Southampton Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
12-9.6 Provisions
applicable the Land Development Board.
[Amended 2-20-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
a.
Conflicts of interest. No regular or alternate member of the Land Development Board shall act on any matter in which that member has either directly or indirectly any personal or financial interest. Whenever any member shall disqualify himself or herself from acting on a particular matter, that member shall not continue to sit with the Board on the hearing of that matter nor participate in any discussion or decision relating to that matter.
b.
Meetings.
1.
Meetings of the Land Development Board shall be scheduled no less than once a month and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless cancelled for lack of applications for development process.
2.
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.
3.
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present, the quorum to be the majority of the full-authorized membership of the Board.
4.
All actions shall be taken by majority vote of the members of the Board present 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 or her absence from one or more of the meetings; provided, however, that the Board member has available the transcript or recording of all of the hearing from which the member was absent, and certifies in writing to the Board that he or she has read the transcript or listened to the recording.
5.
All regular meetings and all special meetings shall be open to the public, except as provided in the Open Public Meeting Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6. Notice of all meetings shall be given in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meeting Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6.
c.
Public hearings.
1.
The Land Development Board shall hold a hearing on each application for development. Each Board shall make rules governing the conduct of those hearings.
2.
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.
3.
The officer presiding at the hearings, or a person designated by the presiding officer, 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 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.) shall apply.
4.
The testimony of all witnesses relating to an application for development shall be taken under oath or affirmation by the presiding officer, or another person designated 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.
d.
Public notice of a hearing.
1.
Public notice of a hearing shall be given for the following applications for development:
(a)
Any request for a variance;
(b)
Any appeal from the administrative officer;
(c)
Any request for an interpretation;
(d)
Any request for conditional use approval;
(e)
Any request for issuance of a permit to build within the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway or on a lot not abutting a street;
(f)
Any request for site plan and/or subdivision approval;
(g)
Any request for approval of a planned development;
(h)
Any matter where the Board determines that it is in the public interest that notice be given of the time and date of the hearing.
2.
The Secretary of the Land Development 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:
(a)
By publication in an official newspaper of the Township, if there is one, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township in the absence of an official newspaper.
(b)
By notification by personal service or certified mail to those listed below. The applicant shall file an affidavit of proof of the giving of the required notice with the municipal agency at, or prior to, the hearing.
It is not required that a return receipt is obtained; notice is deemed complete upon mailing (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-14).
(1)
To all owners of 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 the hearing; provided that this requirement shall be deemed satisfied by notice to the (1) condominium association, in the case of any unit owner whose unit has a unit above or below it, or (2) horizontal property regime, in the case of any co-owner whose apartment has an apartment above or below it.
(i)
Notice to a partnership owner may be made by service upon any partner;
(ii)
Notice to a corporate owner may be made by service upon its president, a vice-president, secretary or other person authorized by appointment or by law to accept service on behalf of the corporation;
(iii)
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 the common elements or areas.
(2)
To the Clerk of any adjoining municipality or municipalities when the property involved is located within 200 feet of the adjoining municipality or municipalities.
(3)
To the Burlington County Land Development Board when the application for development involves property adjacent to an existing County road or proposed road as shown on the County Official Map or County Master Plan, adjoining other County land situated within 200 feet of a municipality boundary.
(4)
To the Commissioner of Transportation of the State of New Jersey when the property abuts a State highway and to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority when the property abuts the New Jersey Turnpike.
(5)
To the Director of the Division of State and Regional Planning in the Department of Community Affairs when the hearing involves an application for the development of property which exceeds 150 acres or 500 dwelling units, in which case the notice shall include a copy of any maps or documents required to be filed with the Township.
3.
Upon 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.
4.
The notice shall state the date, time and place of the hearing and the nature of the matters to be discussed, identification of variances and waivers sought, and identification of the property proposed for development by street address, if any, and 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.
e.
Records.
1.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and shall include the names and addresses of the persons appearing and addressing the Land Development Board, and of any persons appearing by attorney, the action taken by the Land Development Board, the findings, if any, made by it and the reasons therefor. The Board shall thereafter make the minutes available, after approval, for public inspection during 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 the minutes. The interested party shall be charged a reasonable fee for the reproduction of the minutes, as provided in § 12-7.
2.
A verbatim recording shall be made of every hearing. The recording of the proceedings shall be made either by stenographer, mechanical or electrical means. The municipality shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested party at the expense of that party, provided that the charge for a transcript shall not exceed the actual cost of preparing the transcript or tape. Each transcript shall be certified in writing by the transcriber to be accurate.
f.
Decisions.
1.
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.
2.
The Board shall provide the findings and conclusions through:
(a)
A resolution adopted at a meeting held within the time period provided in this chapter for action by the Board on the application for development; or
(b)
A memorializing resolution adopted at a meeting held no later than 45 days after the date of the meeting at which the Board voted to grant or deny approval. Only members of the Board who voted for the action taken may vote on the memorializing resolution, and the vote of a majority of those members present at the meeting at which the resolution is presented for adoption shall be sufficient to adopt the resolution. If only one member who voted for the action attends the meeting at which the resolution is presented for adoption, the resolution may be adopted upon the vote of that member. An action pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-9 (resulting from the failure of a motion to approve an application) shall be memorialized by resolution as provided above, with those members voting against the motion for approval being the members eligible to vote on the memorializing resolution.
3.
The vote on any memorializing resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of the action of the Board and not to be an action of the Board; however, the date of the adoption of the resolution shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailings, filings and publications required in Subsection 12-9.6.
4.
If the Board fails to adopt a resolution or memorializing resolution as hereinabove specified, any interested party may apply to the Superior Court in a summary manner for an order compelling the Board to reduce its findings and conclusions to writing within a stated time and the cost of the application, including attorneys fees, shall be assessed against the municipality.