has, directly or indirectly, any personal or financial interest.
B. 
There is hereby established the positions of four alternate members, who shall also be residents of Palisades Park. Such alternate members of the Board of Adjustment shall not hold any municipal elective office or position nor shall any such member be permitted to act on any matter in which he or she has, directly or indirectly, any personal or financial interest.
[Amended 8-16-2005 by Ord. No. 1451]
[Amended 2-8-1990 by Ord. No. 1099; 8-16-2005 by Ord. No. 1451]
A. 
The term of each member shall be four years. Nothing in this chapter shall, however, be construed to affect the terms of any present members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, all of whom shall continue in office until the completion of the terms for which they were appointed.
B. 
Alternate members shall be designated at the time of appointment as "Alternate No. 1," "Alternate No. 2," "Alternate No. 3" and "Alternate No. 4."
C. 
At the time of the initial appointment, one alternate member shall be appointed for two years and one shall be appointed for one year. Thereafter, the term of each alternate member shall be for two years.
D. 
Alternate members may participate in discussions of the proceedings but may not vote except in the absence or disqualification of a regular member. A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member. In the event that a choice must be made as to which alternate member is to vote, Alternate No. 1 shall vote, then the alternate with the next lowest designation.
Vacancies occurring otherwise than by the expiration of terms shall be filled for the unexpired terms only. Such appointments shall be made in the same manner as full-term appointments are made.
The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from its members and shall also select a Secretary, who may or may not be a member of the Board or a municipal employee.
There is hereby created the office of Attorney to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment may annually appoint, fix the compensation of or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Zoning Board of Adjustment Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Municipal Attorney.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment may also employ or contract for and fix the compensation of such experts and other staff and services as it may deem necessary. The Board shall not authorize expenditures which exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the governing body for its use.
The Board shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions and purposes of this chapter. In the issuance of subpoenas, administration of oaths and taking of testimony, the provisions of the County and Municipal Investigations Law of 1953 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.) shall apply.
A. 
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall have the power granted by law to:
(1) 
Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by an administrative official or agency based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 300, Zoning.
(2) 
Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or Zoning Ordinance or for decisions upon other special questions upon which such Board is authorized by the Zoning Ordinance to pass.
(3) 
Where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or by reason of an extraordinary and exceptional situation uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures lawfully existing thereon, the strict application of any regulation in the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Palisades Park would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to or exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property, grant, upon an application or an appeal relating to such property, a variance from the strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship.
[Amended 11-8-1984 by Ord. No. 1006]
(4) 
Where, in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property, the purposes of this chapter would be advanced by a deviation from the Zoning Ordinance requirements and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant a variance to allow departure from regulations in the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Palisades Park; provided, however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d shall be granted under this subsection and provided further that the proposed development does not require approval by the Planning Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use in conjunction with which the Planning Board has the power to review a request for a variance pursuant to Subsection A(3) of this section.
[Amended 11-8-1984 by Ord. No. 1006]
(5) 
In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Palisades Park to permit a use or principal structure in a district restricted against such use or principal structure; an expansion of a nonconforming use; deviation from a specification or standard pertaining solely to a conditional use; an increase in the permitted floor area ratio as defined by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4; and an increase in the permitted density as defined by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, except that, with respect to an application for a variance from the density requirements for a detached one- or two-dwelling unit building on an isolated undersized lot or on a lot resulting from a minor subdivision, such application shall be made pursuant to § 167-10A(6). A variance under this subsection shall be granted only by the affirmative vote of at least five members of the Board.
[Amended 11-8-1984 by Ord. No. 1006; 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
B. 
No variance or other relief may be granted under the provisions of this section unless such variance or other relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Ordinance. Any application under any subsection of this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall, in addition to the powers specified in § 167-22, have the power given by law to:
A. 
Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map.
B. 
Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for a building or structure not related to a street.
C. 
Grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Planning Board, subdivision or site plan approval pursuant to Article 6 of the Municipal Land Use Law or conditional use approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67 whenever the proposed development requires approval by the Board of Adjustment of a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d. The developer may elect to submit a separate application requesting approval of the variance and a subsequent application for any required approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon the grant of all required subsequent approvals by the Board of Adjustment. No such subsequent approval shall be granted unless such approval can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantial impairment of the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Ordinance.[1] The number of votes of Board members required to grant any such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.) for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d shall not be required.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 300, Zoning.
[Amended 11-8-1984 by Ord. No. 1006]
An appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment may be taken by an interested party affected by a decision of the administrative officer of the municipality based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance or Official Map. Such appeal shall be taken within 20 days by filing a notice of appeal with the officer from whom the appeal was taken, together with 12 copies of said notice with the Secretary of the Board of Adjustment. Said notice of appeal shall specify the ordinances for said appeal. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action in respect to which the decision appealed from was made, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such cases, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment or by the Superior Court of New Jersey, on application or notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
In exercising the above-mentioned powers, the Board of Adjustment may, in conformity with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-74, reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the action, order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination appealed from and, to that end, have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal was taken.