No member of the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment shall act on any matter in which he 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.
A. 
Regular meetings of both the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment shall be scheduled no less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of applications for development to process or lack of a quorum.
B. 
Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Chairman or on the request of any two (2) Board members, which meetings shall be held on notice to the Board's members and the public, in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.
C. 
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present.
D. 
All actions shall be taken by a majority vote of the members of the municipal agency present at the meeting, except as otherwise required by any provisions of the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
E. 
All regular meetings and all special meetings shall be open to the public. Notice of all such meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Law, Chapter 231 of the Laws of New Jersey 1975. An executive session for the purpose of discussing and studying any matters to come before either Board shall not be deemed a regular or special meeting in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-9.
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; and the findings, if any, made by it and reasons therefor. The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Planning Department. Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceeding concerning the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party shall be charged a fee for reproduction of the minutes for his use as provided for in the rules of the Board.
Fees for applications or for the rendering of any service by the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment or any member of their administrative staffs which are not otherwise provided by Article III of this chapter may be provided for and adopted as part of the rules of either Board, and copies of said rules or of the separate fee schedule shall be available to the public.
A. 
Rules. The Planning Board and Board of Adjustment may make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10 et seq.
B. 
Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearings or such person as he may designate shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant evidence, including witnesses and documents presented by the parties, and the provisions of the County and Municipal Investigations Law, P.L. 1953, c. 38 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.), shall apply.
C. 
Testimony. The testimony of all witnesses relating to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation by the presiding officer, and the right of cross-examination shall be permitted to all interested parties through their attorneys, if represented, or directly, if not represented, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer and to reasonable limitations as to time and number of witnesses.
D. 
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the Board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
E. 
Records. Each Board shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographic, mechanical or electronic means. The Board shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request of any interested party upon payment of the fees set forth in Article III of this chapter, provided, however, in furnishing a transcript of the proceedings to an interested party more than the maximum permitted in N.J.S.A. 2A:11-15. Said transcript shall be certified in writing by the transcriber to be accurate.
Whenever a hearing is required on any application for development pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12 et seq. or pursuant to the determination of the municipal agency in question, the applicant shall give notice thereof as follows:
A. 
Public notice shall be given by publication in the official newspaper of the Township at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing.
B. 
Notice shall be given to the owners of all real property, as shown on the current tax rolls, located in the State and within two hundred (200) feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of such hearing and whether located within or without the municipality. Such notice shall be given by serving a copy thereof on the owner, as shown on said current tax roll, or his agent in charge of the property, or by mailing a copy thereof by certified mail to the property owner at his address as shown on said current tax roll. A return receipt is not required. Service of notice requirements shall be as set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12(b).
C. 
Notice of all hearings on applications for development involving property located within two hundred (200) feet of an adjoining municipality shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Clerk of such municipality, which notice shall be in addition to the notice required to be given pursuant to paragraph B of this section to the owners of lands in such adjoining municipality which are located within two hundred (200) feet of the subject premises.
D. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the County Planning Board of a hearing on an application for development of property adjacent to an existing county road or proposed road shown on the Official County Map or on the County Master Plan, adjoining other county land or situated within two hundred (200) feet of a municipal boundary.
E. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Director of the Division of State and Regional Planning in the Department of Community Affairs of a hearing on an application for development of property which exceeds one hundred fifty (150) acres or five hundred (500) dwelling units. Such notice shall include a copy of any maps or documents required to be on file with the administrative officer pursuant to Section 6b of the Municipal Land Use Law.
F. 
Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a hearing on an application for development of property adjacent to or within two hundred (200) feet of a State highway or State-owned lands.
G. 
All notices hereinabove specified in this section shall be given at least ten (10) days prior to the date fixed for hearing, and the developer shall file an affidavit of proof of service with the Board holding the hearing on the application for development.
H. 
Any notice made by certified mail as hereinabove required shall be deemed complete upon mailing in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-14.
I. 
All notices required to be given pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall state the date, time and place of the hearing; the nature of the matters to be considered; identification of the property proposed for development by street address, if any, or by reference to lot and block numbers as shown on the current tax rolls in the Township Tax Assessor's office; and the location and times at which any maps or documents for which approval is sought are available as required by law.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12(c), the Tax Assessor shall, within seven (7) days after receipt of a request therefor and upon receipt of payment of a fee of twenty-five ($.25) cents per name, or ten ($10.00) dollars, whichever is greater, make and certify a list from the current tax rolls of names and addresses of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to law.
A. 
Each decision on any application for development shall be reduced to writing, as provided herein, and shall include findings of facts and conclusions based thereon.
B. 
Failure of a motion to approve an application for development to receive the number of votes required for approval shall be deemed an action denying the application.
C. 
The municipal agency may provide such written decision and findings and conclusions either on the date of the meeting at which the action is taken to grant or deny approval, or, if such meeting occurs within the final forty-five (45) days of the applicable time period for rendering a decision on the application for development, within forty-five (45) days of such meeting by the adoption of a resolution of memorialization setting forth the decision and the findings and conclusions of the municipal agency thereon. An action resulting from the failure of a motion to approve an application shall be memorialized by resolution as provided above, notwithstanding the time at which such action occurs within the applicable time period for rendering a decision on the application.
D. 
The adoption of a resolution of memorialization pursuant to this subsection shall not be construed to alter the applicable time period for rendering a decision on the application for development. Such resolution shall be adopted by a vote of a majority of the members of the municipal agency who voted for the action previously taken, and no other member shall vote thereon. The vote on such resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of an action of the municipal agency, and not to be an action of the municipal agency, provided, that failure to adopt such resolution within the forty-five (45) day period shall result in the approval of the application for development, notwithstanding any prior action taken thereon.
E. 
Whenever a resolution of memorialization is adopted, the date of such adoption shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailings, filings and publications required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.
F. 
A copy of the decision shall be mailed by the Board within ten (10) days of the date of decision to the applicant or, if represented, then to his attorney without separate charge. A copy of the decision shall also be mailed to all persons who have requested it and who have paid the fee prescribed by the Board for such service. A copy of the decision shall also be filed in the officer of the Municipal Clerk, who shall make a copy of such filed decision available to any interested party upon payment of a fee calculated in the same manner as those established for copies of other public documents in the municipality.
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 Planning Board or Board of Adjustment, as the case may be. A reasonable charge may be made to the applicant for such publication. Said notice shall be sent to the official newspapers for publication within ten (10) days of the date of such decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39 and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-65 every application for development submitted to the Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment shall be accompanied by proof that no taxes or assessments for local improvements are due or delinquent on the property which is the subject of such application; or, if it is shown that taxes or assessments are delinquent on said property, any approvals or other relief granted by either Board shall be conditioned upon either the prompt payment of such taxes or assessments or the making of adequate provisions for the payment thereof in such manner that the municipality will be adequately protected.