Southampton Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
12-10.1 Application
requirements.
[Amended Ord. No. 2002-4; 8-19-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-20; 2-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-01; 2-20-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
a.
Subdivision review. All subdivisions as defined in § 12-2, are subject to the review procedures specified herein.
b.
Site plan review. No construction permit shall be issued for any new structure or for an addition to an existing structure and no Certificate of Occupancy shall be issued for any change of use or change of ownership of an existing structure until the site plan has been reviewed and approved by the Township except that:
1.
A construction permit for a single-family detached dwelling unit or a two-family dwelling unit and/or their accessory building(s) on a lot shall not require site plan approval, except that the use of any existing or proposed principal or accessory building for a home occupation as defined and permitted by this chapter shall require minor site plan approval prior to the issuance of a construction permit or Certificate of Occupancy.
2.
Building alterations shall not require site plan approval if the following conditions apply;
(a)
There is no change in use;
(b)
No additional parking is required;
(c)
No more than 2,500 square feet of additional building area is proposed;
(d)
No variance is required;
(e)
There is no major change in circulation proposed such as drive-through windows, ingress or egress drives, changes in internal circulation, loading or unloading, delivery or pickup of goods and services or trash collection; and
(f)
There are no major changes in a significant site facility or improvement such as a drainage facility, buffer or landscaping features and the like.
3.
Any construction permit for the customary buildings incidental to farms shall not require site plan approval.
c.
Application procedures.
1.
All applications shall be filed on the application form approved by the Administrative Officer.
2.
Fifteen copies of the application form together with 15 copies of the applicable checklist and of all supporting plans and documents, together with and the fee and escrow deposit required in accordance with § 12-7 shall be submitted to the Administrative Officer. The Administrative Officer shall have 45 calendar days to deem the application complete or incomplete based upon the review of the application and accompanying checklist. Once deemed complete, the application will be scheduled at a regular monthly meeting of the Land Development Board, as the case may be, at which the application is to be considered pursuant to the time constraints of the Municipal Land Use Law.
(a)
If deemed incomplete because it lacks information indicated on the adopted checklist, the Administrative Officer shall notify the applicant in writing within the forty-five-day period of such deficiencies.
(b)
The applicant may request one or more of the submission requirements be waived in which the appropriate Board shall grant or deny the request within 45 days.
3.
The application shall contain an acknowledgement signed by the applicant stating that the applicant is familiar with the procedure set forth herein for submitting and acting upon applications, and agrees to be bound by it. The Administrative Officer shall process the application and shall issue an application number. Once an application has been assigned a number that number shall appear on all papers, maps, plans and other documents in conjunction with the application.
4.
In addition to the copies filed with the Administrative Officer, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to file complete copies of the application form, checklist, and all supporting documents with each of the following:
5.
Any application not filed with the Administrative Officer and with the designated professional consultants in a timely manner as herein required shall be deemed to be incomplete.
6.
Any amendments, supplements, revisions or additional data filed in conjunction with the application shall be filed with the Administrative Officer and with the professional consultants in the same manner as the original application and supporting documents.
7.
All applications shall be accompanied by a certificate from the Township Tax Collector that all taxes and assessments are paid to date;
8.
The Board shall act upon the application as required by law.
d.
Informal review.
1.
At the request of a developer, the Land Development Board shall grant an informal review of a concept plan for a development for which the developer intends to prepare and submit an application for development.
2.
The application for an informal review shall be submitted in accordance with the application procedures set forth in this section.
3.
No escrow deposit shall be required for an informal review.
4.
No professional review(s) will be undertaken unless the developer agrees to pay for the review(s) and deposits with the Administrative Officer an escrow deposit sufficient to cover the professional review.
5.
Neither the Land Development Board nor the developer shall be bound by any concept plan submitted for informal review or for any comments or suggestions made during the informal review.
6.
The Land Development Board shall have the power to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Land Development Board to grant an informal review whenever it has the power to consider an application for subdivision or site plan approval.
e.
Action by the township on all applications.
1.
The Administrative Officer shall review all filed applications to Southampton Township's Land Development Board to determine the following:
(a)
Which Board has jurisdiction to hear the application;
(b)
Whether the application is "complete" (an application shall be deemed "complete" when each submission requirement set forth in the chapter has been received, or a waiver requested);
(c)
Which of the Board's professionals would further review the application; and
(d)
The agenda date for public hearing on the application.
2.
(Reserved)
3.
(Reserved)
4.
Review by professional advisors.
(a)
Professional advisors of the Land Development Board, appointed by their respective Board, shall review the application and submit their report to the Land Development Board for consideration. To avoid duplication of services, the professional advisors shall be assigned individual areas of applications as follows:
(1)
General compliance with code standards, need for variance: engineer.
(2)
Location of buildings and their relationship to the site and immediate surroundings: engineer.
(3)
Location of drives, parking, pedestrian circulation and means of ingress and egress: engineer.
(4)
Drainage facilities and stormwater management: engineer.
(5)
Utilities, including, but not limited to, sanitary sewer or septic, electric, gas, water and telecommunications: engineer.
(6)
Preliminary floor plans and elevation views of building illustrating the architectural design of the project: engineer.
(7)
Landscaping and signs: planner or licensed landscape architect.
(8)
Lighting: engineer.
(9)
General layout of a conceptual site plan for a multiple-building project, showing the elements, including their relationship to each other: planner, or if no planner exists, engineer.
(10)
Questions regarding areas not specifically identified shall be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Township Administrator, or, in her absence, by the administrative official of the land use boards.
(b)
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53, following an approval of an application before a land use board, the Township Engineer shall be exclusively charged with the responsibility for preparing engineering estimates for appropriate performance and maintenance bonds, establishing inspection escrow amounts in conformance with the statute and local ordinances, performing all on-site inspections, and reviewing all recommendations for reduction or release of performance guarantees.
5.
The applicant shall give public notice of any hearing to be held on any application for development.
6.
Where the application has been found to be incomplete, the applicant may submit the additional items required to complete the application, provided that they are filed in the same manner as the original application at least 15 business days prior to the next regular meeting of the Board, at which time the application shall again be considered for completeness.
7.
In the event that the Administrative Officer fails to act to declare the application complete or incomplete within 45 days of the date of submission of the application, the application shall be deemed complete as of the 46th day following its submission. On the date the application is certified complete, or on the 46th day following the submission of the application, in the event the subcommittee fails to make a determination of completeness, as the case may be, the applicable time period within which the Board must act upon the application shall commence.
8.
The Land Development Board may subsequently require correction of any information found to be in error, may require submission of additional information not specified in this chapter, and/or may require any revisions in the application documents that are reasonably necessary to make an informed decision as to whether the requirements for approval of the application have been met, provided that the application shall not be deemed incomplete for lack of the additional information or revisions.
9.
Promptly after certification of completeness, the application documents shall be distributed by the Administrative Officer to each of the following:
(a)
The members of the Land Development Board, as the case may be;
(b)
Township Administrator;
(c)
Construction Official;
(d)
Boards' Planner and Engineer;
(e)
At the direction of the Land Development Board, as the case may be, additional copies shall be sent to other Township, County or State agencies and officials.
10.
Time for action.
(a)
The Board shall take action on minor subdivision and minor site plan applications within 45 days after the subcommittee has certified the application complete.
(b)
The Board shall take action on a preliminary major site plan application involving 10 acres of land or less and 10 dwelling units or less and/or a preliminary major subdivision application involving 10 lots or less within 45 days after the application has been certified complete; provided that any preliminary major site plan or preliminary major subdivision application which includes any requested variance relief pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70 and shall be acted upon within 120 days.
(c)
The Board shall take action on a preliminary major site plan application involving more than 10 acres of land or more than 10 dwellings and/or a preliminary major subdivision application involving more than 10 lots within 95 days after the application has been certified complete; provided that any preliminary major site plan or preliminary major subdivision application which includes any requested variance relief pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70 and shall be acted upon within 120 days.
(d)
The Board shall take action on a final major site plan and/or a final major subdivision application within 45 days after the application has been certified complete.
(e)
The Land Development Board shall take action on a preliminary major site plan application and/or preliminary major subdivision applications in cases where the applicant has requested a "use" variance. All aspects of the application shall be acted upon within 120 days after the Land Development Board has certified complete by the sub-committee.
(f)
The Land Development Board shall take action on variance applications within 120 days after the Land Development Board has certified the application complete.
(g)
All of the times for action set forth herein may be extended to such further time as may be consented to by the applicant.
(h)
Failure of the Board to act within the prescribed time period shall constitute approval of the application.
f.
Additional rules of procedure and waivers. The Land Development Board is hereby authorized, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-8, to adopt, by resolution, any additional rules of procedure, not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, as the Board may deem appropriate. The Administrative Officer shall provide an applicant with a copy of the resolution adopting any additional rules of procedure at the time that an application form is requested.