Meetings of the Planning Board, governing body and Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be scheduled not less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled in accordance with the requirements of law.

Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Board's presiding officer or on the request of any two members, which meeting shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements. Special meetings of the governing body shall be called in accordance with the appropriate provisions of law.

No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present.

All actions shall be taken by majority vote of a quorum except as otherwise required by any provision of Chapter 291, Laws of New Jersey, 1975.[1]

All 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, Laws of New Jersey, 1975.[2]

Rules. The Planning Board, the governing body and the Zoning Board of Adjustment may make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies under this chapter, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or of this chapter.

Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearing 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.

Testimony. Testimony of all witnesses relating to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation by the presiding officer. 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.

Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the Board or body may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.

Records. Each Board or body shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographer or mechanical or electronic means. The Board or body shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested party at his expense.

Eligibility to vote. A member of a reviewing board who is absent for one or more of the meetings at which a hearing was held shall be eligible to vote on the matter upon which the hearing was conducted, notwithstanding his absence from one or more of the meetings; provided, however, that such Board member has available to him the transcript or recording of all the hearings from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the reviewing board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.

Public notice shall be given by publication in the official newspaper of the municipality at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing.

Notice shall be given to the owners of all real property, as shown on the current tax duplicate, located in the state and within 200 feet in all directions of the property which is the subject of such hearing, provided that this requirement shall be deemed satisfied by notice to the condominium association, in the case of any unit owner whose unit has a unit above or below it, or horizontal property regime, in the case of any co-owner whose apartment has an apartment above or below it. Such notice shall be given by serving a copy thereof on the owner as shown on said current tax duplicate 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 duplicate. A return receipt is not required. Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service upon any partner. Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon its president, vice president, secretary or other person authorized by appointment or by law to accept service on behalf of the corporation. Notice to a condominium association, horizontal property regime, community trust or homeowners' association, because of its ownership of common elements or areas located within 200 feet of the property which is the subject of the hearing, may be made in the same manner as to a corporation without further notice to unit owners, co-owners, or homeowners on account of such common elements or areas.

Notice of all public hearings on applications for development involving property located within 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 Subsection B of this section to the owners of lands in such adjoining municipality which are located within 200 feet of the subject premises.

Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the County Planning Board of a public 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 situate within 200 feet of a municipal boundary.

Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the Commissioner of Transportation of a public hearing on an application for development of property adjacent to a state highway.

Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail to the State Planning Commission of a public hearing on an application for development of property which exceeds 150 acres or 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 Chapter 291, Laws of New Jersey, 1975.[1]

All notices hereinabove specified in this section shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date fixed for the public hearing, and the applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service with the Board holding the public hearing on the application for development.

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.

All notices required to be given pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall state the date, time and place of the public hearing, the nature of the matters to be considered and 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 duplicate in the Municipal Tax Assessor's office and the location and times at which any maps and documents for which approval is sought are available as required by law.

Each decision on any application for development shall be set forth in writing as a resolution of the Board, which shall include findings of fact and legal conclusions based thereon.

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.

The reviewing board may provide for such written decision and findings and conclusions either on the date of the meeting at which the reviewing board takes action to grant or deny approval or, if the meeting at which such action is taken occurs within the final 45 days of the applicable time period for rendering a decision on the application for development, within 45 days of such meeting by the adoption of a resolution of memorialization setting forth the decision and findings and conclusions of the reviewing board thereon. An action resulting from the failure of the 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.

The adoption of a resolution of memorialization pursuant to this section shall not be construed to alter the applicable time period for rendering a decision on the application for development. Such a resolution shall be adopted by a vote of a majority of the members of the reviewing board who voted for the action previously taken, and no other members shall vote thereon. The vote on such resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of an action of the reviewing board, except that failure to adopt such a resolution within the forty-five-day period shall result in the approval of the application for development notwithstanding any prior action taken thereon.

Whenever a resolution of memorialization is adopted in accordance with this section, the date of such adoption shall constitute the date of a decision for purposes of mailings, filings and publications required by any other provision of this chapter.

A copy of the decision shall be mailed by the Board within 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 office of the administrative officer, 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.

Publication of decision. A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in the official newspaper of the municipality. Such publication shall be arranged by the Board Secretary for matters involving the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment and by the Municipal Clerk in matters involving the governing body. This notice shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication within 10 days of the date of any such decision.

"D" variance appeals. Any interested party may appeal to the Township Committee a final decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustment approving an application for development made pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d. Such appeal shall be made within 10 days of the date of publication of such final decision pursuant to § 104-21G of this article. The appeal to the Township Committee shall be made by serving the Township Clerk in person or by certified mail with a notice of appeal specifying the grounds therefor and the name and address of his attorney, if represented. Such appeal shall be decided by the Township Committee only upon the record established before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Notice requirements. Notice of a meeting to review the record below shall be given by the Township Clerk by personal service or certified mail to the appellant, to those entitled to notice of a decision pursuant to § 104-21 of this article and to the Zoning Board of Adjustment by service upon the Secretary of the Board at least 10 days prior to the date of the meeting. Parties may submit oral and written argument on record at such meeting, and the Township Committee shall provide for a verbatim recording and transcripts of such meeting pursuant to § 104-18E of this article.

Transcript. The appellant shall arrange for the preparation of a transcript of the proceedings before the Zoning Board of Adjustment with the administrative officer within five days of serving his notice of appeal and shall submit proof to the Clerk of the Township within 10 days of the date that he has filed his notice of appeal that he has ordered the transcript and either paid a deposit of $50 or the estimated cost of the transcript, which sum shall not exceed the maximum permitted under N.J.S.A. 2B:7-4, or the appellant shall cause eight copies of the transcript so prepared to be filed with the Township Clerk within 35 days of service of the notice of appeal; otherwise the appeal may be dismissed for failure to prosecute.

Committee action.

Stay. An appeal to the Township Committee shall stay all proceedings in furtherance of the action in respect to which the decision appealed from was made unless the Zoning Board of Adjustment certifies to the Township Committee, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with the Zoning Board of Adjustment, that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in its opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed other than by an order of the Superior Court on application, upon notice to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and on good cause shown.

Court action. Nothing herein shall be construed to restrict the right of any party to obtain a review by any court of competent jurisdiction according to law.

All appeal procedures set forth in this section shall apply to appeals from the Land Use Development Board (Planning Board). All references to the "Zoning Board" shall be interpreted to include the Land Use Development Board.