STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman ALISON LITTELL MCHOSE
District 24 (Sussex, Hunterdon and Morris)
Assemblywoman CHARLOTTE VANDERVALK
District 39 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen DeCroce, Prieto and Chiusano
SYNOPSIS
Modifies rule governing decisions under the “Municipal Land Use Law”.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the review and approval of applications for development and supplementing P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, those development regulations which are in effect on the date of submission of an application for development shall govern the review of that application for development and any decision made with regard to that application for development. Any provisions of an ordinance, except those necessary for the protection of health and public safety, that are adopted subsequent to the date of submission of an application for development, shall not be applicable to that application for development.
2. This act shall take effect one year next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would override the principle governing decisions under the “Municipal Land Use Law,” N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., commonly referred to as the “time of decision rule,” by providing that development regulations that are in effect on the date an application for development is submitted for review will govern the review of that application for development and any decision made with regard to that application for development. The bill also provides that any provisions of an ordinance, except those necessary for the protection of health and public safety, that are adopted after the date an application for development is submitted, would not be applicable to that application for development.
Under current law, applicants are subject to changes to municipal ordinances that are made after the application has been filed, and even after a building permit has been issued, as long as the applicant has not substantially relied on the permit. Application of this rule sometimes causes inequitable results, such as when an applicant has expended considerable amounts of money for professional services and documentation that become unusable after the ordinance has been amended. While effectively prohibiting municipalities from responding to an application for development by changing the law to frustrate that application, the bill recognizes that ordinance changes necessary for the protection of health and public safety would apply to pending applications.