The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP or Department) issued new regulations effective April 6, 2020 that expand the Garden State’s list of protected waterways. These amendments to the Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS), N.J.A.C. 7:9B, upgrade the designation of approximately 600 river miles throughout the state and assigns them the highest level of protected water quality status of “Category  One” (or “C1”).

Continue Reading New Jersey Expands List of Protected Waterways, Imposing Stricter Water Quality Controls and Development Buffers

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services (DLGS or Division) yesterday issued “Operational Guidance” to the state’s municipal Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Adjustment to “ensure continuity of Land Use application procedures” while New Jersey’s State of Emergency remains in effect. The guidance document seeks to “ensure due process is afforded hearings and to remind local units to adhere to appropriate social distancing and health measures as they implement this process.”

Continue Reading NJDCA Issues Guidelines Clearing the Way for Virtual Zoning and Planning Board Hearings

Sills Cummis attorney Ted Zangari recently issued a public call for the New Jersey State Legislature to adopt a new version of the Permit Extension Act, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-136.1 et seq. The Act was signed into law in 2008 to revive and extend state, county, and local government approvals to provide the regulated community, developers, property owners, and the real estate sector with relief in recognition of the nationwide recession that began in 2007. As the recession and its effects dragged on, the Act was further extended in 2010 and 2012, and again in 2014 to deal with compounded effects of Superstorm Sandy in certain highly impacted areas. As Ted noted, now is the time to extend these protections as we adapt and respond to the current and forthcoming public health and economic crises that are impacting the country and the world.

Continue Reading The Need for a New Permit Extension Act due to the COVID-19 Health Crisis and Ensuing Economic Downturn

History doesn’t usually repeat but it often rhymes. COVID-19’s impact on construction projects will likely differ from past recessionary triggers but one thing is already clear: the setback will be severe in its depth and breadth. That’s why policymakers in Trenton should begin to consider extending building permits and approvals, just as they did during the Great Recession.

A dozen years ago, the New Jersey State Legislature approved the Permit Extension Act of 2008. By any measure, this law saved countless businesses, construction lenders and host municipalities from financial ruin and prevented what could have been a far more dire situation for the state’s economy.

So why was it so important to extend permits and approvals?

Continue Reading COVID-19 Legal Resources: It’s Not Too Early to Consider Extending Building Permits & Approvals

Curbside pickups, already trending in shopping centers before the pandemic, will likely become a permanent feature of retail stores…along with features long associated with bank branches: automated kiosks (ATMs), dividers between customers and clerks (tellers), and drive-throughs. As with the advent of mini-fulfillment centers within stores (see my earlier post), these operational and design changes will trigger all sorts of lease, building code and land use issues. Landlords, tenants and their host municipalities have no choice but to get this right; e-commerce may have created a competitive threat the past two decades, but COVID-19 poses an existential threat to all parties. When it comes time to swing open the doors, don’t just re-open— RE-IMAGINE.

> Click here to read “Curbside Enthusiasm: Retailers Adapt In A Time Of Crisis” from Forbes

On January 27, 2020, Governor Murphy unveiled a series of broad regulatory proposals seeking to establish a “clean energy future” framework in the Garden State. The sweeping changes − billed as first-in-the-nation “comprehensive and aggressive suite of climate change regulations” − are laid out in three separate, but interrelated administration documents:

  • A newly updated New Jersey Energy Master Plan from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
  • Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 100
  • NJDEP Commissioner McCabe’s Administrative Order 2020-01

These new energy and climate change requirements would dramatically impact land use, development, utilities, energy consumption, and numerous other areas of everyday life.

Continue Reading The Winds of Change: Governor Murphy Launches Sweeping Regulatory Reforms to Promote Clean Air and Fight Climate Change

As seen on: ROI-NJ.com

The city of Newark has one of the top locations in the country for investors looking to take advantage of the new Opportunity Zone Program, according to a national study released Thursday morning.

The LOCUS National Opportunity Zone Ranking Report ranked a census tract in downtown Newark in a tie for sixth place among the top Opportunity Zones for Smart Growth Potential, in a ranking of nearly 8,000 tracts.

In addition, a tract in Newark ranked fourth overall in locations deemed to be the top Social Equity and Vulnerable Places with High Smart Growth Potential, meaning the city not only could handle the investment, it would do so without hurting the existing population.

> Link to full article

Assembly Bill 3494 was approved last week, with amendments, by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill now heads for a vote in the full General Assembly. The State Senate is expected to take up the legislation early next year.

> Click here for a summary of the most-up-to-date version of the legislation

Source: Press Release From Senate Democratic Majority Office

Legislation (S2333) that will require the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) to establish an office of real estate economic development and transit-oriented development was signed into law today by Governor Phil Murphy.

The newly created office will assess and develop recommendations for economic development and transit-oriented development opportunities for parcels of real property in which NJ Transit owns in order to increase NJ Transit’s non-fare revenue sources. The office will report its recommendations with an estimate of the amount of non-fare revenue likely to be generated by each recommendation to the Executive Director of NJ Transit at least once per-year.

“The establishment of this office will provide needed structure to NJ Transit’s inventory of property assets,” said bill co-sponsor Senator Linda Greenstein (D-Mercer / Middlesex). “The information and recommendations NJ Transit will receive from the office’s analysis will prove valuable and assist them in efforts to strategically generate additional non-fare revenue sources moving forward.”

The law will require NJ Transit to annually report to the governor and legislature an inventory of each parcel of real property in which NJ Transit owns. That will include the most recent appraisal value of that property, the purpose for NJ Transit holding the property interest, and any revenue NJ Transit receives that would arise out of the property interest.

Additionally, the law will require the Commissioner of Transportation to issue a report by September 15th of each year setting forth the actual, operational, capital and financial results of the previous fiscal year, the operational, capital and financial plan for the current fiscal year, and a proposed operational, capital, and financial plan for the next fiscal year.

The law will also require that on or before October 1st of each year, the board approve and NJ Transit transmit to the Commissioner of Transportation and to the Senate President, the Assembly Speaker, the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee, or their successor committees, a report containing:

  • a description of each parcel of real property in which the corporation holds a property interest
  • the most recent appraised value of that property and only if the corporation has obtained appraisal during three-years immediately preceding the repairs
  • any revenue that the corporation receives that arises out of the property interest; any real property sold or otherwise disposed of, including the amount of money received by the corporation for that sale or disposition, in the immediately preceding year and including an accompanying explanation for any property disposed of for less than market value, as well as any property acquired for more than market value.

The law takes effect immediately.