The members, chairs, and professional staff of both of Lakewood Township's land use boards will remain the same in 2023.
Lakewood Township's Zoning Board held their annual reorganization meeting on Monday night.
Board members unanimously reappointed Abe Halberstam and Meir Gelley as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.
Board members unanimously also reappointed Fran Siegel, who also serves as the Township Zoning Officer, as the Board Secretary.
Jerry Dasti Esq of Forked River-based Dasti Murphy & McGuckin P.C. was reappointed Board Attorney. Remington & Vernick Engineers was reappointed Board Engineer and Board Planner. These reappointments were expected as no other firms submitted proposals for these positions.
Mr. Dasti receives $170 per hour. Work spent reviewing applications is reimbursed by the funds placed in escrow by applicants. In 2022, Mr. Dasti received $88,928.52 for his contract.
Lakewood Township's Planning Board held their annual reorganization meeting on Tuesday night.
Board Member Moshe Raitzik was reappointed as the Class I Mayor's Designee for a one year term.
Board Member Justin Flancbaum was reappointed as a Class II member. This classification is for "one of the officials of the municipality other than a member of the governing body." Under the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law, Class II members are not required to be a resident of the municipality. This is a 1-year term appointment.
Committeeman Albert Akerman was reappointed as the Class III Member of the Governing Body. This is a 1-year term appointment.
Board Member Shlomo Pichey was reappointed as an Alternate Member. This is a 2-year term appointment.
Board members unanimously reappointed Moshe Neiman Halberstam and Eli Rennert as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.
John Jackson Esq of Brick-based King, Kitrick, Jackson, McWeeney & Wells LLC was reappointed Board Attorney. Remington & Vernick Engineers was reappointed Board Engineer and Board Planner. These reappointments were expected as no other firms submitted proposals for these positions.
Mr. Jackson receives $145 per hour spent on applications, and litigation, and an additional $1,200 for general Board matters. Work spent reviewing applications is reimbursed by the funds placed in escrow by applicants. In 2022 Mr. Jackson received $156,166.67 for his contract.
The Board also reappointed Jerry Dasti Esq of the Forked River-based firm of Dasti Murphy & McGuckin P.C. as Conflict Attorney.
The Board also reappointed Ally Morris and Sarah Forsyth of Remington & Vernick Engineers as Board Administrator and Recording Secretary, respectively.
Both Boards reaffirmed their vows to ensure that applications are not posted for a public hearing if plan documents are incomplete as deemed by the Board Engineer, or not submitted in time.
Once an application is posted for a public hearing, the neighboring property owners receive legal notice of the application, and board members said they are concerned with neighbors being notified of a public hearing only to then be told to come back at a future hearing because the plans were not complete or submitted in time.
Zoning Board Chairman Abe Halberstam added "no more throwing applications down our throats. If we don't get to your application in time that night, you'll get carried."
Planning and zoning board members are not elected officials. They are appointed annually by the Township Committee who are elected officials.
The Township Committee - at the recommendation and approval of the Planning Board - adopts the zoning ordinances which delineate what specific uses are permitted in every zone, as well as the setbacks for each permitted use.
The Planning Board hears applications only for uses which are permitted in the zone. Variances which adhere to all setbacks are considered by-right and the Board is technically unable to deny these applications. However, a majority of applications presented to the Planning Board do have some Setback variances and those applications could be denied if the Board feels that the application does not advance the purposes of zoning and that the benefits of the deviation are not sufficient to substantially outweigh the detriments.
The Zoning Board hears applications mainly for uses which are not permitted in the zone ("use variances"), as well as applications for density and height variances, and for Conditional Use Variances. In essence, the role of the Zoning Board is to determine when to override the wishes of the Township Committee. Unlike the Planning Board, the Zoning Board not only may deny an application, but legally must deny an application unless the applicant can provide testimony as to why his application is a "particular case for special reasons" (typically because "the property is particularly suited for the use for which we are proposing").
Use Variance applications require a minimum of 5 affirmative voted to receive approval. All other applications only require an affirmative vote of the majority of Board Members who are present at that hearing.
Once the planning or zoning board votes to approve or deny an application, their vote can only be overturned if someone files and wins a lawsuit in Superior Court.
State law does permit governing bodies to adopt by ordinance, an allowance for "any interested party to appeal to the governing body any final decision of a board of adjustment approving an application for development." This would permit neighbors who are unhappy with Board action to appeal that action to the Township Committee who could then choose to reverse the Board approvals. However, in Lakewood, neighbors can only overturn a Board approval by winning a lawsuit in Superior Court as the Lakewood Township Committee has chosen not to permit neighbors to appeal Board approvals to them. Read more about this here on FAA News.
Suggested Further Reading:
LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE REFUSES PLANNING BOARD'S REQUEST TO INCREASE PARKING REQUIREMENTS
CAN LAKEWOOD GET WIDER ROADS? A RESPONSE FOR MAYOR COLES
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