N.J.S.A. 40:55D-40 — Discretionary contents of subdivision ordinance.

40:55D-40 Discretionary contents of subdivision ordinance. 29.2. An ordinance requiring subdivision approval by the planning board pursuant to this article may also include: a. Provisions for minor subdivision approval pursuant to section 35 of this act; and b. Standards permitting lot-size averaging and encouraging and promoting flexibility, economy and environmental soundness in layout and design in accordance with which the planning board may approve the varying, within a conventional subdivision, of lot areas and dimensions, and yards and setbacks otherwise required by municipal development regulations; provided that the authorized density on the parcel or set of contiguous parcels is not exceeded; provided that such standards shall be appropriate to the type of development permitted. An ordinance authorizing the planning board to approve subdivisions with varying lot areas may set forth limitations, or impose no limitation, upon the extent of variation in lot areas. L.1975, c.291, s.29.2; amended 2013, c.106, s.10. 40:55D-40.1. Definitions 1. As used in this act: "Board" means the Site Improvement Advisory Board established by this act; "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Community Affairs; "Department" means the Department of Community Affairs; and "Site improvement" means any construction work on, or improvement in connection with, residential development, and shall be limited to, streets, roads, parking facilities, sidewalks, drainage structures, and utilities. L.1993,c.32,s.1. 40:55D-40.2. Findings, declarations 2. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that: a. The multiplicity of standards for subdivisions and site improvements that currently exists in this State increases the costs of housing without commensurate gains in the protection of the public health and safety; b. It is in the public interest to avoid unnecessary cost in the construction process and uniform site improvement standards that are both sound and cost effective will advance this goal; c. Adoption of uniform site improvement standards will satisfy the need to ensure predictability; d. The public interest is best served by having development review based, to the greatest extent possible, upon sound, objective site improvement standards rather than upon discretionary design standards; e. The goal of streamlining the development approval process by improving the efficiency of the application process is best served by the establishment of a uniform set of technical site improvement standards for land development which represents a consensus of informed and interested parties and which adequately addresses their concerns; f. In order to provide the widest possible range of design freedom and promote diversity, technical requirements should be based upon uniform site improvement standards; and g. The policymaking aspects of development review are best separated from the making of technical determinations. L.1993,c.32,s.2. 40:55D-40.3. Site Improvement Advisory Board. 3. a. There is established in, but not of, the department a Site Improvement Advisory Board, to devise statewide site improvement standards pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1993, c.32 (C.40:55D-40.4). The board shall consist of the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, who shall be a non-voting member of the board, the Director of the Division of Codes and Standards in the Department of Community Affairs, who shall be a voting member of the board, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, or the executive director's designee, who shall be a voting member of the board, and nine other voting members, to be appointed by the commissioner. The other members shall include two professional planners, one of whom serves as a planner for a governmental entity or whose professional experience is predominantly in the public sector and who has worked in the public sector for at least the previous five years and the other of whom serves as a planner in private practice and has particular expertise in private residential development and has been involved in private sector planning for at least the previous five years, and one representative each from: (1) The New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers; (2) The New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers; (3) The New Jersey Association of County Engineers; (4) The New Jersey Federation of Planning Officials; (5) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2024, c.2); (6) The New Jersey Builders' Association; (7) The New Jersey Institute of Technology; (8) The New Jersey State League of Municipalities. b. Among the members to be appointed by the commissioner who are first appointed, four shall be appointed for terms of two years each, four shall be appointed for terms of three years each, and two shall be appointed for terms of four years each. Thereafter, each appointee shall serve for a term of four years. Vacancies in the membership shall be filled in the same manner as original appointments are made, for the unexpired term. The board shall select a chair from among its members. Members may be removed by the commissioner for cause. c. Board members shall serve without compensation, but may be entitled to reimbursement, from moneys appropriated or otherwise made available for the purposes of this act, for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. L.1993,c.32,s.3; amended 2024, c.2, s.19. 40:55D-40.4. Submission of recommendations for Statewide site improvement standards for residential development 4. a. The board shall, no later than 180 days following the appointment of its full membership, prepare and submit to the commissioner recommendations for Statewide site improvement standards for residential development. The site improvement standards shall implement the recommendations with respect to streets, off-street parking, water supply, sanitary sewers and storm water management of Article Six (with the exhibits appended thereto) of the January 1987 "Model Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance" prepared for the department by The Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers, The State University, except to the extent that the recommendations set forth in the "Model Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance" are inconsistent with the requirements of other law; provided, however, that, in the case of inconsistency between the "Model Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance" and the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.), the site improvement standards recommended by the board shall conform to the provisions of the "Model Subdivision and Site Plan Ordinance;" and provided, further, that the board may in developing its recommendations, replace or modify any of the specific standards set forth in the aforesaid model ordinance in light of any recommended site improvement standards promulgated under similarly authoritative auspices of any academic or professional institution or organization. In addition to those recommended standards, the board shall develop, and shall submit with recommendation to the commissioner, a model application form for use throughout the State. At the time the board submits its recommendations for Statewide site improvement standards and a model Statewide application form, the board shall submit to the commissioner, the Governor and the Legislature any recommendations it may deem necessary, in view of the recommended site improvement standards and the model statewide application form, for changes in the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.). b. The commissioner shall review the recommendations submitted by the board and, following his review, shall establish, by regulation adopted pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), a set of Statewide site improvement standards to be followed by municipalities in granting development approval pursuant to P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) and a standard application form that shall be used throughout the State. The commissioner shall promulgate the recommendations of the board with regard to Statewide site improvement standards without making a change in any recommended standard unless, in the commissioner's judgment, a standard would: (1) place an unfair economic burden on some municipalities or developers relative to others; or (2) result in a danger to the public health or safety. The commissioner may veto any site improvement standard on the abovementioned grounds; however, any veto of the commissioner may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the board. The regulations shall be adopted within one year of their submission by the board to the commissioner. c. A municipality or developer may seek a waiver of any site improvement standard adopted by the board in connection with a specific development if, in the judgment of the municipal engineer or the developer, to adhere to the standard would jeopardize the public health and safety. Any application for a waiver shall be submitted in writing to the commissioner, who shall direct the application to a technical subcommittee, as described below, if the commissioner deems the application to be justified according to the standards set forth in this subsection. The technical subcommittee shall consist of those representatives set forth in paragraphs (1), (2) and (6) of subsection a. of section 3 of this act appointed by the commissioner to serve on the Site Improvement Advisory Board. Any decision of the technical subcommittee shall be adopted by resolution explaining the subcommittee's rationale for granting the waiver. The subcommittee shall render its decision within 30 days of the commissioner's determination that the application is justified. Any decision of the technical subcommittee may be appealed to the entire board; however, the board shall render any final decision of an appeal within 10 days of the hearing on the appeal and the decision of the full board shall be final. The waiver process shall not extend the time guidelines which constrain development applications which are set forth in the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.). d. The board shall annually review the regulations adopted pursuant to subsection b. of this section, and shall recommend to the commissioner any changes in those regulations which the board deems necessary based on recommended site improvement standards promulgated under the authoritative auspices of any academic or professional institution or organization. Any changes made in the regulations pursuant to this subsection shall be made according to the same procedure and shall be subject to the same waiver provisions as those set forth in subsections a., b. and c. of this section. L.1993,c.32,s.4. 40:55D-40.5. Supersedure of site improvement standards 5. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary of the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.), the standards set forth in the regulations adopted pursuant to subsection b. of section 4 of this act shall supersede any site improvement standards incorporated within the development ordinances of any municipality, as provided hereunder. The regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to subsection b. of section 4 of this act and any subsequent amendments thereto shall take effect 180 days following the adoption of those regulations and any municipal ordinances in effect on that date shall be deemed to have been repealed and have no further force or effect; provided, however, that the development ordinances of any municipality shall continue to govern any project which has received preliminary approval on or before the effective date of any site improvement standards or amendments adopted thereto. L.1993,c.32,s.5. 40:55D-40.6. Municipal zoning power not limited 6. Nothing contained in this act shall in any way limit the zoning power of any municipality. L.1993,c.32,s.6. 40:55D-40.7. Construction of act 7. a. Nothing in this act shall be construed to modify the provisions of the "Pinelands Protection Act," P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-1 et seq.) or any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto and section 502 of the "National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978" (Pub.L 95-625). b. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit, preempt or in any way affect the exercise of any authority by the State or any county government with respect to site improvements conferred by any other State law or regulation promulgated thereunder. L.1993,c.32,s.7.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-40, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.