[Adopted 6-2-75 by Ord. No. 1975-14]
Whenever any provision of the Code of the Township of Barnegat,
Ocean County, State of New Jersey, or the statutes of New Jersey shall
provide that the governing body of the Township of Barnegat is the
appropriate tribunal to hear and decide any appeal from any other
board, body, commission or official of the Township of Barnegat, notice
of such appeal shall be filed, by the aggrieved party, with the Township
Clerk of Barnegat Township and with the board, body, commission or
official appealed from within ten (10) days of the adverse decision
appealed from, unless some further time period is provided by law.
The notice of appeal shall be in writing and served by certified mail,
return receipt requested, postmarked within the time for which appeals
may be filed. The United States Post Office postmark shall be conclusive
of the date of the filing of the notice of appeal.
All appeals shall be heard on the record made before the board,
body, commission or official appealed from. Where a stenographic record
was taken before the board, body, commission or official appealed
from, the notice of appeal shall be accompanied by proof that a copy
of that record has been ordered. The appellant shall supply, at his
sole cost, six (6) copies of the transcript of the proceedings being
appealed from. The six (6) copies shall be filed with the Clerk of Barnegat
Township, who shall forthwith distribute one (1) copy to each member
of the governing body, one (1) copy to the Municipal Engineer and
one (1) copy to the Township Solicitor.
The Township Clerk shall further forthwith upon filing of the
transcripts give notice to any adverse party appearing in the transcripts
in opposition to the position taken by the appellant, said notice
advising that an appeal has been taken and that a copy of the transcript
of the proceedings is available for inspection in the Township Clerk's
office.
Within thirty (30) days of the filing of the transcript, a written
memorandum or brief shall be filed by the appellant detailing the
basis for the appeal and setting forth the law and the facts whereby
it is urged that the board, body, commission or official appealed
from erred in the decision appealed from. Six (6) copies of the memorandum
shall be filed with the Township Clerk, who shall forthwith distribute
the copies in the same manner as the distribution of the transcript.
Copies of the memorandum shall also be furnished without cost to any
adverse party requesting the same of the appellant, such request to
be in writing with carbon copies to the Township Clerk. Copies shall
be furnished by the appellant without cost.
Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the memorandum, any
adverse party may file responding memorandum reciting the law and
the facts upon which such adverse party shall rely in attempting to
sustain the ruling of the board, body, commission or official appealed
from.
Within ten (10) days from the date of the filing of the transcript,
the governing body shall fix a time for oral argument of the appeal.
Such time shall be not less than sixty (60) nor more than ninety (90)
days from the date of the filing of the transcript. The date, time
and place of the public hearing shall be furnished to the appellant,
who shall, not more than twenty (20) nor less than ten (10) days prior
to the date fixed for the public hearing and oral argument, cause
notice of the same to be published in the official newspaper of Barnegat
Township and cause notice to be served by certified mail, return receipt
requested, of the time, place and date of such hearing on all persons
who were notified by the appellant, or in the event the appeal is
from the affirmative and favorable action of some board, body, commission
or official, upon all persons notified by the original applicant.
At the time of the public hearing, all persons may appear in
person, or by attorney, and be heard. The presentation of the appellant
shall be made first and the appellant shall be permitted forty-five
(45) minutes within which time law and fact will be argued. Any party
who appeared in an adverse capacity in the hearing below shall likewise
be permitted forty-five (45) minutes within which to reply. Any party
who did not appear in an adversary position below may be heard and
permitted such time as the governing body may deem reasonable.
At the close of the public hearing, the governing body shall
take the matter under advisement and by formal resolution adopted
at the next regular township meeting take action affirming or denying
the decision appealed from, which resolution shall set forth in detail
the reasons for the actions of the governing body.
The governing body may, in its sound discretion, assess a reasonable
fee against the appellant for the costs incurred as a result of the
appeal, such costs to include attorney's fees, engineering fees,
expert fees or other expenses actually incurred by the municipality.
The governing body shall have the authority to grant the relief
requested in the appeal, affirm the action appealed from, remand the
matter for the preparation of a stenographic record of the proceedings,
or such other action as it may consider reasonable under all of the
circumstances.
Nothing contained herein shall extend to the governing body
of Barnegat Township the right to hear and decide any appeal except
as may be permitted by law, and where appeal in the first instance
is fixed by law to be to the Superior Court this ordinance shall not
change nor modify such requirement and shall not confer jurisdiction
on the Barnegat Township Committee.