Error or refusal. Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the applicant that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by a principal official based on or made in the enforcement of the zoning provisions of this chapter.

Exceptions or interpretations. Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or the zoning provisions of this chapter or for decisions upon other special questions upon which the Board is authorized to pass by any zoning provisions of this chapter or by any duly adopted Official Map.

Variance of area or yard requirements. When, by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property, or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions, or by reason of other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of such a piece of property, the strict applications of any zoning regulation of this chapter would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties or in exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property, grant, upon an application or an appeal relating to such property, a variance from such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve any difficulties or hardship, including a variance for a conditional use, provided that no variance shall be granted under this subsection to allow a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use, and provided further that the proposed development does not require approval by the Planning Board of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use in conjunction with which the Planning Board shall review a request for a variance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60a and the provisions of this chapter.

Variance of use regulations. In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from the zoning provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to allowing a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use, but only by affirmative vote of at least five members of the Municipal Land Use Board.

Direct issuance of a construction permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-34 for the construction of a building or structure within the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area as shown on a duly adopted Official Map of the municipality whenever one or more parcels of land within said bed cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a construction permit is granted. The Board may grant such relief only by affirmative vote of a majority of the full authorized membership of the Municipal Land Use Board, ensuring that such relief will tend to cause a minimum change of the Official Map and will not significantly add to the cost of opening any proposed street. The Board shall impose reasonable requirements as a condition of granting the construction permit so as to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public.

Direct issuance of a construction permit pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-36 for the construction of a building or structure on a lot not abutting a street which is shown on a duly adopted Official Map of the municipality or which is an existing state, county or municipal street or highway or a street shown upon a plat approved by the Township Planning Board or a street on a plat duly filed in the office of the county recording officer. The Board may grant such relief only when the enforcement of the statute requirement that a building lot abut a street would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship or where the circumstances of the case do not require the building or structure to abut a street. The Board shall impose requirements or conditions that will provide adequate access for fire-fighting equipment, ambulances and other necessary emergency vehicles for the protection of the health and safety and that will protect any future street layout on the Official Map or on the general circulation plan element of the municipal Master Plan.

The Municipal Land Use Board shall have the power to grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Planning Board, subdivision, site plan or conditional use approval whenever the proposed development requires approval by the Municipal Land Use Board of a variance pursuant to Subsection A(4) of this section. The developer may elect to submit a separate application requesting approval of the variance and a subsequent application for any required approval of a subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon a grant of all required subsequent approvals by the Municipal Land Use Board. No such subsequent approval shall be granted unless such approval can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and without substantial impairment of the intent and purpose of the zone plan and the zoning provisions of this chapter. The number of votes of Board members required to grant such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant to Subsection A(4) of this section shall not be required.

Variances pursuant to § 230-73A(3) of this chapter.

Direction pursuant to § 230-73C(1) of this chapter for issuance of a permit for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area.

Direction pursuant to § 230-73C(2) of this chapter for issuance of a permit for a building or structure on a lot not abutting a street.

Meetings of the Municipal Land Use Board shall be scheduled no less than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of applications for development to process.

Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Chairman or on the request of any two Board members, which meetings shall be held on notice to its members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.

No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present, said quorum to be the majority of the full authorized membership of the Board.

All actions shall be taken by majority vote of the members of the Board at the meeting except as otherwise required by a provision of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. A member of the Board who was absent for one or more of the meetings at which a hearing was held shall be eligible to vote on a 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 of the hearing from which he was absent and certifies in writing to the Board that he has read such transcript or listened to such recording.

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, Laws of New Jersey 1975, c. 231 (N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 through 10:4-10).

The Municipal Land Use Board shall hold a hearing on each application for development. Each Board shall make rules governing such hearings.

Any maps and documents for which approval is sought at a hearing shall be on file and available for public inspection at least 10 days before the date of the hearing during normal business hours in the office of the Administrative Officer. The applicant may produce any documents, records or testimony at the hearing to substantiate or clarify or supplement the previously filed maps and documents.

The officer presiding at the hearings or such person as he may designate shall have the 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.

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 reasonable limitations as to time and number of witnesses.

Public notice of a hearing shall be given for the following applications for development:

The Secretary of the Municipal Land Use Board shall notify the applicant at least two weeks prior to the public hearing at which the application will be discussed. Notice of a hearing requiring public notice shall be given by the applicant at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing, in the following manner:

Upon the written request of an applicant, the Administrative Officer shall, within seven days, make and certify a list from current tax duplicates of names and addresses of owners within the Township to whom the applicant is required to give notice. The applicant shall be charged a flat fee of $10 for said list and shall be entitled to rely upon the information contained in such list, and failure to give notice to any lot owner not on the list shall not invalidate any hearing or proceeding. Additionally, the applicant shall be responsible for giving proper notice to all property owners pursuant to Subsection D(2)(b) above who do not reside within the Township.

The applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of service with the Municipal Land Use Board.

The notice shall state the date, time and place of the hearing and the nature of the matters to be discussed and an 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 Township Tax Assessor's office and the location and times at which any maps or documents for which approval is sought are available for inspection.

Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and shall include the names and addresses of the persons appearing and addressing the Municipal Land Use Board and of any persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by the Municipal Land Use Board, the findings, if any, made by it and the reasons therefor. The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection during the normal business hours at the office of the Administrative Officer. Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceedings concerning the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party shall be charged a reasonable fee for the reproduction of the minutes, as indicated in § 230-87 of this chapter.

A verbatim recording shall be made of every hearing. The recording of the proceedings shall be made either by stenographic, mechanical or electrical means. The municipality shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested party at his expense, provided that the charge for a transcript shall not exceed the maximum amount permitted in N.J.S.A. 2A:11-15 and as indicated in § 230-87 of this chapter. Each transcript shall be certified in writing by the transcriber to be accurate.

Each decision on any application for development shall be reduced to writing by the Board and shall include findings of facts and conclusions based thereon.

The Board may provide such written decision and findings and conclusions either on the date of the meeting at which the Board grants or denies 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 Board.

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. An action resulting from the failure of a motion to approve the 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 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 the majority of the Board members who voted for the action previously taken, and no other member shall vote thereon. The vote of such a resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of an action taken by the Board and not to be an action of the 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 memorialization is adopted, the date of such adoption shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailings and publications specified in § 230-79 of this chapter.