Waldwick City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IV
Provisions Applicable to Both Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment
§ 97-28 Conflicts of interest.
No member of the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act on any matter in which he/she has either directly or indirectly any personal or financial interest. Whenever any such member shall disqualify himself from acting on a particular matter, he/she shall not continue to sit with the Board on the hearing of such matter nor participate in any discussion or decision relating thereto.
§ 97-29 Meetings.
A.
The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment each shall schedule meetings no less often than once a month, and any meeting so scheduled shall be held as scheduled unless canceled for lack of applications for development to process.
B.
Special meetings may be provided for at the call of the Chairman or on the request of any two (2) Board members, which meetings shall be held on notice to the Board's members and the public in accordance with all applicable legal requirements.
C.
No action shall be taken at any meeting without a quorum being present.
D.
All actions shall be taken by majority vote of a quorum, except as otherwise required by any provision of c. 291, P.L. 1975.
E.
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 c. 231, P.L. 1975.
§ 97-30 Minutes.
Minutes of every regular or special meeting shall be kept and shall include the names of the persons appearing and addressing the Board and of the persons appearing by attorney; the action taken by the Board; and the findings, if any, made by it and reasons therefor. The minutes shall thereafter be made available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Borough Clerk. Any interested party shall have the right to compel production of the minutes for use as evidence in any legal proceeding concerning the subject matter of such minutes. Such interested party may be charged a fee for reproduction of the minutes for his/her use as provided for in the rules of the Board or, if no rules govern, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2.
§ 97-31 Fees.
See §48:56A-27 of the Code of the Borough of Waldwick.
§ 97-32 Hearings.
A.
Rules. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment shall make rules governing the conduct of hearings before such bodies, which rules shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. or of this ordinance.
B.
Oaths. The officer presiding at the hearing or such person as he/she may designated shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence, including witnesses and documents presented by the parties, and the provisions of the County and Municipal Investigations Law, c. 38, P.L. 1953 (N.J.S.A. 2A:67A-1 et seq.), shall apply.
C.
Testimony. 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 to reasonable limitations as to time and number of witnesses.
D.
Evidence. Technical rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing, but the Board may exclude irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence.
E.
Records. Each Board shall provide for the verbatim recording of the proceedings by either stenographic or mechanical or electronic means. The Board shall furnish a transcript or duplicate recording in lieu thereof on request to any interested party at his/her expense.
F.
On appeals to the governing body pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-17, the appealing party shall bear the cost of providing transcripts of the record before the Board of Adjustment to the governing body.
§ 97-33 Notice requirements for hearings.
[Amended 8-22-00 by Ord. No. 14-00]
Whenever notice is required under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12 of the Municipal Land Use Law of the State of New Jersey, such notice shall be provided by the applicant. The notice shall comply with the requirements of the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law. In addition, an applicant shall provide notice for the following:
A.
Conventional site plan review pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-46;
B.
Minor subdivision approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-47, unless waived by the Board per § 97-11G;
C.
Final approval pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:D-50;
D.
Details from determination of administrative officer pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(a);
E.
An application involving the exercise of the ancillary powers of the Planning Board pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-60 or the Zoning Board of Adjustment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-76.
§ 97-34 List of property owners furnished.
[Amended 8-22-00 by Ord. No. 14-00]
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12c, the Assessor of the Borough of Waldwick designated as the administrative officer under this Ordinance, shall, within seven (7) days after receipt of a written request therefor, and upon receipt of payment of a fee of ten dollars ($10), make and certify a list from the current tax duplicate of names and addresses of owners to whom the applicant is required to give notice pursuant to Article IV, § 97-33 of this Ordinance. In addition, the Assessor shall include on the list the names, addresses and positions of those utilities or cable television companies who, not less than seven (7) days prior to the date on which the applicant requested a list, have registered to receive notice pursuant to subsection h pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12h. The applicant shall be entitled to rely upon the information contained in such list, and failure to give notice to any owner or to any public utility, television company, cable or local utility not on the list shall not invalidate any hearing or proceeding. The Assessor shall not be required to furnish names and addresses of those to whom the applicant must give notice pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12 d, e, f or g.
§ 97-35 Decisions.
A.
The municipal agency shall include findings of fact and conclusions based thereon in each decision on any application for development and shall reduce the decision to writing. The municipal agency shall provide the findings and conclusions through:
1.
A resolution adopted at a meeting held within the time period provided in the act for action by a municipal agency on the application for development; or
2.
A memorializing resolution adopted at a meeting held not later than forty-five (45) days after the date of the meeting at which the municipal agency voted to grant or deny approval. Only the members of the municipal agency who voted for the action taken may vote on the memorializing resolution, and the vote of a majority of such 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 vote of that member. 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. The vote of any such resolution shall be deemed to be a memorialization of the action of the municipal agency and not to be an action of the municipal agency; however, the date of the adoption of the resolution shall constitute the date of the decision for purposes of the mailing, filing and publications required by N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10. If the municipal agency 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 municipal agency to reduce its findings and conclusions to writing within a stated time, and the cost of the application, including attorney's fees, shall be assessed against the municipality.
[Amended 8-22-00 by Ord. No. 14-00]
§ 97-36 Publication of decisions.
A brief notice of every final decision shall be published in the official newspaper of the Borough of Waldwick. Such publication shall be arranged by the Secretary to the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment, as the case may be. Said notice shall be sent to the official newspaper for publication within ten (10) days of the date of any such decision.
§ 97-37 Payment of taxes.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39 and 40:55D-65, every application for development submitted to the Planning Board or to the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be accompanied by proof that no taxes or assessments for local improvements are due or delinquent on the property which is the subject of such application; or, if it is shown that taxes or assessments are delinquent on said property, any approvals or other relief granted by either Board shall be conditioned upon either the prompt payment of such taxes or assessments or the making or adequate provision for the payment thereof in such manner that the municipality will be adequately protected.