Phillipsburg Land Use Board Reviews Fees to Present to Town Council

PHILLIPSBURG, N.J.-After a year in the making, the Phillipsburg Land Use Board on Thursday, June 27, 2024 unanimously agreed to forward its completed land use schedule of fees to town council for its approval at an upcoming meeting.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

Land Use Board Vice President Keith Zwicker spearheaded the project and, along with a subcommittee of researchers, came up with a new set of fees covering land use particulars such as variances, building permits, lot line adjustments, rental properties registrations , and building inspections, to name only a few.

For the better part of this year, board researchers analyzed fee schedules from surrounding municipalities such as Alpha Borough, Lopatcong, Pohatcong, and Greenwich Townships and discovered they were all significantly higher than Phillipsburg, whose majority of fees have not been reviewed and/or updated since 2005.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

Zwicker pointed out that the town can no longer afford to pay all the employees involved more money to work on land use particulars and lose much-needed revenues by receiving well below-par fees for services rendered.

He also mentioned that the land use committee did an excellent job on the new fee schedule, which eliminates "blanket fees" for projects that need to be charged more for higher square footage and complicated projects that are simpler than average residential projects.

"This is a huge step in the right direction," remarked Mayor Randy Piazza, Jr. who sits on the board along with Council Vice President Meliss Paulus.

Zwicker pointed out in April, the preliminary and final site plans in Phillipsburg are currently set at $175 and $150 . However, Alpha Borough fees and rates set back in 2013 are $750 and $500, respectively.

There were no statements discussed on open permits, fees for delays, or if this would impact rental fees or permits needed to obtain a certificate of habitability in accordance with the last date of inspection, which, according to the town code, is supposed to be done annually. Those fees were updated in 2018.

The fee schedule was not presented during the meeting and messages to multiple board members were not answered as of the time this article was published. Inspection Fees are established by ordinance and several were recently adopted by town council in June 2024.

Read more:

Phillipsburg Land Use Board Subcommittee to Dig Deeper on Fees

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net