The Planning Board is composed of the Mayor, a Commissioner appointed by the Board of Commissioners, a township official appointed by the Mayor, and six volunteer citizens also appointed by the Mayor to serve four year overlapping terms. In addition, the Board has an advisory committee, currently consisting of a representative of the Board of Education and two citizens who also serve as alternates and who may vote in the absence of one of the citizen members of the Board. Alternates and advisors serve two year terms.

Advisory committee members work with the Planning Board on committees such as zoning, streets, parking, parks and public property. There are no technical qualifications for appointment to this Board, but in recent years efforts have been made to appoint citizens of diverse backgrounds and professions.

Under the 1979 New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law and local ordinances the function of the Planning Board is to create policies for the future and redevelopment of the township. In this capacity, the Planning Board prepares the township's Master Plan, which is submitted to the Board of Commissioners for adoption. The first Master Plan was adopted by the commissioners in 1978 and the zoning ordinance implementing the plan was enacted in early 1979 as required by the Land Use Law. Since that time the Master Plan has been revised on a regular basis as required by law. The most recent revision occurred in 2012. The Planning Board also recommends to the commissioners changes in the township's zoning ordinance to keep the ordinance current with the Master Plan or changing conditions in the township.

The Planning Board has the power to grant subdivisions, to approve conditional use applications, to grant variances from lot area, setback and yard requirements related thereto, and to grant site plan approvals. There is no professional staff with the exception of an attorney; however, the Board retains a planning professional on a consulting capacity to carry out local studies requested by the Board. All meetings of the Planning Board are subject to the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act ("Sunshine Law").

Meetings

The public meetings of the Planning Board of the Township of Nutley, Essex County, State of New Jersey will be held at the Township of Nutley Municipal Building, One Kennedy Drive, third (3rd) floor Commission Chambers, One Kennedy Drive, Nutley, New Jersey 07110 at 7:00 P.M., at which time formal action may be taken on any matter considered by the Planning Board.

• View Agenda and Minutes

Planning Board Public Comment Instructions

The Planning Board's primary role is to ensure that development applications comply with the Municipal Land Use Law and local ordinances. This includes reviewing site plans and subdivisions to evaluate factors such as the location of structures, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, and landscaping. The Planning Board has wide discretion in this review process but cannot prohibit a permitted use.

• The applicant will present witnesses to testify about their particular area of knowledge and expertise.

• Upon completion of each witness, the board will ask the witness questions specific to their testimony.

• After the board has asked their questions, members of the public in attendance will have an opportunity to ask the witness questions.

• The questions to witnesses are to be limited to the testimony the witness has given, not about the application in general or as a whole.

• This opportunity for examination of a witness is not the time to express your personal knowledge of the facts or your personal opinions regarding the application as a whole, as that time and opportunity will come later in the proceedings.

• The questions must be related to a witness’ testimony and their specific area of expertise. For example, if a particular witness is an architect, it is not appropriate to ask the witness questions about engineering such as stormwater management.

• After the applicant has finished its presentation and rests, the board’s witnesses will testify.

• The board’s witnesses will be subject to cross-examination, first by the applicant and then by the public.

• Again, the questions will be limited to the testimony the witness has given, not the application as a whole.

• After all applicant and board witness testimony and evidence is completed, the public will have an opportunity to make factual statements or present evidence and to voice their opinions regarding the application’s specific parts or the application as a whole.

• Each person will have three minutes to present their questions and evidence unless allowed more time by the chair.

• All comments about the application will be addressed to the chair.

2012 Master Plan - Adopted December 19, 2012

• Download:  2012 Master Plan

A hardcopy of the Master Plan is available at the following location during nomal business hours:

• Municipal Clerk's Office 
  Town Hall, 1st Floor
  1 Kennedy Drive

Board Members