Ten copies of properly executed plans and applications, which shall be submitted at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

Payment of fees and deposits as required by § 255-17 of this chapter.

Proof of payment of real property taxes and assessments.

The plat shall be based on an actual survey performed by a New Jersey licensed surveyor and shall have his seal affixed thereto. Plats shall be at a scale not smaller than 50 feet to the inch and shall show or include the following information:

The Land Use Board shall waive notice and public hearing for an application for development for a minor subdivision unless the Subdivision Committee of the Land Use Board, appointed by the Chairman, finds that the application for development does not conform to the definition of "minor subdivision" in § 255-3 of Article I. Minor subdivision approval shall be deemed to be final approval of the subdivision by the Board, provided that the Board or said subcommittee may condition such approval on terms assuring the providing of improvements pursuant to Article X.

Minor subdivision approval shall be granted or denied within 45 days of the date of submission of a complete application to the Secretary of the Land Use Board or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the Land Use Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute minor subdivision approval, and a certificate of the Secretary of the Land Use Board as to the failure of the Land Use Board to act shall be issued on request of the applicant, and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other evidence of approval herein required and shall be so accepted by the county recording officer for purposes of filing subdivision plats.

Approval of a minor subdivision shall expire 190 days from the date of municipal approval unless within such period a plat in conformity with such approval and the provisions of the Map Filing Law, P.L. 1960, c. 141,[1] or a deed clearly describing the approved minor subdivision, is filed by the developer with the county recording officer, the Municipal Engineer and the Municipal Tax Assessor. Any such plat or deed accepted for such filing shall have been signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the Land Use Board. Prior to approval of said deed, there shall be filed with the Land Use Board a certification of a licensed engineer or land surveyor that the description of the premises in the deed conforms exactly to that of the approved subdivision plat. In reviewing the application for development for a proposed minor subdivision, the Land Use Board may accept a plat not in conformity with the Map Filing Act, provided that if the developer chooses to file the minor subdivision as provided herein by plat rather than deed, such plat shall conform with the provisions of said Act.

The zoning requirements and general terms and conditions, whether conditional or otherwise, upon which minor subdivision approval was granted shall not be changed for a period of two years after the date of minor subdivision approval, provided that the approved minor subdivision shall have been duly recorded as provided herein.

The required fee, deposit and proof of payment of real property taxes and assessments, as per § 255-17 of Article I.

Ten copies of properly completed applications and plans, which shall be submitted at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting.

A key map showing the entire development and the proposed street pattern in the area to be developed and the relationship to the surrounding area.

The name of the development; the Municipal Tax Map sheet, block and lot number; date; reference meridian and scale, which shall not be smaller than one inch equaling 100 feet; and the names and tax block and lot numbers, of all property owners within 200 feet of the tract.

All proposed lot lines and lot lines to be eliminated by the proposed developments shall be clearly indicated.

The location, size and direction of flow of all streams, brooks, drainage structures and drainage ditches in the development.

The location and width of all existing and proposed utility easements in the area to be developed.

All existing and proposed streets or roads within or adjoining the proposed development with the right-of-way widths and names clearly indicated.

The plat shall have clearly indicated on it the following information:

The location of existing and proposed lines, building setback lines from streets, existing structures within the portion to be developed and within 200 feet of a development with an indication of whether they will be retained or removed and the location and extent of wooded areas within 200 feet of the development.

The plat shall show or be accompanied by a plan and profile, drawn to a scale of one inch equals 50 feet horizontal and one inch equals five feet vertical, and cross-section drawings, drawn to a scale of one inch equals five feet horizontal and one inch equals five feet vertical, of proposed streets, together with typical roadway construction details and construction specifications, which shall be in accordance with Township standards.

Contours at two-foot intervals. All contour lines shall be referenced to the New Jersey Geodetic Control Survey datum, and a bench mark shall be established on site and described and shown on the drawings.

The preliminary plat shall show or be accompanied by plans and computations for any proposed storm drainage systems in accordance with Chapter 337, Stormwater Control, of Independence Township.

The preliminary plat shall show or be accompanied by plans showing existing and proposed sanitary sewerage facilities serving the development, including the following:

The preliminary plat shall show or be accompanied by plans showing the size and location of all water mains.

Identification of lands to be dedicated or reserved for public use.

The location of any other underground utilities and the easements to accommodate them shall be clearly indicated on the plan.

All plat details required by the standards of subdivision design of Warren County, adopted July 1, 1970, as amended. Whenever details of this chapter and that of Warren County are in conflict, the more stringent shall apply.

All improvements required by this chapter and the County of Warren.

A certification that: "this plat conforms to the preliminary plat requirements of the Land Development Ordinance of the Township of Independence" or, in lieu of that, a certification of the preparer that: "this plat deviates from the requirements of the Land Development Ordinance of the Township of Independence only on the following:"

An environmental impact statement as required by Article VI of Chapter 255 of the Township Code.

Delineation of critical areas, including flood hazard areas, critical wetland areas, marginal wetland areas, stream areas, pond and lake areas, critical slope areas, moderate slope areas and shallow depth of bedrock areas, together with an analysis of the entire development and each lot to be subdivided in accordance with § 255-87.

If the application is complete, the Land Use Board shall set a date for public hearing. The applicant shall give notice as provided for in § 255-9. Proof of notice shall be provided to the Board at least three days prior to the public hearing, or the Board may consider the application incomplete, notwithstanding any other determination of completeness.

After the public hearing, the Board shall take formal action either approving or disapproving the preliminary plat within the time required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-48, viz., for a subdivision of 10 or fewer lots, the Board shall grant or deny preliminary approval within 45 days of the date of the submission; and in the case of a subdivision of more than 10 lots, it shall grant or deny preliminary approval within 95 days of the date of such submission or within such further time as may be consented to by the developer. Otherwise, the Board shall be deemed to have granted preliminary approval to the subdivision, and the Land Use Board Secretary shall issue a certificate of approval. However, in no case shall Board approval be given before the expiration of the twenty-day period within which the County Planning Board may submit a report on said subdivision. In all cases, the recommendations of the County Planning Board shall be given careful consideration in the final decision of the Township Board. If the County Planning Board has approval authority pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:27-1.1 et. seq., its action shall be noted on the plat, and if disapproved, two copies of the reasons for disapproval shall be returned with the plat. If either the Township Board or the County Board disapproves the plat, the reasons for disapproval shall be remedied prior to further consideration. If approval is required by any other officer or public body, the same procedure as applied to the submission for approval by the County Planning Board shall apply.

If the Land Use Board acts favorably on a preliminary plat, the Chairman of the Land Use Board shall affix his signature to the plat with a notation that it has received preliminary approval and return to the subdivider for compliance with final approval requirements.

Preliminary approval shall, except as hereinafter set forth, confer upon the applicant the following rights for a three-year period from the date of such approval:

Payment of all deposits and fees as per § 255-17 of Article I and proof of payment of real property taxes and assessments.

Three copies of the completed application form and 12 copies of the final plat as required below.

Deeds of dedication for rights-of-way and easements.

Letters to the Board from various utility companies and agencies indicating approval of the utility installation design, if the design has been prepared by the applicant, and stating who will construct the facility so that service will be available when required in conformity with the provisions of the filed rate schedule, unless these utilities have been constructed prior to the application for final approval.

A performance guaranty in the amount of 120% of the estimated cost of any work which has not been completed, the amount of which shall be based on an estimate prepared by the applicant in conformance with § 255-21A(1). Ten percent of the performance guaranty shall be posted in cash, and the guaranty shall be submitted to the Township Attorney for his review and approval at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which approval is sought.

A maintenance guaranty in the amount of 15% of the cost of the improvements, running for a period of two years, shall be posted at the conclusion of the work before acceptance of any of the improvements by the Township. A maintenance guaranty shall also be submitted to the Township Attorney for his review and approval.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that other governmental agencies or public utilities automatically will own the utilities to be installed or that the improvements are covered by a performance or maintenance guaranty to another governmental agency, no performance or maintenance guaranty, as the case may be, shall be required by the Township for such utilities or improvements.

Applications and plats shall be submitted at least two weeks prior to the date of the meeting.

The final plat shall be drawn in ink on Mylar or tracing cloth at a scale of not less than one inch equaling 100 feet and in compliance with the provisions of P.L. 1960, c. 141 (N.J.S.A. 46:23-9.9 et seq.), the Map Filing Law. The final plat shall also show the following:

The following additional material shall accompany the final plat:

The reviewing Board shall grant final approval if the detailed drawings, specifications and all other aspects of the application for final approval conform to the standards established by this chapter for final approval, the conditions of preliminary approval and, in the case of a major subdivision, the standards prescribed by the Map Filing Law, P.L. 1960, c. 141,[2] provided that, in the case of a planned development, the reviewing Board body may permit minimal deviations from the conditions of preliminary approval, necessitated by a change of conditions beyond the control of the developer since the date of preliminary approval, without the developer being required to submit another application for development for preliminary approval.

Final approval shall be granted or denied within 45 days after submission of a complete application to the Clerk of the approving authority or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant. Failure of the approving authority to act within the period prescribed shall constitute final approval of the application for final approval as submitted, and a certificate of the Secretary of the approving authority as to failure of the approving authority to act shall be issued on request of the applicant, and it shall be sufficient in lieu of the written endorsement or other required evidence of approval.

The Zoning requirements applicable to the preliminary approval first granted and all other rights conferred upon the developer pursuant to preliminary approval, whether conditionally or otherwise, shall not be changed for a period of two years after the date of final approval, provided that, in the case of major subdivision, the rights conferred by this subsection shall expire if the plat has not been duly recorded within the time period provided for by law. If the developer has followed the standards prescribed for final approval and, in the case of a subdivision, has duly recorded the plat, the approving authority may extend such period of protection for extensions of one year but not to exceed three extensions. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the granting of final approval terminates the time period of preliminary approval for the section granted final approval.

In the case of a subdivision of 150 acres or more, the approving authority may grant the rights referred to in Subsection C(3)(a) of this section for such period of time, longer than two years, as shall be determined by the approving authority to be reasonable, taking into consideration the number of dwelling units and nonresidential floor area permissible under final approval, economic conditions and the comprehensiveness of the development. The developer may apply for thereafter and the reviewing Board may thereafter grant an extension of final approval for such additional period of time as shall be determined by the approving authority to be reasonable, taking into consideration the number of dwelling units and nonresidential floor area permissible under final approval, the number of dwelling units and nonresidential floor area remaining to be developed, economic conditions and the comprehensiveness of the development.