Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/02/1996

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Z.B. March 15, 1996- Page 7 apparently favorable decisions on Norman and David Wingerd's land use applications. Under state law, anyone who wanted a court to review those decisions had to file a petition for review no more than 21 days after the board delivered or mailed them. If the person seeking review did not file the petition on time or serve it on all "adverse parties of record in the board proceeding," then the court would not have jurisdiction to hear the case. The statute provided for service on the board and on the parties of record by registered or certified mail. Bremer asked a court to review the board's decisions. He sent David Wingerd's copy of the petition to Norman, and sent Norman's to David. One of them lived in California; the other in Virginia. Bremer did not send the copies by registered or certified mail. Neither of the Wingerds got notice of Bremer's petition within 2t days of the board's decision. The county and the Wingerds asked the court to dismiss the case. They said the court had no jurisdiction because Bremer did not properly serve them with his petition. DECISION: Case dismissed. The court had no jurisdiction over the case because Bremer did not prop- erly serve the petition. The Wingerds did not "get actual notice or notice by registered or certified mail" within the required 21-day period. Choban v. Washington County, 862 P. 2d 536 (1993). Zurich Insurance Co. v. Diversified Risk Management, 706 P. 2d 178 (~985). Principal Use -- Owner Wants Two Principal Uses on One Property Sun ComI~any Inc. v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of Borough of Avalon, 669 A.2d 833 (New Jersey) 1996 Sun Company Inc. owned a gas station in the borough of Avalon, N.J. The property was in a business district that allowed garages and filling sta- tions as long as they complied with itemized restrictions. The station and its three-bay service building took up about 1,800 of the lot's 24,250 square feet. Sun wanted to demolish the station and build a new one. It wanted to put in a new pump island and canopy, build a minimart store, and increase the area containing signs from 99 to about 220 square feet. Convenience stores and supermarkets were among the permitted uses listed in the ordinance. Sun applied to the borough's Planning Board for site plan approval, but the board decided it did not have jurisdiction over the request. Sun then asked the Zoning Board of Adjustment to interpret the ordi- nance. The zoning board decided that although each use would be allowed on the property individually, the ordinance did not allow more than one princi- pal use on a single property. The board based its decision on the ordinance's language.