The applicant shall comply with reasonable conditions
imposed by the approving authority for design, dedication, improvements
and the use of the land to conform to the physical and economical
development of the municipality and to the safety and general welfare
of the future residents/owners in the development and the community
at large. Where review or approval by any other public body is required
on a subdivision or site plan, the approving authority shall condition
any approval it grants upon either timely receipt of a favorable report
from the public body or approval due to its failure to submit a report
within a statutory time period. If the report is timely and is negative
or attaches mandatory conditions, the original action by the municipal
approving authority shall be void and the application shall be denied
and a new resolution shall be adopted which considers the public body's
report.
The approving authority, when acting upon applications,
shall have the power to grant such exceptions from the subdivision
and site plan requirements as may be reasonable and within the general
purpose and intent of the provisions for subdivision or site plan
review and approval of the literal enforcement of one or more provisions
of this chapter is impracticable or will exact undue hardship because
of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question, in accordance
with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-51.
Divisions of land not considered a subdivision,
as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-7 of the Municipal Land Use Law, shall
be exempt from compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
The approving authority shall have the power
to act upon subdivisions, conditional uses, variances and/or site
plans simultaneously without the developer making further application
or the approving authority holding further hearings. The longest applicable
time period for action by the approving authority shall apply. Whenever
approval of a conditional use or variance is requested in conjunction
with a site plan or subdivision, notice of the hearing shall include
reference to the request for the conditional use or variance.
Site plan approval is required for all developments which do not meet the definition of "site plan, exempt," in §
271-3 of Article
I.
An informal review of a concept plan is optional
at the request of the developer. The purpose will be to review concepts
to assist the applicant in the preparation of subsequent plans. No
decisions will be made, no hearings held and no formal action taken.
Neither the developer nor the approving authority shall be bound by
this informal review.
Preliminary plats are required for all major
site plans and major subdivisions.
A. Filing procedure.
(1) The developer shall submit to the administrative officer at least 15 calendar days prior to the public meeting of the approving authority 15 copies of the preliminary plat at the required scale, plus 15 copies of a representative layout of the development reduced to either eight and one-half by eleven (8 1/2 x 11) inches, eight and one-half by fourteen (8 1/2 x 14) inches or eleven by seventeen (11 x 17) inches page size, five completed copies of the application form and preliminary plat checklist, three copies of any existing or proposed protective covenants, deed restrictions and easements or a statement that none exist or are proposed, three copies of the drainage calculations and soil erosion and sediment control data as required in Article
IV, the applicable fees, including inspection fees if improvements are to be installed prior to final approval, and certification by the Tax Collector that all taxes are paid to date.
(2) A corporation or partnership applying to subdivide
a parcel of land into six or more lots or for a variance to construct
a multiple dwelling of 25 or more family units or for a site to be
used for commercial purposes shall list the names and addresses of
all stockholders or individual partners owning at least 10% of its
stock of any class or at least 10% of the interest in the partnership,
as the case may be. If a corporation or partnership owns 10% or more
of the stock of a corporation or 10% or greater interest in a partnership,
subject to the above disclosure, that corporation or partnership shall
list the names and addresses of its stockholders holding 10% or more
of its stock or of 10% or greater interest in the partnership, as
the case may be, and this requirement shall be followed by every corporate
stockholder or partner in a partnership, until the names and addresses
of the noncorporate stockholders and individual partners exceeding
the ten-percent ownership criterion established in the Municipal Land
Use Law have been listed. No application for development shall
be approved which does not comply with this requirement. The penalty
for concealment shall be as outlined in the Municipal Land Use Law.
B. Action by the approving authority.
(1) The administrative officer shall be authorized to
reject an application as incomplete. The approving authority shall
determine whether the submission is a complete application upon recommendation
from the administrative officer and in consideration of reports from
professionals retained by the approving authority. If rejected, the
applicant shall be notified, in writing, of the deficiencies within
45 days of submission. A completed copy of the submission checklist
adopted by ordinance shall be sent to the applicant if the application
is deemed to be incomplete.
(2) If the application is not rejected as incomplete by
the administrative officer, a public hearing date shall be set and
notice given by the applicant.
(3) The administrative officer shall submit one copy of
the plat and supporting data to the Township Engineer and any other
agency or person as directed by the approving authority. If any agency
or person fails to report to the approving authority within 30 days,
the plat shall be deemed to have been approved by them. In the event
of disapproval, such report shall state the reasons therefor.
(4) A subdivision of 10 or fewer lots shall be granted
or denied within 45 days of the date of submission of a complete application.
For more than 10 lots, preliminary approval shall be granted or denied
within 95 days of the date of submission of a complete application.
Further time may be consented to by the developer. If action is not
taken within the required time, the approving authority shall be deemed
to have granted preliminary approval.
(5) A site plan of 10 acres or less and 10 dwelling units
or fewer shall be granted or denied within 45 days of the date of
submission of a complete application. A site plan of more than 10
acres or more than 10 dwelling units shall be granted or denied within
95 days of the date of submission of a complete application. Further
time may be consented to by the developer. If action is not taken
within the required time, the approving authority shall be deemed
to have granted preliminary approval.
(6) If substantial amendments in the layout of improvements
are required and the plan has been the subject of a hearing, an amended
application shall be submitted and proceeded upon as in the case of
the original application.
(7) The approving authority may approve, disapprove or
approve with conditions the application. The decision shall be in
writing and shall be mailed to the applicant by the approving authority
within 10 days of the date of the decision. A notice of the decision
shall be published in the official newspaper of the Township, and
the publication shall be arranged by the applicant. If granted preliminary
approval, the Chairman and Secretary (or the Vice Chairman or Assistant
Secretary in their absence, respectively) and the Township Engineer
shall sign each page of the plat indicating the approval. If conditionally
approved, the plat shall not be signed until all conditions are corrected
on the plat. If all corrections are not completed within 90 days of
the conditional approval, the conditional approval shall lapse.
(8) Preliminary approval shall confer upon the applicant
the following rights for a three-year period:
(a)
The general terms and conditions on which preliminary
approval was granted shall not be changed, including but not limited
to land use, layout and design standards for streets, curbs and sidewalks,
lot size, yard dimensions, off-tract improvements and any requirements
peculiar to site plan approval, except that nothing herein shall be
construed to prevent the Township from modifying by ordinance such
general terms and conditions of preliminary approval as relate to
public health and safety.
(b)
The applicant may submit for final approval
on or before the expiration date of preliminary approval the whole
or a section or sections of the preliminary plat.
(c)
The applicant may apply for and the approving
authority may grant extensions on such preliminary approval for additional
periods of at least one year but not to exceed a total extension of
two years, provided that if the design standards have been revised
by ordinance, such revised standards may govern.
[Added 5-15-2018 by Ord.
No. 2907-18]
A. Establishment of performance guaranty requirement.
(1)
There be and is hereby established, within the Township of Maplewood
("Township"), a requirement that before the filing of a final subdivision
plat or recording of a minor subdivision deed or condition of final
site plan approval or as a condition to the issuance of a zoning permit,
pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-65, a developer, as
defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, shall furnish a performance guaranty
in favor of the Township in an amount not to exceed 120% of the cost
of installation of only those improvements required by an approval,
developer's agreement, ordinance, or regulation to be dedicated to
a public entity, and that have not yet been installed, which cost
shall be determined by the Municipal Engineer, according to the method
of calculation set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.4, for the following
improvements, as shown on the approved plans or plat: streets, pavement,
gutters, curbs, sidewalks, streetlighting, street trees, surveyors
monuments, as shown on the final map and required by the Map Filing
Law, water mains, sanitary sewers, community septic systems, drainage
structures, public improvements of open space, and any grading necessitated
by the preceding improvements.
(2)
The Municipal Engineer shall prepare an itemized cost estimate
of the improvements to be covered by the performance guaranty, which
itemized cost shall be appended to each performance guaranty posted
by the obligor.
(3)
Additionally, the Township may also require a performance guaranty
to include, within an approved phase or section of a development,
privately owned perimeter buffer landscaping, as required by local
ordinance or imposed as a condition of approval. At the developer's
option, a separate performance guaranty may be posted for the privately
owned, perimeter buffer landscaping.
B. Safety and stabilization guaranty.
(1)
A developer shall furnish to the Township a "safety and stabilization
guaranty" in favor of the Township. At the developer's option, a safety
and stabilization guaranty may be furnished either as a separate guaranty
or as a line item of the performance guaranty. A safety and stabilization
guaranty shall be available to the Township solely for the purpose
of returning property that has been disturbed to a safe and stable
condition or otherwise implementing measures to protect the public
from access to an unsafe or unstable condition only in circumstances
that:
(a)
Site disturbance has commenced, and thereafter, all work on
the development has ceased for a period of at least 60 consecutive
days following such commencement for reasons other than force majeure;
and
(b)
Work has not recommenced within 30 days following the provision
of written notice by the Township to the developer of the Township's
intent to claim payment under the guaranty. The amount of a safety
and stabilization guaranty for a development with bonded improvements
in an amount not exceeding $100,000 shall be $5,000.
(2)
The amount of a safety and stabilization guaranty for a development
with bonded improvements exceeding $100,000 shall be calculated as
a percentage of the bonded improvement costs of the development or
phase of development as follows: $5,000 for the first $100,000 of
bonded improvement costs, plus 2 1/2% of bonded improvement costs
in excess of $100,000 up to $1,000,000, plus 1% of bonded improvement
costs in excess of $1,000,000.
(3)
The Township shall release the separate safety and stabilization
guaranty to a developer upon developer's furnishing of a performance
guaranty which includes the line item for "safety and stabilization"
in the amount required under this subsection.
(4)
The Township shall release the safety and stabilization guaranty
upon the Township Engineer's determination that the development of
the project site has reached the point that the improvements installed
are adequate to avoid any potential threat to public safety.
C. Maintenance guaranty.
(1)
The developer shall post with the Township prior to the release
of a performance guaranty required a maintenance guaranty in an amount
not to exceed 15% of the cost of the installation of the improvements
which are being released. The developer shall post with the Township,
upon the inspection and issuance of final approval of the following
private site improvements by the Township Engineer, a maintenance
guaranty in an amount not to exceed 15% of the cost of the installation
of the following private site improvements: stormwater management
basins, inflow and water quality structures within the basins, and
the out-flow pipes and structure of the stormwater management system,
if any, in accordance to the method of calculation set forth in N.J.S.A.
40:55D-53.4.
(2)
The term of the maintenance guaranty shall be for a period not
to exceed two years and shall automatically expire at the end of the
established term.
D. Temporary certificate of occupancy guaranty. In the event the developer
shall seek a temporary certificate of occupancy for a development
unit, lot, building or phase of development, as a condition of the
issuance thereof, the developer shall furnish to the Township a separate
guaranty referred to herein as a "temporary certificate of occupancy
guaranty" in favor of the Township in an amount equal to 120% of the
cost of installation of only those improvements or items which remain
to be completed or installed under the terms of the temporary certificate
of occupancy which are required to be installed or completed as a
condition precedent to the issuance of the permanent certificate of
occupancy for the development unit, lot, building, or phase of development
and which are not covered by an existing performance guaranty. Upon
posting of a temporary certificate of occupancy guaranty, all sums
remaining under the performance guaranty, required pursuant to this
section, which relate to the development unit, lot, building or phase
of development for which the temporary certificate of occupancy is
sought, shall be released. The scope and amount of the temporary certificate
of occupancy guaranty shall be determined by the Township Construction
Official. The temporary certificate of occupancy guaranty shall be
released upon the issuance of a permanent certificate of occupancy
with regard to the development unit, lot, building or phase as to
which temporary certificate of occupancy relates.