Makes it easier for site plans, solar
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — City Council followed up on an idea from Councilman Eric Ford, introducing an ordinance Feb. 10 that would create a Development Review Committee to ease the planning and development process.
The ordinance lays out the members of the committee and defines its responsibilities and conduct.
Members of the committee would be the mayor, one member of City Council, the Planning Board chairman, engineer and solicitor.
Responsibilities would be to review all site plan waiver applications and make recommendations to the board to waive site plan approval or to require a full site plan application. The committee also will review conceptual plans to provide insight as to the deficiencies or to suggest improvements, as well as to comment on the acceptability of the proposal.
Comments made by the committee would be nonbinding.
Ford said the Development Review Committee is intended to cut down on applications to the Planning Board that could be settled out of hand or avoided altogether.
The ordinance is expected to be subject to a public hearing and final vote during the city’s next meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.
A second ordinance introduced Feb. 10, also stemming from one of Ford’s ideas, would streamline the process for residents to have solar panels installed and save them money.
It states that solar systems may be located only on the roof of the main home and must meet the setback requirements for principal structures of the zone in which the home is located. The maximum height of the solar arrays is 8 inches from the rooftop and may not exceed the total allowed height.
Ford said during the initial discussion on the topic that these changes would make the process easier and less costly, allowing homeowners with nonconforming structures to get approval with a simple zoning permit at a cost of $50 instead of hiring an attorney and paying for a Planning Board application, something that often costs $1,000 or more.
Ford said both changes would save the city money on professional services. Any project with lot coverage issues such as installation of a pool, deck or addition to a house would have to go before the Planning Board, he said, but “if you take care of things with a simple zoning permit, there is no need to have that meeting and no need to have a secretary, an attorney, all of the members present. It just streamlines everything.”
A public hearing and final vote on the ordinances are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at City Hall.
Also at the meeting, City Council accepted the resignation of Councilman Brian Heun, who is moving out of the city.
City Council President Ralph Paolone said the Atlantic County Republican Committee would submit three names from which council will choose Heun’s replacement.