The Facts About Development

Whenever a major development application is submitted to the Township’s Planning or Zoning Board, the question that is invariably asked of the Township Committee is: “why can’t you just tell them no?”  Unfortunately, the answer is not as simple as the question may imply.

There are strict laws governing land use in New Jersey that are rooted in our very Constitutional rights.  The boards are independent bodies.  Their review process is dictated by State laws that provide criteria for determining if an application meets the terms of the statute.  Thus, an application cannot be denied simply because a board does not want it.  There must be sound legal grounds to deny an application based on some conflict with existing laws or local zoning restrictions.  Under State law, the Planning Board, with the aid of the planning staff, drafts a Master Plan.  After public notice and hearings, it is adopted and zoning ordinances setting out what is permitted or prohibited are adopted by the Township Committee.

Making matters worse, the State dictates to the Planning Board and Township Committee that much of the new housing in Middletown has to meet the Supreme Court’s affordable housing quotas.  This requirement severely limits the local zoning powers of the Township since State law requires that we provide for an obscene number of affordable housing units, which total over 2,000 units to date.  Middletown has aggressively challenged  this affordable housing mandate and is currently awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision.

About 30 percent of our households are at or below the State’s requirements to qualify for affordable housing. It is our position that the law and the Supreme Court decisions that started all of this were intended to stop towns from being “Exclusionary,” in other words from purposely acting to keep lower income families out.

Middletown has never done that. In fact, Middletown developed plenty of affordable housing through the free market in the 1970s and 1980s, long before there were court-imposed mandates to do so.  Middletown has never been opposed to affordable housing designed in a sensible and meaningful way that does not detract from the quality of life of our community.

What we do oppose are huge mandatory numbers for new construction on top of our already abundant supply of existing affordable housing.  Governor Christie tried to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and unburden towns from this oppressive mandate, only to be overruled by a court order.    Middletown is currently pursuing a legal challenge to what we see as a grossly unfair and costly system that takes away the town’s ability to decide its own development destiny.  We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will understand our legal position and rule in Middletown’s favor and allow us to decide on how we develop, not a court order. We must be mindful that until the laws change dramatically or the courts make major changes, the problems towns face relative to affordable housing requirements and their associated quotas will unfortunately continue to be a burden on local taxpayers.

Fortunately, Middletown has very strong, knowledgeable Planning and Zoning Boards that do everything within their legal powers to limit the negative effects of development on the Township.  The Boards must always be diligent in giving an applicant a fair and impartial hearing, while protecting the Township from a legal challenge in the event that an application is turned down.  The latter is often an inescapable part of the process.  As a result, it is imperative that the boards not overstep their bounds and follow the law so the Township can defend its position if it ends up in court.

Even with all of the pressure on the town from court mandates and COAH quotas, Middletown’s efforts to rein in overdevelopment have been largely successful.  Evidence of this lies in the fact that Middletown’s population has remained flat from the year 2000 until now.  In addition, Middletown has a very aggressive open space program that has successfully preserved thousands of acres over the years. 

Although the planning process is guided by State law, the public can and does play a very important role.  When an application comes before a board, the public is encouraged to attend meetings and provide input, either through oral testimony or written comment.  This is extremely valuable for the Planning Board, since many issues and potential flaws in an application will only come to light through this exchange with the public.  Here are some points to remember when appearing before the boards:

• Review the zoning ordinances that govern development on the proposed property.
• If you oppose an application, have concrete reasons and facts based on conflicts with the applied variances as to why the application should be turned down.  Just saying you don’t want it is not grounds for denying an application.
• Whenever possible, provide expert testimony to support your position.
• Always remember to present your position in a respectful manner.  Insults or threats will only damage what may be a very legitimate objection.

In closing, it is a well known fact that New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the union.  As such, it is critical that all future development be scrutinized and any negative impacts to the community  mitigated as much as humanly possible within the law.  The Middletown Township Committee is dedicated to keeping development in town to a minimum within the constraints of what the law will allow.  To that end, we have aggressively pursued expanding the amount of dedicated open space in town, either through direct purchase or conservation easements, while fighting destructive policies like excessive government-subsidized, low and moderate affordable housing that threaten the remaining open spaces and quality of life we all currently enjoy. 

Keep listening for news about this important issue.

Gerry Scharfenberger is the mayor of Middetown, NJ.