A. Establishment. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be continued pursuant to the requirements of Article II of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance of the City of Hoboken.

B. Membership. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the Mayor and Council, subject to the conditions set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 et seq. concerning length of members' terms, ineligibility of those holding elective or appointive municipal office, exclusion from voting of members having any personal interest, directly or indirectly, in the issue under consideration and other items concerning members' appointment, tenure and conduct.

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

A. Powers. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall have the powers accorded to it in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-69 et seq. of the New Jersey Statutes as set forth in Article II of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance of the City of Hoboken" as follows:

(1) Hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is any order, requirement, decision or refusal made by the Zoning Officer or other administrative agency based on or made in the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance.

(2) Hear and decide in accordance with the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance requests for interpretation of the Zoning Map or Ordinance or for decisions upon other special questions upon which such Board is authorized to pass by this ordinance.

(3) Where by reason of exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific piece of property or by reason of exceptional topographic conditions or physical features uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or by reason of other extraordinary or exceptional situations uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures lawfully existing thereon, the strict application of this section 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 appeal relating to such property, a variance from such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship. Where in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property the purposes of this act would be advanced by a deviance from the requirements of this section and the benefits of such deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, a variance may be granted to allow departure from the strict interpretation of the regulations of this section. The foregoing is subject to the provision that no variance to permit those departures enumerated in Subsection B of this section 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 the requirements of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance. [Amended 6-21-1989 by Ord. No. P-58]

(4) Grant a variance in particular cases and for special reasons to allow a structure or use in a district restricted against such structure or use, but only by affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the full authorized membership of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

B. Responsibilities and limitations.

(1) No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of this subsection, 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 land use plan and Zoning Ordinance.

(2) On such matters as have not previously been reviewed by the Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall, at least forty-five (45) days before the required public hearing of any appeal or application, transmit a copy of such appeal or application to the Planning Board, together with a copy of the notice of such hearing so that the Planning Board may review and submit a report of its opinion prior to the date of such hearing. Planning Board failure to submit such report shall be considered approval of the application or appeal.

(3) The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall prepare an annual report on variances in accordance with the requirements of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70.1, as specified in Article 9 of the Municipal Land Use Law. [Added 6-21-1989 by Ord. No. P-58]

A. Appeals from the Zoning Enforcement Officer. Appeals to the Zoning Board of Adjustment may be taken by any interested party affected by any decision of the Zoning Enforcement Officer of the city based on or made in the enforcement of this chapter or official map. Such appeal shall be taken within twenty (20) days by filing a notice of appeal with the Zoning Enforcement Officer specifying the grounds of such appeal. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall immediately transmit to the Zoning Board of Adjustment all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. [Amended 6-29-1994 by Ord. No. R-58]

B. Application for development.

(1) A developer may file an application for development with the Zoning Board of Adjustment for action under any of its powers without prior application to the Zoning Enforcement Officer.

(2) If an application for development is filed with the Zoning Board of Adjustment, whether or not an appeal from a decision of the Zoning Enforcement Officer is also taken, the applicant shall submit three (3) copies of his completed application to the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The time for the Board's review shall not begin to run until the submission of a complete application with the required fee. Unless the applicant is informed in writing by the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment within forty-five (45) days of the actual submission of the application that it is incomplete, said application shall be deemed complete as of the date it was submitted.

(3) A complete application for development under this Article shall consist of the following:

(a) A properly completed variance information application form.

(b) The required fee, as per § 196-63 of this chapter.

(c) If subdivision and/or site plan and/or conditional use approval is also sought as part of an application for a variance pursuant to this chapter, the applicant shall also include the information and documents required pursuant to the provisions of the Land Use Procedures Ordinance.

(4) The Secretary of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall distribute the application for review and report and, where required, approval as follows:

(a) The Zoning Board of Adjustment.

(b) The Planning Board.

(c) The City Engineer.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall render a decision not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the date that an appeal is taken from the decision of the Zoning Enforcement Officer or the submission of a complete application for development to the Zoning Board of Adjustment pursuant to the requirements of this Article. Failure of the Board to render a decision within such 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.

All other powers and duties of the Zoning Board of Adjustment not specifically designated in this Article shall be as set forth in the Land Use Procedures Ordinance.'