A.
Members. There is hereby established a Zoning Board of Adjustment (Zoning Board) of the City of Hoboken, consisting of seven regular members that meet the qualifications of Class IV members as defined in § 44-101, appointed by the governing body, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 et seq.
B.
Alternate members.
(1)
Not more than four alternate members, who meet the qualifications
of Class IV members, may be appointed by the governing body. Such
alternate members shall be designated at the time of appointment as
Alternate No. 1, Alternate No. 2, Alternate No. 3 and Alternate No.
4.
(2)
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, alternates shall
vote in the ascending numerical order of position: Alternate No. 1
first, Alternate No. 2 second, and so on.
C.
Substitute members. If the Zoning Board lacks a quorum because regular
or alternate members are prohibited from acting on a matter because
the members have a personal or financial interest therein, Class IV
members of the Planning Board shall be called upon to serve as substitute
members in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69.1.
D.
No member of the Zoning Board shall hold any municipal office, position
or employment.
A.
The term of all Class IV members first appointed pursuant to this
chapter shall be so determined that, to the greatest practicable extent,
the expiration of such terms shall be distributed evenly over the
first four years after their appointment; provided, however, that
no term of any member shall exceed four years, and further provided
that nothing herein shall affect the term of any present member of
the Zoning Board, all of whom shall continue in office until the completion
of the terms for which they were appointed. Thereafter, all Class
IV members shall be appointed for terms of four years except as otherwise
herein provided.
B.
The term of all alternate members shall be two years. Expiration
of alternate terms shall be distributed such that not more than two
alternate members shall expire in any one year.
If a vacancy of any Class IV or alternate shall occur, other
than by expiration of term, the unexpired portion of that term shall
be filled by appointment as provided above.
A.
The Zoning Board shall elect a Chair and Vice Chair from its Class
IV members in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69.
B.
The Zoning Board shall select a secretary who may be either a member
or alternate member of the Zoning Board or a municipal employee designated
by it.
C.
There is hereby created the position of Zoning Board Attorney. The
Zoning Board may annually appoint, fix the compensation of, or agree
upon the rate of compensation of the Zoning Board Attorney, who shall
be an attorney other than the Municipal Attorney. To be eligible for
Zoning Board Attorney, he/she shall be licensed in the State of New
Jersey and in good standing.
D.
The Zoning Board may also employ or contract for the services of
experts and other staff and services as it may deem necessary. The
Zoning Board shall not, however, exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants,
the amount appropriated by the governing body for its use unless a
court of competent jurisdiction finds the appropriation to be unreasonable.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment, in accordance with N.J.S.A.
40:55D-70, shall have the following powers and duties:
A.
To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by the Zoning Officer or other administrative officer of the City based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Map or Chapter 196, Zoning.
B.
To hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or Chapter 196, Zoning, or for decisions upon other special questions upon which the Zoning Board is authorized to make determination in accordance with this chapter.
C.
To hear and decide requests for variances or other relief to allow departure from regulations set forth in Chapter 196, Zoning, in accordance with the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.). Variance relief shall be limited to the following:
(1)
Where (a) by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property; or (b) by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a 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, the strict application of any regulation in Chapter 196, Zoning, would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon, the owner of such property, the Zoning Board may determine to grant upon an application or an appeal relating to such property a variance from such strict application of regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship.
(2)
Where, in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property, the purposes of the Municipal Land Use Law would be advanced by a deviation from the requirements of Chapter 196, Zoning, and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, the Zoning Board may determine to grant a variance to allow departure from regulations pursuant to Chapter 196, Zoning: provided, however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in Subsection C(3) of this section shall be granted under this subsection, and further provided 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 power to review a request for a variance pursuant to § 44-105J.
(3)
Where special reasons exist to allow (a) departure from regulations pursuant to Chapter 196, Zoning, to permit 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) an increase in height of a principal structure which exceeds by 10 feet or 10% maximum height permitted in the district for a principal structure, a variance under this subsection shall be granted only by affirmative vote of at least five members.
D.
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 Master Plan, Zoning Map and Chapter 196, Zoning.
E.
The Zoning Board shall, in addition to the powers enumerated above,
have the power given by law in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-76
to:
(1)
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 drainage
way, flood control basin, or public area reserved on the Zoning Map.
(2)
Direct issuance of a permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for a
building or structure not related to a street.
(3)
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 et seq., or conditional use approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67, whenever the Zoning Board is reviewing an application for approval of a "d" 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 granting of all required subsequent approvals by the Zoning Board. No 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 Zoning Map and Chapter 196, Zoning.
F.
The Zoning Board shall annually review its decisions and prepare and adopt by resolution a report of its findings on Chapter 196, Zoning, provisions that were the subject of variance requests and its recommendations for amendments to Chapter 196, Zoning, if any. Copies of the report and resolution shall be submitted to the City Council and the Planning Board.
A.
An appeal to the Zoning Board may be taken by any interested party affected by any decision of the Zoning Officer or other administrative officer of the City based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Map or Chapter 196, Zoning. Each appeal shall be taken within 20 days from the date of notification by certified letter, or from the date of publication of the decision, or from the date construction permits are posted if the decision is not noticed by certified letter or published. The appellant shall file a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds for said appeal, with the Zoning Officer or administrative officer from whom the appeal is taken, together with three copies of said notice of appeal with the Secretary of the Zoning Board. The Zoning Officer or administrative officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the Zoning Board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed was taken.
(1)
An appeal to the Zoning Board stays all proceedings in furtherance
of the action from which the appeal was made unless the Zoning Officer
or administrative officer from whose action the appeal is taken certifies
to the Zoning Board that, by reason of facts stated in the certificate,
a stay would, in his/her 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.
(2)
In exercising the above-mentioned power, the Zoning Board may, in
conformity with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., or amendments
thereto, reverse or affirm wholly or in part, or may modify the order,
requirement, decision or determination appealed from, and make such
other requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made,
and to that end, exercise all the powers of the Zoning Officer or
administrative officer from whom the appeal was taken.
B.
Applications for development addressed to the original jurisdiction
of the Zoning Board shall be filed with the Secretary of the Zoning
Board. The applicant shall obtain all necessary forms from the Secretary
of the Zoning Board, who shall inform the applicant of the steps to
be taken to initiate applications and of the regular meeting dates
of the Zoning Board.
C.
Within 45 days of the date of submission, the Secretary of the Zoning Board shall certify an application as complete, in consultation with Zoning Board professionals and any applicable municipal commissions and administrators, only if the application, checklist, all documents required by the checklist, application fee, and escrow fees have been received. If the application lacks required information, documents, or fees, or requires referral pursuant to § 44-304, the applicant shall be so notified, in writing, of the deficiency, and the application shall be deemed incomplete. In the event that an application is not certified as either complete or incomplete within 45 days of its submission, it shall be, by default, considered complete for the purpose of commencing the applicable time of decision action by the Zoning Board.
D.
The Zoning Board, at its discretion, may require any of the following:
correction of any information found to be in error; submission of
additional information not specified in this chapter; or revisions
to the accompanying documents as are reasonably necessary to make
an informed decision as to whether the requirements for approval of
the application have been met.
A.
The Zoning Board shall render its decision not later than 120 days after (a) the date an appeal is taken from the decision of a Zoning Officer; or (b) from the date an application for development involving a variance or direction for the issuance of a permit pursuant to § 44-205E is certified as complete by the Secretary of the Zoning Board in consultation with the Zoning Board professionals and any applicable municipal commissions and administrators.
B.
In the event an applicant elects to submit separate consecutive applications, the aforesaid provision shall apply to the application for approval of the variance or direction for the issuance of a permit. The period for granting or denying any subsequent site plan or conditional use approval shall be the same time of decision required of the Planning Board, as set forth in § 44-107.
C.
The time of decision may be extended only by consent of the applicant.
Consent shall be made on the record at a hearing or in writing. Extensions
on the time of decision may be granted for no more than one year from
the date of the original time of decision deadline, at which time
the application shall be acted upon or dismissed without prejudice.
D.
Applications that have been deemed complete shall be scheduled for
a hearing before the Zoning Board within the time of action stated
above. If the applicant fails to appear when scheduled and the time
of decision will expire prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting
of the Zoning Board, the application shall be dismissed without prejudice.
E.
Failure of the Zoning Board to act within the period prescribed shall
constitute approval of the given application. At the request of the
applicant, the Secretary of the Zoning Board shall so certify that
the Zoning Board failed to act and that the application is therefore
approved. Said certificate shall be sufficient in lieu of the written
endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required.
A.
Any interested party may appeal any final decision of the Zoning
Board approving a "d" variance application for development to the
governing body, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-17.
B.
Such an appeal to the governing body shall be made within 10 days
of the date of publication of such final decision of the Zoning Board
by serving the Municipal Clerk, in person or by certified mail, with
a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof and the name and
address of the appellant and name and address of his or her attorney,
if represented. Such appeal shall be decided by the governing body
only upon the record established before the Zoning Board.
C.
Notice of hearings and required documents related to an appeal to
the governing body shall be provided in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-17.
D.
The governing body shall conclude its review of the record not later
than 95 days from the date of publication of the decision of the Zoning
Board. The governing body may reverse, remand or affirm, with or without
the imposition of conditions, the final decision of the Zoning Board
approving such variance. The review shall be made on the record before
the Zoning Board. The affirmative vote of a majority of the full authorized
membership of the governing body shall be necessary to reverse, remand
or affirm, with or without conditions, any final action of the Zoning
Board.
E.
Any appeal to the governing body shall stay all proceedings in furtherance
of the action in respect to which the decision was made, unless the
Zoning Board certifies to the governing body that, by reason of facts
stated in the certificate, a stay would, in its 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.
