New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 36 - GREEN ACRES PROGRAM › Subchapter 26 - STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR COMMISSIONER AND STATE HOUSE COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE DISPOSAL OR DIVERSION OF FUNDED OR UNFUNDED PARKLAND › Section 7:36-26.1 - Department policy on disposals and diversions; substantive standards

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) It is the Department's policy to strongly discourage the disposal or diversion of both funded and unfunded parkland. The use of parkland for other than recreation and conservation purposes should be a last resort, and should only be considered by a local government unit or nonprofit when the proposed disposal or diversion is necessary for a project that would satisfy a compelling public need or yield a significant public benefit as defined at (d)1 below.
(b) A local government unit or nonprofit that seeks to dispose of or divert funded or unfunded parkland shall submit an application in accordance with the procedures in this subchapter for approval from the Commissioner and the State House Commission. Any disposal or diversion of parkland without the prior approval of the Commissioner and the State House Commission is void and of no legal effect.
(c) In evaluating applications for the disposal or diversion of parkland, the Department will carefully weigh the competing public interests presented by the project as opposed to the preservation of the parkland in its current condition; the impact of the proposed project on the parkland and other parkland throughout the State; the possible adverse consequences of the project, including the adverse consequences listed in (e) below; the objectives of the GSPT Act; and the proposed compensation in determining whether to approve the application.
(d) No application for the disposal or diversion of parkland under this subchapter shall be approved by the Commissioner and the State House Commission unless the applicant proposing the disposal or diversion complies with all of the procedural requirements of this subchapter and the proposed disposal or diversion meets the following minimum substantive criteria:
1. The disposal or diversion of funded or unfunded parkland is for a project that will:
i. Fulfill a compelling public need, as demonstrated by the applicant in accordance with 7:36-26.4(d)1  iv (minor disposals or diversions of parkland) or 7:36-26.9(d)1iv (major disposals or diversions of parkland), by mitigating a hazard to the public health, safety or welfare;
ii. Yield a significant public benefit, as demonstrated by the applicant in accordance with 7:36-26.4(d)1  iv (minor disposals or diversions of parkland) or 7:36-26.9(d)1iv (major disposals or diversions of parkland), by improving the delivery by the local government unit or nonprofit, or by an agent thereof, of essential services to the public or to a segment of the public having a special need; or, if the purpose of the proposed disposal or diversion is to enable the construction of an inclusionary development as defined by the Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-304f, by ensuring that at least 20 percent of the housing units in the development are set aside for low and moderate income households; or
iii. For major disposals or diversions of parkland, provide an exceptional recreation and/or conservation benefit, as demonstrated by the applicant under 7:36-26.10(o), by substantially improving the quantity and quality of parkland, within the boundaries of the local government unit or watershed where the parkland proposed for disposal or diversion is located if feasible, without resulting substantially in any of the adverse consequences listed at 7:36-26.1(e);