The Planning Board, as heretofore established, shall be and
is hereby continued under the name "Borough of Hopatcong Land Use
Board," with all powers and duties as described herein. The Hopatcong
Borough Zoning Board of Adjustment is hereby discontinued and its
powers and duties are transferred to the Borough of Hopatcong Land
Use Board as set forth herein.
[Amended 5-15-2019 by Ord. No. 6-2019]
The Municipal Land Use Board shall elect a Chairman and Vice
Chairman from the members of Class IV, and select a Secretary who
may or may not be a member of the Municipal Land Use Board or a municipal
employee, and create and fill such other offices as established by
ordinance. An alternate member shall not serve as Chairman or Vice
Chairman of the Municipal Land Use Board. The Board shall have legal
counsel pursuant to contract at a fixed rate of compensation, who
shall be an attorney at law of the State of New Jersey, other than
the Municipal Attorney, and who shall be qualified to serve the Municipal
Land Use Board. The Board may also appoint a licensed professional
engineer in the State of New Jersey, who does not need to be the Borough
Engineer. The Board may also appoint or engage a licensed professional
planner in the State of New Jersey. The Board may also employ, contract
for and fix the compensation of other staff and services as it may
deem necessary, not exceeding, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount
appropriated by the governing body for its use. The governing body
shall make provision in its budget and appropriate funds for the expenses
of the Municipal Land Use Board.
No member of the Land Use Board shall act on any matter in which
he or she has, either directly or indirectly, any personal or financial
interest. Whenever any such member shall disqualify himself from acting
on a particular matter, he shall not continue to sit with the Board
on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion or
decision relating thereto.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and
shall include the names of the persons appearing and addressing the
Board and of the persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by
the Board, the findings, if any, made by it and the reasons therefor.
The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection
during normal business hours at the office of the Zoning Board Secretary.
Fees or charges for submission of applications or for rendering
any service by the Land Use Board or any member of its administrative
staffs for review of an application for development, for inspections
or for taking of appeals shall be as set forth in any general fee
ordinance of the Borough or as established in any ordinance regulating
the use and development of land.
Whenever a hearing is required on an application for development
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70a
or b or pursuant to the determination of the municipal agency in question,
the applicant shall give notice as required by the applicable statute.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12c, the Tax Assessor of the Borough shall, within seven days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of the maximum fees provided for in said section of the statute, make and certify a list from the current tax duplicate of names and addresses of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to §
28-13 of this chapter.
[Amended 6-5-2019 by Ord.
No. 12-2019]
A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in
the official newspaper of the municipality. Such publication shall
be arranged by the Secretary of the Land Use Board with the cost billed
to the applicant's escrow. Said notice shall be sent to the official
newspaper for publication within 10 days of the date of any such decision.
Whenever a term which is defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., as amended, is used in this chapter or in Chapter
191,
209 or
242 of the Code of the Borough of Hopatcong, such term is intended to have the meaning set forth in the definition of such term found in said statute, unless said term is specifically defined in any of the aforementioned chapters, in which event said term, as defined, shall be construed to be applicable to all of said chapters unless a contrary intention is clearly expressed or implied from the context in which said term is used.
[Amended 7-11-2012 by Ord. No. 17-2012]
Any variance from the terms of this chapter hereafter granted
by the Land Use Board permitting the erection or alteration of any
structure or structures or permitting a specified use of any premises
shall expire by limitation unless such construction or alteration
shall have been actually commenced on each and every structure permitted
by said variance or unless such permitted use has actually been commenced
within two years from the date of publication of the notice of the
judgment or determination of the Land Use Board; except, however,
that the running of the period of limitation herein provided shall
be tolled from the date of filing an appeal from the decision of the
Land Use Board to the governing body or to a court of competent jurisdiction
until the termination in any manner of such appeal or proceeding.
The Land Use Board may grant an extension of the approval without
notice, provided that there have been no changes in the ordinance
which would have affected the decision of the Land Use Board in granting
the variances. Said extension will be for a maximum of two years.
Any further extensions will require notice of Municipal Land Use Law
and approval at the discretion of the Land Use Board.
All applicants for development before the Land Use Board shall
establish an escrow account with the Borough in accordance with the
fee schedule for the specific type of application, as set forth in
this code.
The Chief Financial Officer of the municipality shall make all
of the payments to professionals for services rendered to the municipality
or approving board for review of applications for development, review
and preparation of documents, inspection of improvements or other
purposes under this article; such fees or charges to be based upon
the ordinances herein. The application review and inspection charges
shall be limited only to professional charges for review or applications,
including review time spent at meetings of the approving board, review
and preparation of documents and inspections of developments under
construction and review by outside consultants when the application
is of a nature beyond the scope of the expertise of the professionals
normally utilized by the municipality. The only costs that shall be
added to any such charges shall be actual out-of-pocket expenses of
any such professionals or consultants, including normal and typical
expenses incurred in processing applications and inspecting improvements.
The charges by professionals shall be at the same rate as all other
work of the same nature by the professional for the municipality when
fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants or developers.
The Chief Financial Officer of the municipality shall administer the
review and escrow fees as follows:
A. Each payment charged to a deposit for review of applications, review
and preparation of documents and inspection of improvements shall
be pursuant to a voucher from the professional, which voucher shall
identify the personnel performing the service; and, for each date
the service is performed, the hours spent to one-quarter-hour increments,
the hourly rate and the expenses incurred. All professionals shall
submit vouchers to the Chief Financial Officer of the municipality
on a monthly basis in accordance with the schedules and procedures
established by the Chief Financial Officer of the municipality. The
professional shall send an informational copy of all vouchers or statements
submitted to the Chief Financial Officer of the municipality simultaneously
to the applicant. The Chief Financial Officer of the municipality
shall prepare and send to the applicant a statement which shall include
an accounting of the funds listing all deposits, interest earnings,
disbursements and the cumulative balance of the escrow account. This
information shall be provided on a quarterly basis if monthly charges
are $1,000 or less, or on a monthly basis if the monthly charges exceed
$1,000. If an escrow account or deposit contains insufficient funds
to enable the municipality or approving board to perform required
application reviews or improvement inspections, the Chief Financial
Officer of the municipality shall provide the applicant with a written
notice of the insufficient escrow or deposit balance. In order for
work to continue on the development or the applications, the applicant
shall, within 10 days, post a deposit to the account in an amount
to be agreed upon by the municipality or the approving board and the
applicant. With regard to review fees, if the applicant fails to make
said deposit within the prescribed time herein, the approving board
shall be authorized to dismiss the application with prejudice subject
to the right of the applicant to seek reinstatement of said application
by written notice to the Chief Financial Officer that the deposits
have been posted. The application will be reinstated upon written
notification by the Chief Financial Officer to the approving board
that said deposits are in fact posted. In the interim, any required
health and safety inspections shall be made and charged back against
the replenishment of funds. With regard to inspection fees, the Borough
Engineer shall not perform any inspection if insufficient funds to
pay for the inspections are not on deposit. Failure to post or maintain
balances in accordance with the requirements of these subsections
will subject the developer to a stop-work order and/or suspension
of construction permits.
B. The applicant and Chief Financial Officer shall follow the following
closeout procedures for all deposits and escrow accounts established
herein. Said procedures shall commence after the approving authority
has granted final approval of the development application, including
completion of all conditions of said approval, and/or has signed the
appropriate subdivision map or deed or after all of the improvements
have been approved. The applicant shall send written notice by certified
mail to the Chief Financial Officer of the municipality and the approving
board and to the relevant municipal professional that the application
or the improvements, as the case may be, are completed. After receipt
of such notice, the professional shall render a final bill to the
Chief Financial Officer of the municipality within 30 days and shall
send a copy simultaneously to the applicant. The Chief Financial Officer
of the municipality shall render a written final accounting to the
applicant on the uses to which the deposit has been put within 45
days of the receipt of the final bill. Any balances remaining in the
deposit or escrow account, including interest, shall be refunded to
the applicant along with the final accounting.
C. All professional charges for review of the application for development,
review and preparation of documents or inspection of improvements
shall be reasonable and necessary, given the status and progress of
the application or construction review. Fees shall be charged only
in connection with the application for development presently pending
before the approving authority or upon review of compliance with conditions
of approval or review of requests of modifications or amendments made
by the applicant. The professionals shall not review items which are
subject to approval by any state governmental agency and not under
municipal jurisdiction, except to the extent consultation with the
state agency is necessary due to the effect of state approvals on
the subdivision or site plan. Inspection fees shall be charged only
for actual work shown on a subdivision or site plan or required by
an approving resolution. Professionals inspecting improvements under
construction shall charge only for inspections that are reasonably
necessary to check the progress and quality of the work, and such
inspections shall be reasonably based on the approved development
plans and documents.
D. If the municipality retains a different professional or consultant
in the place of the professional originally responsible for development,
application review or inspection of improvements, the municipality
or approving board shall be responsible for all time and expenses
of the new professional to become familiar with the application of
the project, and the municipality or approving board shall not bill
the applicant or charge the deposit or the escrow account for any
such services.