Agenda - Planning Commission - 06/04/2015

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Zoning Bulletin March 10, 2015 ( Volume 9 1 Issue 5 growth, prevention of sprawl and provision for light, air, and open space; the ordinances "represented the culmination of a comprehensive land -use planning process that included a makeover of the Township's Master Plan"; and the ordinances complied with the MLUL requirement of consistency between zoning ordinances and a town's master plan. Despite the fact that the Griepenburgs' property contained neither endangered species nor environmentally distinct features, the court found that the inclusion of the property in the EC district was not "arbitrary, un- reasonable, capricious, and illegal." Rather, the court concluded that the inclusion of the Griepenburgs' property in the EC district rationally related to the Township's objectives in enacting the ordinances, which were: "to create a contiguous tract, or corridor, of environmentally related, sensitive coastal uplands in order to preserve and protect coastal habitat and ecosystems and to provide a buffer for its corresponding intention to promote smart growth in a sustainable, concentrated town center." The court concluded that the inclusion of the Griepenburgs' property in the EC district rationally related to the Township's comprehensive smart growth development plan, which "had the additional benefit of protecting a sensi- tive coastal ecosystem through the preservation of undisturbed, contiguous, forested uplands, of which [the Griepenburgs'] property [was] an integral and connected part." The court added that it would "decline to invalidate ordinances that fulfill MLUL goals and other legitimate land -use planning objectives . . .." See also: Riggs v. Long Beach Tp., 109 N.J. 601, 538 A.2d 808 (1988). Case Note: The Griepenburgs had also brought an inverse condemnation claire. The court found that claim better addressed their claim for redress for the downzoning of their property. However, the court found that the Griepenburgs could only bring that claim f they first exhausted their administrative remedies by applying for a variance, and then bringing the inverse condemnation claim if that variance was denied. Zoning News from Around the Nation MASSACHUSETTS State Representative Denise Garlick has reportedly "refiled previously vetoed legislation to create an environmental buffer zone along Route 128 near the proposed Greendale Mews affordable housing project." Garlick argues the buffer is necessary to shield residents from highway air pollution and to assist with stormwater drainage. Opponents, including former © 2015 Thomson Reuters 11