A.zoning board of adjustment is hereby established, consisting of seven residents of the township, appointed by the mayor, with the advice and consent of the township council, to serve for terms of four years from January 1 of the year of their appointment. The terms of the members first appointed shall be so 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 term of no member shall exceed four years. Thereafter the term of each member shall be four years. (Code 1988, § 175-30; Ord. No. 1-00, § 2, 3-21-2000)

No member of the zoning board of adjustment may hold any elective office or position in the township. (Code 1988. § 175-32)

A.vacancy occurring on the zoning board of adjustment other than by expiration of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term only. (Code 1988, § 175-33)

**Webmasters Note: The previous sections, 62-76(b) through 62-108, have been amended as per Supplement No. 2.

(a) Any member of the zoning board of adjustment may be removed by the township council for cause. A public hearing shall be held prior to such removal if the member requests it.

(b) Cause for removal may be found where a member is absent for three consecutive meetings or 50 percent of the board's regularly scheduled meetings. The chairperson shall report to the township council every six months as to such absenteeism. (Code 1988, § 175-34)

The zoning board of adjustment shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from its members and shall also select a secretary, who may be either a board member or a municipal employee. (Code 1988, § 175-35)

There shall be appointed, in a like manner to regular members of the zoning board of adjustment, four alternate members, to be designated by the chairman of the board as "alternate no. 1," "alternate no. 2," "alternate no. 3" and "alternate no. 4," and they shall serve in rotation during the absence or disqualification of any regular member. The terms of such alternate members shall be staggered two-year terms, commencing January 1 of the year of their appointment. (Code 1988, § 175-36; Ord. No. 19-05, § 1, 4-12-2005)

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. (Code 1988, § 175-37)

The zoning board of adjustment may 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 township council for its use. (Code 1988, § 175-38)

(a) Powers granted by law. The zoning board of adjustment shall have such powers as are granted by law to:

(1) 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 official or agency based on or made in the enforcement of the zoning provisions of this chapter.

(2) Hear and decide requests for interpretation of the zoning map or zoning provisions of this chapter or for decisions upon other special questions upon which the board is authorized by this chapter to pass.

(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 an extraordinary and exceptional situation uniquely affecting a specific piece of property or the structures lawfully existing thereon, the strict application of any regulation in this chapter or ordinance would result in peculiar and exceptional practical difficulties to or exceptional and undue hardship upon the developer of such property, to grant, upon an application or an appeal relating to such property, a variance from such strict application of such regulation so as to relieve such difficulties or hardship; or where, in an application or appeal relating to a specific piece of property, the purposes of this chapter would be advanced by a deviation from the zoning ordinance requirements and the benefits of the deviation would substantially outweigh any detriment, to grant a variance to allow departure from the regulations of this chapter; provided, however, that the fact that a proposed use is an inherently beneficial use shall not be dispositive of a decision on a variance under this subsection; provided, however, that no variance from those departures enumerated in subsection (a)(4) 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.

(4) In particular cases and for special reasons, to grant a variance to allow departure from regulations contained in this chapter to permit a use or principal structure in a district restricted against such use or principal structure, an expansion of a nonconforming use, deviation from a specification or standard pertaining solely to a conditional use, an increase in the permitted floor area ratio as defined in this chapter or an increase in the permitted density as defined in this chapter, except as applied to the required lot area for a lot for detached one- or two-dwelling-unit buildings, which lot is either an isolated undersized lot resulting from a minor subdivision or a height of a principal structure which exceeds by ten feet or ten percent the maximum height permitted in the district for a principal structure. A variance under this subsection shall be granted only by affirmative vote of at least five members of the board of adjustment.

(b) Decisions impairing intent of zoning plan. No variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of this section, including a variance or other relief involving an inherently beneficial use, without a showing that 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 zoning ordinance. In respect to any airport safety zones delineated under the Air Safety and Zoning Act of 1983, P.L. 1983, c. 260 (N.J.S.A. 6:1-80 et seq.), no variance or other relief may be granted under the terms of this section, permitting the creation or establishment of a nonconforming use which would be prohibited under standards promulgated pursuant to that act, except upon issuance of a permit by the state commissioner of transportation.

**Webmasters Note: The previous sections, 62-109 through 62-114(b), have been amended as per Supplement No. 2.

(c) Referral to other agencies. Any application under any subsection of this section may be referred to any appropriate person or agency, including the planning board, for its report, provided that such reference shall not extend the period of time within which the zoning board of adjustment shall act.

(d) Additional powers. The zoning board of adjustment shall, in addition to the powers specified in subsection (a) of this section, have the following powers:

(1) Issuance of permit for structure in street or other public way. A majority of the full authorized membership of the board may, in a specific case, direct the issuance of a permit 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 if it is satisfied that the parcel of land cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a building permit is granted and the building or structure will increase the cost of opening such street as little as practicable or will tend to cause a minimum change of the official map. In directing the issuance of the permit, the board shall impose reasonable requirements as a condition of granting the permit so as to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public.

(2) Issuance of permit for structure without access to street. The board may, upon application or appeal, direct the issuance of a permit for a building or structure not related to a street where it is satisfied that, if the permit is not granted, practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship would result and the circumstances of the case do not require the building or structure to be related to a street. The board may direct the issuance of such a permit subject to conditions that will provide adequate access for firefighting equipment, ambulances and other emergency vehicles necessary for the protection of health and safety and that will protect any future street layout shown on the official map or on a general circulation plan element of the municipal master plan.

(3) Authority to exercise powers of planning board. The board of adjustment shall have the power to grant, to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions as the planning board, subdivision or site plan approval or conditional use approval whenever the proposed development requires approval by the board of adjustment of a variance pursuant to subsection (a)(4) of this section. The developer may elect to submit a separate application requesting approval of the variance and a subsequent application for any required approval of subdivision, site plan or conditional use. The separate approval of the variance shall be conditioned upon the 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 zoning ordinance. The number of votes of board members required to grant such subsequent approval shall be as otherwise provided in this chapter for the approval in question, and the special vote pursuant to subsection (a)(4) of this section shall not be required.

(e) Power to reverse or modify decisions. In exercising its power to hear appeals, the board of adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from and make such other requirement, decision or determination that should be made and, to that end, has all the powers of the administrative officer from whom the appeal was taken. (Code 1988, § 175-39)