The Zoning Board of Adjustment presently in
existence pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 is hereby continued to consist
of seven regular members and two alternate members who shall be residents
of the Township and who shall be appointed by the Township Committee.
No member may hold any elective office or position under the Township.
The members of the Board of Adjustment shall
continue until their respective terms expire. Thereafter, the term
of each member shall be four years from January 1 of the year of their
appointment. The terms of members first appointed under this article
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 alternate members, 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.
A. The Mayor may appoint and the Township Committee confirm
two alternate members who shall be designated at the time of their
appointment as "Alternate No. 1" and "Alternate No. 2." Alternate
members shall meet the same qualifications as regular members.
B. 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.
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.
If the Board of Adjustment lacks a quorum because
any of its regular or alternate members is prohibited by N.J.S.A.
40:55D-69 from acting on a matter due to the member's personal or
financial interest therein, Class IV members of the Planning Board
shall be called upon to serve, for that matter only, as temporary
members of the Board of Adjustment. The Class IV members of the Planning
Board shall be called upon to serve in order of seniority of continuous
service to the Planning Board until there are the minimum number of
members necessary to constitute a quorum to act upon the matter without
any personal or financial interest therein, whether direct or indirect.
If a choice has to be made between Class IV members of equal seniority,
the Chairman of the Planning Board shall make the choice.
A vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration
of term shall be filled for the unexpired term only, as herein provided.
A member other than a Class I member may be
removed by the Township Committee pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:9-12.1.
The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman
and Vice Chairman from its members and shall select a Secretary who
may or may not be a board member or another municipal employee.
[Amended 3-8-2006 by Ord. No. 4-2006]
There is hereby created the office of the Attorney
to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment
may annually appoint, fix the compensation of or enter into a written
request for a rate of compensation of the Zoning Board of Adjustment
Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Township Attorney.
The Township Committee shall make provision
in its budget and appropriate funds for the expenses of the Board
of Adjustment. 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 Township Committee 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.
The Board of Adjustment shall have the power
to:
A. 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 officer based on or made in the
enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
(1) Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by
an interested party. Each appeal shall be taken within the 20 days
prescribed by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-72 by filing a notice of appeal with
the officer from whom the appeal was taken, together with three copies
of the notice with the Secretary of the Board of Adjustment. The notice
of appeal shall specify the grounds for the appeal. The officer from
whom the appeal is taken shall immediately transmit to the board all
the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed
from was taken.
(2) An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of
the action in respect of 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 order
of the Superior Court of New Jersey on notice to the officer from
whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown.
(3) The Board of Adjustment may, in conformity with the
provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., reverse or affirm wholly
or partly or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination
appealed from, and make such other requirement, decision or determination
as it deems appropriate, and to that end have all the powers of the
Administrative Officer from whom the appeal was taken.
B. Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the
Zoning Map or zoning provisions of this chapter, or for decisions
upon other special questions upon which such board is authorized by
this chapter to pass.
C. Grant, upon an application or an appeal, relief from
regulations pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-62 through 40:55D-68, except
those departures enumerated in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d, and provided that
the proposed development does not require approval by the Planning
Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use, in which the
Planning Board has the power to review a request for a variance pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60a, where:
(1) The strict application of such regulation would result
in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional
and undue hardship upon the developer of a property for any of the
following reasons:
(a)
By reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness
or shape of the specific piece of property; or
(b)
By reasons of exceptional topographic conditions
or physical features uniquely affecting the specific piece of property;
or
(c)
By reason of an extraordinary and exceptional
situation uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures
lawfully existing thereon; or
(2) The purposes of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. would be
advanced by a deviation from the Zoning Ordinance requirements and
the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment.
D. Variances, etc.
(1) Grant, upon an application or an appeal, in particular
cases and for special reasons, by affirmative vote of at least five
members, a variance to allow departures from regulations pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-62 through 40:55D-68 to permit the following:
(a)
A use or principal structure in a district restricted
against such use or principal structure;
(b)
An expansion of a nonconforming use;
(c)
Deviation from a specification or standard pertaining
solely to a conditional use;
(d)
An increase in the permitted floor area ratio;
(e)
An increase in the permitted density, except
as applied to the required lot area for a lot or lots for detached
one or two dwelling unit buildings which lot or lots are either an
isolated undersized lot or lots resulting from a minor subdivision;
or
(f)
A height of a principal structure which exceeds
by 10 feet or 10% the maximum height permitted in the district for
the principal structure.
(2) No variance or other relief may be granted under the
terms of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d and this subsection 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 this chapter. An application under this section
may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, provided such
reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Board
of Adjustment shall act.
E. 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 pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37
through 40:55D-59 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 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 regulations.
The number of votes of the Board members required to grant any such
subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1
et seq. for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant
to the aforesaid Subsection d of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70 shall not be required.
F. The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to 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, or
shown on a final map. The Board of Adjustment shall not exercise the
power granted by this subsection if the proposed development requires
approval by the Planning Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional
use in conjunction with which the Planning Board has power to direct
the issuance of a permit pursuant to this chapter and to N.J.S.A.
40:55D-60b.
G. The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to direct
issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-35 for a building
or structure not related to a street. The Board of Adjustment shall
not exercise the power granted by this subsection if the proposed
development requires approval by the Planning Board of a subdivision,
site plan or conditional use in conjunction with which the Planning
Board has power to direct the issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A.
40:55D-60c.
H. It is the intent of this chapter to confer upon the
Board of Adjustment as full and complete powers as may lawfully be
conferred upon such board, including, not by way of limitation, the
authority, in connection with any case, action or proceeding before
the board, to interpret and construe the provisions of the Zoning
Ordinance, or any term, clause, sentence or word thereof, and the
Zoning Map, in accordance with the general rules of construction,
applicable to the legislative enactments.
Any application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment
may be referred by the Zoning Board to any appropriate person or agency,
including the Planning Board, for consideration and report; provided,
however, that such reference shall not extend the time within which
the Zoning Board of Adjustment is required to act.
A. If such reports are not received by the Zoning Board
of Adjustment within 45 days from the date or dates of such references,
the Zoning Board of Adjustment may proceed to act without further
delay and without reference to such reports should they be received
after the expiration of such forty-five-day period.
B. When such a report is received from the Planning Board
within 45 days, the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall take no action
inconsistent therewith except by the affirmative vote of a majority
of the fully authorized membership of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall, at least
once a year, review its decisions on applications and appeals for
variances and prepare and adopt by resolution a report on its findings
on Zoning Ordinance and land development regulation provisions which
were the subject of variance requests and its recommendations for
zoning and land development regulations amendment or revision, if
any. The Zoning Board shall send copies of the report and resolution
to the Township Committee and the Planning Board.