Milltown City Zoning Code
§ 34-10.7
Powers of the Planning Board Acting as the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
[Ord. No. 919 Art. VIII, G; amended 11-9-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-1494]
As permitted by the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-25(c)), the Borough of Milltown, having a population of less than 15,000 persons or less, herein provides that the nine member Planning Board created in Section 34-9 shall be authorized to exercise, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions, all powers of a Zoning Board of Adjustment as specified below. Since the powers and jurisdiction of the Zoning Board of Adjustment have been deleted to it by the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.), the Planning Board shall in all cases follow the provisions appliable to it in said statute. Specifically, the Planning Board shall have such powers as are granted by law to:
a.
Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is an error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by an administrative official or agency based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance.
b.
Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or Zoning Ordinance or for decisions upon other special questions upon which such Board is authorized to pass by the Zoning Ordinance.
c.
1.
Where: (a) by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property, or (b) by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a specific piece of property, or (c) by reason of an extraordinary and exceptional situation uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures lawfully existing thereon, the strict application of any regulation pursuant to the zone requirements of Section 34-20 through 34-24 would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to, or exceptional and undue hardship upon, the developer of such property, grant, upon an application or an appeal so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship;
2.
Where in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property the purposes of this chapter would be advanced by a deviation from the zoning ordinance requirements and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, grant a variance to allow departure from regulations pursuant to Section 34-20 through 34-24; provided, however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in paragraph d. below shall be granted under this subsection; 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 has power to review a request for a variance pursuant to subsection 34-9.8g.
d.
In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from regulations to permit: 1. use or principal structures in a district restricted against such use or principal structure; 2. an expansion of a nonconforming use; 3. deviation from a specification or standard pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-67 pertaining solely to a conditional use; 4. an increase in the permitted floor area ratio as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4; 5. an increase in the permitted density as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, except as applied to the required lot area for a lot or lots for detached one or two dwelling unit buildings, which lot or lots are either an isolated undersized lot or lots resulting from a minor subdivision, or 6. a height of a principal structure which exceeds by 10 feet or 10% the maximum height permitted in the district for a principal structure. A variance under this subsection shall be granted only by affirmative vote of at least five members. No variance or other relief may be granted under the provisions of this section unless such variance or other relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan and Zoning Ordinance. Any application under this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Planning Board acting as the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act. Class I and the Class III Members shall not participate in the consideration of applications for development which involve relief pursuant to subsection d. of Section 57 of P.L. 1975, c. 291, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70; and no alternate member shall vote in place of a Class I or Class III member not participating in an application under this section.