Hanover Township City Zoning Code

No land shall be occupied or used and no building hereafter erected or altered shall be occupied or used, in whole or in part, for any purpose whatsoever until a certificate of occupancy shall have been issued by the Construction Code Official or, if such is the case, a temporary certificate of occupancy issued pursuant to § 166-162.

In addition, a certificate of continued occupancy shall also be required under the following circumstances:

The certificate of occupancy or certificate of continued occupancy shall not be issued until the land, use, building, structure or premises complies with all the provisions of this chapter, all other applicable Township and state requirements and with such conditions that have been required by any site plan approval or site plan exemption as hereinafter regulated in § 166-164.1. When issued, the certificate of occupancy or certificate of continued occupancy shall state that such compliance has been achieved.

The fee, as prescribed in § 166-48, for the certificate of occupancy shall be paid at the time any building permit application is filed with the Building Inspector. After completion of the erection or alteration of the building, or compliance by the applicant with any other such conditions or requirements as may be imposed by such other appropriate municipal body, Board or officer, application for the issuance of a certificate of occupancy shall be made to the Zoning Officer, and said certificate of occupancy shall be issued or denied within seven days.

A certificate of occupancy shall specify the use of the land or buildings and any circumstances or conditions imposed by any agency, code or regulations. Any change in use, including a change from one permitted use to another kind of permitted use in the same zone, as well as any change in tenancy in the nonresidential zones or in a nonconforming use in residential zones, will be treated as a new use and a new certificate of occupancy shall be required. Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for said change in use, all provisions of this chapter shall be complied with in the same manner as if the new use or tenancy were a new structure or a new use of land.

When there is a change in use of premises within the meaning of this section, the owner shall notify the Building Inspector, by letter, of all details of the proposed change. He shall advise the owner within one week if, in his opinion, the facts require a certificate of occupancy. If not so notified, the owner may undertake to use the premises for the new use.

If, after the expiration of the temporary certificate of occupancy, an applicant is still unable to comply with all requirements for a permanent certificate of occupancy by reason of extreme hardship, a permanent certificate of occupancy may be approved by the Planning Board upon application under the same procedures as set forth in § 166-162, provided that a cash bond in the entire amount of all incomplete improvements is deposited with the Township Clerk.

In the event that an applicant for any nonresidential use is unable to fully comply with all of the requirements for a permanent certificate of occupancy as outlined above, due to weather conditions or other forces beyond his control, he may apply for a temporary certificate of occupancy. For the purpose of administering this section, "occupancy" is defined as the use of any equipment or machinery (other than construction machinery not considered part of the building) or the storage of a product, merchandise, raw material or other personal property or the use of a structure other than by those engaged in its construction.

Application procedure.

Temporary certificate of occupancy for longer than 90 days. It is recognized that, under extreme circumstances, a temporary certificate of occupancy may be required for a period beyond the 90 days as above regulated. In such event, the applicant shall file with the Zoning Officer a request for a temporary certificate of occupancy prior to the expiration of the second renewal as outlined in Subsection A(5). This application shall be made sufficiently early to be referred to the Township Committee for consideration at a regular public meeting of the Committee, but in no case less than 14 days before such meeting. All requirements of Subsection B(1), (2) and (3) shall be complied with. The Township Engineer will estimate the cost of completing all conditions of site plan approval. The applicant shall post a completion bond for the amount determined by the Township Engineer with the Township Clerk. If said bond is other than cash, a cash escrow account of $500 will be deposited with the Township Clerk, which shall be forfeited and used to defray the cost of collecting the completion bond if the applicant fails to comply with all of the site plan requirements within the time limits set forth on the temporary certificate of occupancy issued under this section. A temporary certificate of occupancy requiring the posting of a bond as set forth in this section shall not be issued by the Zoning Officer without the approval of the Township Committee.

An applicant seeking a certificate of continued occupancy for a change in occupancy or tenancy of a nonresidential building may apply for an exemption of site plan review and approval regulated in Part 4 of this chapter. The criteria and procedures to be followed for such application and exemption are set forth in § 166-58D and E.

For the purpose of administering this section, a "certificate of continued occupancy" shall be defined as a certificate stating that a change of occupancy or a change in tenancy may occur in an existing building or structure after approval by the Site Plan Exemption Committee or the Hanover Township Planning Board.