[Amended 2-10-1997 by Ord. No. O-15-97; 5-10-2010 by Ord. No. O-10-10]
A. 
A Zoning Board of Adjustment is hereby established as authorized by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. and shall consist of seven regular members and four alternates, residents of the municipality, who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of Council.
B. 
Alternate members shall be designated at the time of appointment by the governing body as "Alternate No. 1," "Alternate No. 2," "Alternate No. 3," and "Alternate No. 4." No member or alternate may hold any elective office or position under the municipality.
C. 
Alternate members may participate in discussions of the proceedings but may not vote except in the absence or disqualification of a regular member.
D. 
A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member.
E. 
In the event that a choice must be made as to which alternate member is to vote, the alternate with the lowest number designation shall vote.
A. 
The terms of the members first appointed shall be so determined that, to the greatest practicable extent, the expiration of such terms shall be distributed, in the case of regular members, evenly over the first four years after their appointment, and in the case of alternates, evenly over the first two years after their appointment, provided that the initial term of no regular member shall exceed four years and that the initial term of no alternate member shall exceed two years. Thereafter, the term of each regular member shall be four years, and the term of each alternate member shall be two years.
B. 
Members and alternate members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment on August 1, 1976, shall continue in office until the completion of their terms as provided by law immediately prior to that date, except that alternate members shall become regular members.
C. 
A vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled for the unexpired term only.
A. 
No member of the Board of Adjustment shall be permitted to act on any matter in which he has, either directly or indirectly, any personal or financial interest.
B. 
A member may, after public hearing if he requests it, be removed by the governing body for cause.
A member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment 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 hearings from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the Board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.
A. 
A quorum of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be a majority of the full authorized membership.
B. 
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from its members and select a Secretary, who may or may not be a member of the Board of Adjustment or a municipal employee.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to:
A. 
Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by an administrative officer based on or made in the enforcement of Chapter 421, Zoning Ordinance.
B. 
Hear and decide, in accordance with the provisions of any such ordinance, requests for the interpretation of the Zoning Map or Ordinance or for decisions upon other special questions upon which such Board is authorized to pass by any Zoning or Official Map Ordinance.
C. 
Where, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional topographical conditions, or by reason of other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of such piece of property, the strict application of any zoning regulation 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 such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship; provided, however, that no variance shall be granted under this subsection to allow a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use; 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 shall review the request for a variance.
D. 
Variances.
(1) 
In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from the zoning regulations, including but not limited to allowing a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use, but only by affirmative vote of at least five members.
(2) 
No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms 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 the purpose of the Zone Plan and Chapter 421, Zoning.
(3) 
An application under this section shall be referred to any appropriate person or agency, including the Planning Board, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act.
E. 
For purposes of preserving the integrity of the Official Map of a municipality, no permit shall be issued for any building or structure in the bed of any street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map or shown on a plat filed pursuant to this chapter before adoption of the Official Map, except as herein provided. Whenever one or more parcels of land upon which is located the bed of such a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a building permit is granted, the Board of Adjustment may, in a specific case, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the full authorized membership of the Board, direct the issuance of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of such mapped street or public drainageway or flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map, which will, as little as practicable, increase the cost of opening such street or tend to cause a minimum change of the Official Map, and the Board shall impose reasonable requirements as a condition of granting the permit so as to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public.
F. 
No permit for the erection of any building or structure shall be issued unless the lot abuts a street giving access to such proposed building or structure. Such street shall have been duly placed on the Official Map or shall be an existing state, county or municipal street or highway or a street shown upon a plat approved by the Planning Board or a street on a plat duly filed in the office of the county recording officer prior to the passage of an ordinance under the Land Use Act or any prior law which required prior approval of plats by the governing body or other authorized body. Before any such permit shall be issued, such street shall have been certified to be suitably improved to the satisfaction of the governing body, or such suitable improvement shall have been assured by means of a performance guaranty, in accordance with standards and specification for road improvements approved by the governing body, as adequate in respect to the public health, safety and general welfare of the special circumstance of the particular street. Where the enforcement of this section would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship or where the circumstances of the case do not require the building or structure to be related to a street, the Board of Adjustment may, upon application or appeal, vary the application of this section and direct the issuance of a permit, subject to conditions that will provide adequate access for fire-fighting equipment, ambulances and other emergency vehicles necessary for the protection of health and safety and that will protect any future street layout shown on the Official Map or on a general circulation plan element of the Municipal Master Plan.
A. 
The governing body shall make provision in its budget and appropriate funds for the expenses of the Board of Adjustment.
B. 
The Board of Adjustment may employ or contract for and fix the compensation of legal counsel other than the Municipal Attorney and experts and other staff and services as it shall deem necessary, not exceeding, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the governing body for its use.
A. 
A developer may file an application for development with the administrative officer without prior application to any other municipal official.
B. 
A developer may file an application for development with the Board of Adjustment for action under any of its powers without prior application to an administrative officer.
A. 
The Board of Adjustment shall render a decision not later than 120 days after the date:
(1) 
An appeal is taken from the decision of an administrative officer; or
(2) 
The submission of a complete application for development to the Board of Adjustment.
B. 
Failure of the Board to render a decision within such one-hundred-twenty-day period or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant shall constitute a decision favorable to the applicant.
The Board of Adjustment may 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 administrative officer from whom the appeal is taken.
An appeal to the Board of Adjustment shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action with respect to which the decision appealed from was made unless the officer from whose action 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 case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by an order of the Superior Court, upon notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
A. 
The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Planning Board, subdivision or site plan approval whenever the proposed development requires approval by the Board of Adjustment of a use variance.
B. 
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 or site plan.
C. 
The separate approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon the granting of all required subsequent approvals by the Board of Adjustment.
D. 
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 Chapter 421, Zoning.
E. 
The number of votes of Board members required to grant any such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter for the approval in question, and the special vote for a use variance shall not be required.
Whenever an application for development requests relief pursuant to § 53-21, the Board of Adjustment shall grant or deny approval of the application within 120 days after submission by a developer of a complete application to the administrative officer or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Board of Adjustment to act within the period prescribed shall constitute approval of the application, and a certificate of the administrative officer as to the failure of the Board of Adjustment to act shall be issued on request of the applicant, and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required and shall be so accepted by the county recording officer for purposes of filing subdivision plats.
An application under § 53-21 above shall be referred to the Planning Board for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act.