[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.