40:55D-8 Municipal fees; exemptions.

4. a. Every municipal agency shall adopt and may amend reasonable rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this act or with any applicable ordinance, for the administration of its functions, powers and duties, and shall furnish a copy thereof to any person upon request and may charge a reasonable fee for such copy. Copies of all such rules and regulations and amendments thereto shall be maintained in the office of the administrative officer.

b. Fees to be charged (1) an applicant for review of an application for development by a municipal agency, and (2) an appellant pursuant to section 8 of this act shall be reasonable and shall be established by ordinance. In addition to covering the administrative costs associated with the implementation of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.), these fees shall be used to defray the cost of tuition for those persons required to take the course in land use law and planning in the municipality as required pursuant to P.L.2005, c.133 (C.40:55D-23.3 et al.).

c. A municipality may by ordinance exempt, according to uniform standards, charitable, philanthropic, fraternal and religious nonprofit organizations holding a tax exempt status under the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. s. 501(c) or (d)) from the payment of any fee charged under this act.

d. A municipality shall exempt a board of education from the payment of any fee charged under this act.

e. A municipality may by ordinance exempt, according to uniform standards, a disabled person, or a parent or sibling of a disabled person, from the payment of any fee charged under this act in connection with any application for development which promotes accessibility to his own living unit.

For the purposes of this subsection, "disabled person" means a person who has the total and permanent inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment, including blindness, and shall include, but not be limited to, any resident of this State who is disabled pursuant to the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s.416), or the federal Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. s.231 et seq.), or is rated as having a 60% disability or higher pursuant to any federal law administered by the United States Veterans' Act. For purposes of this paragraph "blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.

L.1975,c.291,s.4; amended 1979, c.216, s.5; 1983, c.322; 1989, c.43, s.1; 1996, c.92, s.2; 2005, c.133, s.1.