[Adopted as § 2-19 (Ord. No. 269) of the 1970 Revised General Ordinances]

[Amended by Ord. No. 298; 6-2.1-1998 by Ord. No. 547]

A. A Zoning Board of Adjustment is hereby created, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40 55D-69 et seq , which shall consist of seven members, who shall each serve for a period of four years from January 1 of the year of the appointment They shall be appointed by the Mayor, with the consent of the Council The terms of members first appointed shall be so determined that to the greatest practicable extent the expiration of such terms shall be distributed evenly over the first four years after their appointment, provided that the initial tern of no member shall exceed four years This article shall not affect the term of any present member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, each of whom shall continue in office until the completion of the term for which he was appointed

B. There shall also be two alternate members appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the Council who shall be designated at the time of appointment as "Alternate No 1" and "Alternate No 2 " Of the alternates first appointed one shall be appointed for a two-year term and one shall be appointed for a one-year term Thereafter, the term of each such alternate member shall be two years

C. No member or alternate member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment may hold an elective office or position under the Borough

D. A vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled for the unexpired term only

E. Alternate members may participate in discussions of the proceedings but may not vote except in the absence or disqualification of a regular member A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member In the event that a choice must be made as to which alternate member is to vote, Alternate No 1 shall vote.

F. All regular and alternate members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be citizens of the Borough of Alpine

The Board of Adjustment shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from its members and select a Secretary, who may or may not be a member of the Board of Adjustment or a municipal employee

There is hereby created the office of Attorney to the Zoning Board of Adjustment The Zoning Board of Adjustment may annually appoint, fix the compensation of, or agree upon the rate of compensation of the Zoning Board of Adjustment Attorney, who shall be an attorney other than the Municipal Attorney

The Zoning Board of Adjustment may also employ or contract for and fix the compensation of such experts and other staff and services as it may deem necessary The Board shall not authorize expenditures which exceed, exclusive of gifts or grants, the amount appropriated by the Borough Council for its use

The Board shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions and purposes of this article In the issuance of subpoenas, administration of oaths and taking of testimony, the provision of the County and Municipal Investigations Law of 1953, N.J.S.A 2A 67A-1 et seq, shall apply

The following shall apply

A. The powers of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40 55D-69 et seq , and amendments and supplements thereto, and with the provisions of this article

B. It is further the intent of this article to confer upon the Zoning Board of Adjustment as full and complete powers as may lawfully be conferred upon such Board, including, not by way of limitation, the authority in connection with any case, action or proceeding before the Board, to interpret and construe the provisions of this article, or any term, clause, sentence or word hereof, and the Zoning Map, in accordance with the general rules of construction applicable to legislative enactments

C. The Board may, in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards, grant variances from the terms of this article in accordance with the general or specific rules contained herein, and with the general rules hereby laid down that equity shall be done in cases where the strict construction of the provisions of this article would work undue hardship The powers and duties of the Board having been delegated to and imposed upon it by statute, the Board shall in all cases follow the provisions applicable to it in N.J.S.A 40 55D-1 et seq , or subsequent statutes in such case made and provided, and it shall from time to time furnish to any person requesting the same a copy of its rules and information as to how appeals or applications may properly be filed with the Board for its decision

The following shall apply

A. Appeals to the Board of Adjustment may be taken by any interested party affected by any decision of the administrative officer of the borough based upon or made in the enforcement of Chapter 220, Zoning, or the Official Map Such appeal shall be taken within 20 days by filing a notice of appeal with the officer from whom the appeal was taken, specifying the grounds of the appeal and filing six copies of a notice of appeal with the Secretary of the Board of Adjustment The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall immediately transmit to the Board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken

**Webmasters Note: The previous subsection has been amended as per Ordinance No. 629.

B. Applications addressed to the original jurisdiction of the Board of Adjustment without prior application to an administrative officer shall be filed with the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment Six copies of the application shall be filed At the time of filing the appeal or application, but in no event less than 10 days prior to the date set for hearing, the applicant shall also file all plot plans, maps or other papers required by virtue of any provision of this article or any rule of the Board of Adjustment The applicant shall obtain all necessary forms from the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment The Secretary of the Board shall inform the applicant of the steps to be taken to initiate proceedings and of the regular meeting dates of the Board

C. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action in respect of which the decision appealed from was made, unless the officer from whose action the appeal is taken certifies to the Board of Adjustment, after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him, by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by an order of the Superior Court of New Jersey upon notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken and on due cause shown

The Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the action, order, requirement, decision, interpretation or determination appealed from, and to that end shall have all the powers of the administrative officer from whom the appeal is taken

Any variance granted by the Board of Adjustment permitting the erection or alteration of any structure or structures, or permitting a specified use of any premises, shall expire by limitation unless such construction or alteration shall have been actually commenced on each and every structure permitted by said variance or unless such permitted use has actually been commenced within one year from the date of the written resolution of the Board of Adjustment approving the variance or from the date of publication of the approval of the variance whichever is later. The running of the period of limitation herein provided, however, shall be tolled from the date of filing an appeal from the decision of the Board of Adjustment to the Borough Council or to a court of competent jurisdiction until the termination in any manner of such appeal or proceeding. This time limitation shall also apply to variances granted by the Planning Board of the Borough of Alpine. The one year time period shall commence from the date of the written resolution of the Planning Board approving the variance or from the date of publication of the approval of the variance whichever is later.

**Webmasters Note: The previous section has been amended as per Ordinance No. 631.

[Amended by Ord. No. 304]

The Board of Adjustment shall have the power to

A. Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by an administrative officer based on or made in the enforcement of Chapter 220, Zoning

B. Hear and decide, in accordance with the provisions of any such ordinance, requests for interpretation of Zoning Map or chapter or for decisions upon other special questions upon which the Board is authorized to pass by any such ordinance

C. Where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness, shape of a specific piece of property, exceptional topographic conditions or any other extraordinary and exceptional situation or condition of such piece of property, the strict application of any regulation pursuant to Chapter 220, Zoning, 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 relating to such property a variance from strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such 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 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 § 35-20F

D. In particular cases and for special reasons, grant a variance to allow departure from regulations, pursuant to Chapter 220, Zoning, 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 full authorized membership No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of thus article unless such variance or other relief can be granted without substantial detriment to the public good and will not substantially impair the intent and the purpose of the zone plan and Chapter 220, Zoning An application made under this subsection may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, including the Planning Board, pursuant to § 35-20E, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall act

[Amended by Ord. No. 304]

The Zoning Board of Adjustment in addition shall have the power to.

A. Direct issuance of a permit, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40 55D-34, for a building or structure in the bed of a mapped street or public drainageway, flood control basin or public area reserved on the Official Map

B. Direct issuance of a permit, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40 55D-36, for a building or structure not related to a street

C. Grant to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the Planning Board subdivision or site plan approval, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40 55D-10, or conditional use approval, pursuant to N.J.S.A 40 55D-67, whenever the proposed development requires approval by the Board of Adjustment of a variance, pursuant to § 35-l0D 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 grant of all required subsequent approvals by the Board of Adjustment 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 Chapter 220, Zoning The number of votes of Board members required to grant any such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in N.J.S.A 40 5513-1 et seq , for the approval in question, and the special vote, pursuant to the aforesaid § 35-l0D, shall not be required

[Amended by Ord. No. 304]

The Board of Adjustment shall render a decision no later than 120 days after the date

A. An appeal is taken from the decision of an administrative officer, or

B. The submission of a complete application for development to the Board, pursuant to the provisions of N J A 40 5513-70(b), or a

C. A complete application for development for relief, pursuant to § 35-11 C, is submitted to the Board, and in the event the developer elects to submit separate consecutive applications, the one-hundred-twenty-day time period shall apply to the application for approval of the variance and the period for granting or denying any subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in N.J.S.A 40 5513-1 et seq Failure of the Board to render a decision within the one-hundred-twenty-day period, or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant, shall constitute a decision favorable to the applicant