Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: New Jersey

COAH Fees – Some Certainty in an Uncertain World

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Transactional Real Estate and Leasing

On August 25, 2011

While much of the uncertainty regarding affordable housing requirements in NJ remains, the questions involving the applicability and future of the 2.5% nonresidential development fee were answered yesterday. Acting Governor Kim Guadagno signed into law legislation that reestablishes the exemption from the fee for eligible projects. Perhaps the most broadly applicable exemption provides that projects which obtain preliminary or final site plan approval prior to July 1, 2013 are not subject to the development fee provided that building permits are issued by December 31, 2015.

New Jersey Releases Sensible Lease Process for State Lands

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues / Transactional Real Estate and Leasing

On August 22, 2011

On August 18, 2011, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and DOT Commissioner James Simpson released a set of guidelines to revamp and apply consistency to New Jersey’s land leasing process for State Lands. A panel of ten State Agencies was convened to analyze the current lease policies and compile a Lease Valuation Report that offers recommendations on leases for Tidelands; Linear Corridor Projects (other than Tidelands); Publicly Bid, Market-Based and Nominal Fee leases; Telecommunications Towers and Antennas, Aquaculture, and leases Related to Transportation Corridors. The guidelines will be adopted by all State agencies, with most of the guidelines implemented immediately.

NJDEP Proposes New Rules for Site Cleanups

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On August 16, 2011

On August 15, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued proposed Final Rules to implement the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) adopted in May 2009. These rules are intended to be the final implementation step in the phased transition of New Jersey’s site remediation process from NJDEP command and control to private oversight by Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs). Instead of NJDEP overseeing every step of a cleanup, the LSRP, licensed by a 13-member Licensed Site Remediation Professional Board with investigative and disciplinary powers, is responsible for making day-to-day decisions about a clean-up. Certain categories of cleanups remain under NJDEP oversight, such as where the responsible party has a history of non-compliance or has failed to meet mandatory deadlines. The rule proposal appeared in the New Jersey Register on August 15, 2011 and can be viewed online. Comments can be submitted until October 14, 2011.

Court Overrules DEP, Finds Developer Was Entitled to Exemption From Highlands Act

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On August 10, 2011

The New Jersey Appellate Division delivered a rebuke to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on August 1, finding that DEP’s Commissioner ignored undisputed evidence and made critical legal errors in holding that two development projects did not qualify for an exemption from the strict requirements of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act. The court’s decision in Lakeside Manor v. State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reversed the Commissioner’s decision, finding that the developer had satisfied all statutory requirements for the exemption.

NJICLE Holds its Annual Environmental Law Section Forum

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On August 2, 2011

On the weekend of June 24-26, 2011, the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education (“NJICLE”) in cooperation with the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”), and New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association, held its annual Environmental Law Section Forum Weekend (“the Forum”). Taking place in Avalon, New Jersey, the Forum featured three days of seminars covering various hot-button environmental topics including, Funding for Remediating Sites, Vapor Intrusion, the LSRP Program, Non-Governmental Organizations’ Perspectives on Issues and Resolutions, the well-known NJDEP v. Occidental case also referred to as the Lower Passaic River litigation, Climate Change, and rounded out the weekend with two programs on Ethical Issues including Alternative Fee Arrangements and Multi-Party Settlements.

Six New Jersey Communities Will Share $3.4 Million in EPA Brownfield Grants

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 20, 2011

The EPA has announced that six different New Jersey communities will receive a total of $3.4 million under the agency’s brownfield grant program in FY 2011. The grants will fund assessment and cleanup efforts at contaminated sites so that the sites can be returned to productive use. The grant program, part of EPA’s larger brownfield efforts, will award some $76 million in grants this year, and has awarded over $800 million since its inception. New Jersey’s grants will fund activities at thirteen sites or areas in Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, Elizabeth, Mantua Township, and Maurice River Township.

New Jersey Program to Fund Brownfield Clean Ups Closed Temporarily

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On June 8, 2011

The Brownfield Reimbursement Program (the “Program”), a New Jersey State initiative designed to reimburse developers up to 75% of costs incurred to remediate a brownfield site, has run out of money and is temporarily shut down. This development arrives on the heels of a recent New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) announcement that, effective May 3, 2011, applications to the Underground Storage Tank Fund, a similar initiative to help homeowners remove USTs, will not be reviewed or processed due to insufficient funds.

N.J. Appellate Court Extends Time Limit for Bringing Strict-Liability Claim for Natural Resource Damages

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 2, 2011

Thanks to a special “extension statute” enacted in 2001, the statute of limitations that requires the State of New Jersey to commence a civil action within ten years of its accrual does not apply to an action for natural resource damages (NRDs) that is brought “pursuant to the State’s environmental laws.” The Appellate Division recently held that the Legislature intended “the State’s environmental laws” to include the common law — or at least the common law of strict liability — and revived a claim that otherwise would have been time-barred.

Updated Guidance From USEPA Concerning Brownfield Redevelopment

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On May 12, 2011

Encouraging development of environmentally challenged real estate — brownfields — is usually the task of state agencies. In New Jersey the Office of Smart Growth; the Economic Development Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection all offer programs intended to encourage redevelopment of brownfields. However, states are struggling to fund and support their brownfield programs and funds for outreach to potential developers and their allied professionals are in short supply.

New Jersey’s Time of Application Law Takes Effect Today to Lock in Zoning

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Transactional Real Estate and Leasing

On May 5, 2011

The long-awaited “time of application” law, which locks in zoning under New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law at the time an application for development is filed, takes effect today. The law was intended to undo the “time of decision” rule under which the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Manalapan Realty v. Township Committee, 140 N.J. 366 (1995), decided that a municipality could change its zoning to negatively affect or even prohibit a project which was already under review by the municipal planning board. As a result, developers often were at peril if community opposition developed during the review and approval process and a change in regulations followed.

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