Focused on Land Use and Redevelopment Law in New Jersey
From today’s Times of Trenton…
“But that doesn’t mean New Jersey doesn’t have room for smart growth. George Hawkins, executive director of New Jersey Future, said if the whole state had the density of Princeton Borough, the entire population could fit in 20 percent of the state’s acreage.
And if the state had the density of nearby Montgomery, it would need twice as much space to hold New Jersey’s 8.7 million people, Hawkins said.”
In a decision dated May 19, 2006, Judge Harris of the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, “employ[ed] drastic steps” to fulfill the Mount Laurel mandate and cure two municipalities’ “longstanding and blatant disregard for the unhoused and underhoused poor.” As a result, the Southern Bergen County municipalities of East Rutherford and Carlstadt have lost their authority to regulate the use of land and review development applications. Their zoning ordinances no longer control development applications; they are now merely advisory. Their Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Adjustment have been stripped of any authority to grant approvals.
As a result of this decision, development applications must be approved by Robert T. Regan, Esq., who was appointed by Judge Harris to serve as the Mount Laurel Implementation Monitor for both Carlstadt and East Rutherford. Mr. Regan has been tasked with overseeing all development activity in both municipalities for the foreseeable future in order to ensure both municipalities meet their Mount Laurel obligations.
The Court also prevented East Rutherford and Carlstadt from frustrating the development of affordable housing within the New Jersey Meadowlands District. This was a significant issue because both municipalities have substantial portions of land under the primary jurisdiction of the NJMC and there are some indications of new plans to develop residential units there. The Monitor will essentially take the place of the municipal officials in their dealings with the NJMC involving land use matters and development applications.
The lawsuit was filed by land use attorneys Thomas Jay Hall and Robert Kasuba of Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross on behalf of developer Tomu Development Co., Inc.
“While redevelopment can bring about positive changes in communities, there is tremendous potential for abuse and corruption. Too often, redevelopment projects are awarded to large campaign contributors and are conducted as a reward to a select few inside political players.” — Harry Pozycki
Last week State Senator Ellen Karcher (D-Monmouth) introduced the Redevelopment Reform and Pay-to-Play Protection Act which aims to curb the influence of pay-to-play contributions and create greater accountability to citizens with respect to redevelopment decisions. The legislation was developed by the Citizens’ Campaign Legal Task Force.
The leader of the Task Force, Harry Pozycki, today explained the need for reforming redevelopment in a column on the Citizens’ Campaign website:
“A striking trend throughout New Jersey is the rapidly increasing number of large scale redevelopment projects. New Jersey’s redevelopment laws, which give nearly unfettered power to state and local governments to condemn property in areas designated for redevelopment, have long been used by cities as a tool for promoting new economic development and for improving blighted areas. Now, redevelopment projects are becoming common in the suburbs as well. While redevelopment can bring about positive changes in communities, there is tremendous potential for abuse and corruption. Too often, redevelopment projects are awarded to large campaign contributors and are conducted as a reward to a select few inside political players.”
The intersection of pay-to-play and no-bid redevelopment designations to campaign contributors was highlighted at the annual Alliance Program held last October. The event examined this and other flaws in the redevelopment process through the use of a humorous law-school styled hypothetical. See October 10, 2005 blog entry below. US Attorney Christopher Christie delivered the event’s keynote speech: “The Costly and Corrosive Effects of Pay to Play on Real Estate Development in New Jersey.” The Alliance Program was developed by Ted Zangari, Co-Chair of the Redevelopment Practice Group at Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross.
Ted Zangari, Co-Chair of the Redevelopment Practice Group at Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross P.C., served as a judge for the 46th annual “New Good Neighbor” awards competition sponsored by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. The contest recognizes organizations that have worked to bring about an improved business climate in New Jersey by building or renovating a commercial facility. Projects are evaluated based upon their impact on economic development and job creation, architectural merit, and community involvement. The awards presentations will take place at a luncheon in June 2006. “This year’s nominees included many fine examples of smart growth principles at work. Abandoned warehouse and industrial sites have been brought back to life as corporate office campuses, lifestyle centers and hotels. Blighted houses in downtown districts have been restored to beautiful, vibrant pubs and professional buildings,” observed Zangari.
By Eric Peterson
NEWARK, NJ – The economy isn’t growing fast enough in New Jersey to bring down the 20% vacancy rate, business group is told. But the industrial market is another story.
The entire article may be viewed by clicking here.
Copyright © 2006 Real Estate Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
The Regional Business Partnership’s Annual Real Estate Market Forecast: Reviving The Urban Core will be held Thursday, March 2, 2006 at The Newark Club, One Newark Center, 22nd floor, Newark, New Jersey. This annual forecast will feature a report on the economy from Rae Rosen, Senior Economist and Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and an update on the real estate market forecast throughout the Newark region from Thomas V. Giannone, Senior Director, Cushman & Wakefield of NJ, Inc. A panel led by Ted Zangari, Member, Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross P.C., will discuss how New Jersey’s older cities are discovering ways to make the old new again by transforming obsolete and underutilized buildings for residential, retail and other uses.
New Jersey’s “Mount Laurel” doctrine, which requires every municipality to provide its “fair share” of affordable housing, has long provided the interested builder-developer an opportunity to shape local zoning to meet business objectives as well as respond to social concerns. Because local governments sometimes fail to provide the constitutionally-required affordable housing opportunities, it is possible for a builder-developer willing to provide 15-20% of a development project as affordable housing to lower income households to obtain favorable zoning and access to necessary infrastructure.
In 2004, the state’s affordable housing agency, the Council on Affordable Housing, promulgated new rules which required most of the State’s communities to file affordable housing plans by December, 2005. Surprisingly, more than 30 communities failed to meet that requirement, and would be vulnerable to a builder’s remedy lawsuit.
Of the municipalities which did meet the deadline, it appears than more than a few did not take the requirement as seriously as they should, and are in danger of having their plans dismissed. Researching and following the progress of COAH as it sifts through the nearly 300 housing plans it has received will no doubt identify other municipalities which will be vulnerable to a builder’s remedy lawsuit.
Sills Cummis has been following this process very carefully. If you have any questions concerning affordable housing requirements in New Jersey, please contact Tom Hall, Chair of the Land Use and Zoning group at 973-643-5738.
January 27, 2006 – Governor Jon S. Corzine today released a series of advisory reports prepared by his transition team on subjects such as: Agriculture Transition Policy Group; Budget and Reengineering Government Transition Policy Group; Economic Growth Transition Policy Group; Ethics and Governance Transition Policy Group; Energy Transition Policy Group; Environment Transition Policy Group; Housing Transition Policy Group; Property Tax Reform Transition Policy Group; Revitalizing and Investing in Communities Transition Policy Group; Transportation Transition Policy Group.
January 23, 2006 – Ted Zangari, Chair of the Redevelopment practice group, recently co-authored the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s “white paper” to the incoming Corzine Administration on economic development. The report, entitled “Ten Things the Corzine Administration Can Do to Spur Economic Development” includes several recommendations for using smart growth as a bridge connecting economic development to real estate development, including:
The white paper can be viewed by clicking here.
Congratulations to State Smart Growth Ombudsman Patrick Gillespie for his work involving the launch of “Smart Growth New Jersey,” a new State website. Ted Zangari, Chair of the Redevelopment, Public Incentives and Government Relations Practice Group at the law firm of Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross in Newark, adds “Redevelopment professionals welcome the State’s effort to better educate the public on smart growth principles. If New Jersey is to house the one million additional residents experts anticipate over the next decade — without paving over the rest of rural New Jersey or driving up housing prices even further by limiting supply — then it is imperative that developers be given every incentive to locate projects in or near the State’s existing downtowns, brownfield sites and transit hubs. That’s the essence of ‘smart growth’ — keeping New Jersey’s residents close to where they work, shop, learn and recreate.”
