There the Zoning Officer explains why the developer’s site plan violates some site plan Town rule.
The applicant then submits an extensive plan with applicant experts (architects, engineers and professional planners, etc.) weighing in on what typically are very technical data and arguments about why the proposed plan is really okay; why it serves the public interest and should it be approved despite its variances.
There are frequently social policy issues at stake: Who will be unfavorably affected by the variances requested? How will they possibly diminish an aspect of the town?
But these questions are frequently buried in the technical details and language specifying the variances. Without special expertise, the lay members of our land use boards are often in the dark about these important questions. But there is a solution to this problem.
The Site Plan Review Advisory Board
There is in fact a Township requirement that our Council and its Mayor have violated.
In a 1980 Council action, Teaneck passed an ordinance that was consistent with a state municipal/county statute (40:55D-39f) requiring the Mayor to appoint a 9-member Site Plan Review Advisory Board.
This is the Board that must first examine the Zoning Officer’s denial and the Applicant’s effort to get site plan approval.
The Applicant for the rejected site plan applicant has to fill out a page where the variances are explained to a Site Plan Review Advisory Board, all of whose members are to be experts in evaluating plans in the context of a town's overall development efforts. Furthermore, four members of that Board must have degrees and certification as either engineers or architects.
In other words, the Teaneck's own Administrative Code recognizes the need for expertise that lay people on its land use boards frequently lack. Teaneck recognized that mistakes would be made without this special expertise, and that approval of deficient plans could lead the town into litigation. The Site Plan Review Advisory Board of experts was set up to prevent such poor outcomes that end up costing the Town unnecessary attorney fees and aggravated residents.
WHOOPS: Teaneck has not had a functioning Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) since 2016.
All of the site plans for the past five years have been judged by our lay-only land use boards. No Council member has discussed the lack of a Site Plan Review Advisory Board. All of the earlier appointments to this Board have expired.
When this Council reconstituted its closed advisory boards in 2020, the Site Plan Advisory Board simply disappeared. There is no mention of this required board on the Township website, except in the Code section where, obviously, it has to appear!
Town leaders should not close their eyes to the vital role experts should play in reviewing site plans. In failing to address the knowledge gap that exists, the Council, Mayor and Manager will continue to make weak appointments that lead to poorly informed land use decisions.
A bit of good news.
Recently, the Teaneck Historic Preservation Commission (THPAC) has had an architect appointed to it – the first in some five years. The Commission needed such a member. It is, in fact, legally required of this statutory board. Our THPC is at last legit again.
Unfortunately, the current Council likes to appoint people who agree with their goals rather recruit people with the necessary knowledge. We will continue to have weak development decisions unless we elect a Council committed to selecting land use entities and decision makers with the appropriate expertise.
What does the Code Say about the SPRAB?
Take a few minutes to read what the Teaneck Code says about the Site Plan Review Board:
Township of Teaneck, NJ / The Code / Development Regulations
Article III Site Design Review
Sec. 33-16 Site Plan Review Advisory Board;
Sec. 33-17 Site plan review Procedure;
Sec. 33-18 Standards and specifications.
Sec. 33-16 Site Plan Review Advisory Board.
[Ord. No. 1811, § 17; Ord. No, 1859, 5-27-1980, § 3]
There is hereby created a Site Plan Review Advisory Board, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-39f, for the purpose of reviewing site plan applications and making recommendations to the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment in regard thereto.
(a)
Members; qualifications. The Advisory Board shall consist of nine members. Each member thereof shall be specially qualified by reason of training or experience in architecture, engineering, land development, municipal planning, real estate, landscape architecture or other relevant profession or business, or by reason of civic interest and proven ability to determine the effects of a development upon the standards set forth in this chapter. At least two regular members shall be registered architects, and at least two regular members shall be professional engineers…
(c)
Appointment; term. Regular members of the Advisory Board shall be appointed by the Mayor, without compensation, for three-year terms…
(d) … Two regular members shall be elected by the Advisory Board, including alternate members, to serve as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.. Said election shall take place at the first meeting of the Advisory Board in each calendar year… One regular member of the Advisory Board shall be a member of the Planning Board, who shall be entitled to vote as a member of both Boards
(e) Rules of procedure. A quorum shall consist of three members, at least one of whom shall be a registered architect or professional engineer.
The advisory board shall hold at least two regular meetings each month, unless there
is no public business pending. The deliberations and proceedings of the advisory board
shall be public. The advisory board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, and such
minutes shall be public records…
(f) Standards of conduct. No member of the advisory board shall be permitted to act on any matter in which the member has, either directly or indirectly, any personal or financial interest.
Sec. 33-17 Site plan review procedure.
[Ord. No. 1811, § 18; Ord. No. 1859, 5-27-1980, § 4; Ord. No. 3267, 6-26-1990, § 1; Ord. No. 3381, 12-21-1993, § 1; Ord. No. 3475, 10-8-1996, § 1; Ord. No. 3479, 10-22-1996, § 1; Ord. No. 3908, 10-6-2005, § 1; Ord. No. 4007, 5-21-2007, § 1]
(3)
Referral to advisory board…. the Zoning Officer shall forward the site plan to the advisory board, whether the approving authority is the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment…Within its jurisdiction, the advisory board shall review all drawings, plans and specifications submitted and report thereon to the approving authority within 30 days of receipt of a complete application and site plan for a development involving 10 acres of land or less…. The foregoing time limitations may be extended with the consent of the applicant.
The recommendations of the advisory board are not binding upon the approving
authority…
Upon receipt of the site plan, the advisory board shall distribute copies to the
Environmental Commission, the Township Engineer and such other Township boards,
agencies and personnel as the advisory board may direct. The applicant may be
required to furnish an environmental impact statement if the conditions of Section
33-19 hereof are applicable.
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Want to see the Site Plan actually up for approval at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting?
Go to
Zoom Link and scroll to pages 13-14 where the applicant did in fact fill out the required form to the Site Plan Review Advisory Board. But, of course, the Board's responding report on that form which should go to the Planning Board is
blank.