A variance or variances permitting the construction or alteration of buildings, structures or other improvements shall expire unless the applicant has secured and maintains a building permit to commence construction within two years of the date on which the resolution memorializing the grant of such variance(s) was adopted.

Any application for extension of variance approval shall require compliance with the noticing provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12 which includes certified mailing to an up-to-date list of property owners within 200 feet and publication at least 10 days in advance of the date of hearing. The Board may extend variances for good cause shown and for a period not to exceed two years. In all such cases, in addition to the reasons for the delay and any hardship the applicant asserts will be occasioned by the expiration of the variance, the Board shall consider all relevant changed circumstances, including but not limited to changes in the City’s Master Plan or development regulations, changes in the subject property and changes in the surrounding area.

Applicants may apply for, and the Board may grant, extensions either before or after the initial expiration date, but in the event the Board grants an extension after the initial two-year period has ended and the variance has expired, any extension shall begin on what would otherwise have been the original expiration date.

All variances shall expire and all rights conferred by the grant of such variances shall lapse unless a building permit is secured upon the expiration of the extensions provided for herein.

The running of the period of limitation herein provided shall be tolled from the date of filing an appeal from the decision of the Board to the Governing Body or to a court of competent jurisdiction until the termination in any manner of such appeal or proceeding.

In the event the applicant has applied for a building permit on or before the expiration date, the running of the period of limitation herein shall be tolled for up to 20 business days to accommodate permit review. In the event the permit is denied or invalidated, the variance will then expire and the applicant may pursue a request for extension pursuant to the above.