Avon by the Sea

1. Municipal Planning Board
2. Zoning Board of Adjustment

In many small municipalities in New Jersey, such as Avon, the MLUL permits towns to combine the two boards into one board. This is what we have in Avon. One board called the Avon Planning Board that acts as both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

When they act as a Planning Board, you can summarize the activities as a board of “permitted activities.” As a Planning Board, their essential duties are to deal with policy (the Master Plan), and the implementation of that policy through site plans and subdivision activities.

When acting as a Zoning Board, on the other hand, they become known as the board of uses not allowed. This is when they deal with the issuance of variances that are related to the town’s zoning ordinance, the Avon Land Development Ordinance.

Thus, the Avon Planning Board on one hand is a policy maker, and on the other hand it must assume the role of and act as an adjudicator.

The Avon Planning Board is comprised of eleven members, nine regular members and two alternate members. The terms of the members vary from two years to four years. The board meets at 7 PM on the second Thursday of each month when it has applications that require a hearing.

The majority of the work of the Avon Planning Board is the hearing of appeals for variances. This occurs when an individual requests a Building Permit from the Construction Code Official, and the application is rejected because the applicant has requested to do something not allowed by the Avon Land Development Ordinance. In this case, the applicant has the right to appeal this decision to the Avon Planning Board and request a Variance, which is a petition to do something not allowed by the Land Development Ordinance.

After completing the application procedure, the applicant is given a date for a hearing before the Planning Board. At this hearing the applicant will present the case to the board. The board will then make a decision to allow, or not to allow the variance.

All Planning Board meetings are open to the public and every hearing has a time for the public to speak. If any members of the public are interested in a particular application that is being heard they may attend the meeting and ask questions, or make their feelings known to the board. This is the time that board members are made aware of the concerns, feelings, support for, or opposition to an application by the members of the public, other property owners, and/or neighbors of the applicant.

Avon Planning Board Members

• Sheila Sullivan, Planning Board Secretary
• Richard Maloney, Chairman
• Teresa Egan, Vice Chairman
• Ed Bonanno, Mayor
• Robert Mahon, Commissioner
• Mark Kitrick, Attorney
• Michael Davey, Regular Member
• Vincent Ernst, Regular Member
• Marie Kenny, Regular Member
• Jack Ryan, Regular Member
• Calvin Talmage, Regular Member
• Sandra McLaughlin, Alternate 1
• Francis McGovern, Alternate 2
• Joseph Oldakowski, Alternate 3
• Steve Mazouat, Alternate 4