Opinion ID: 3025336
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Redevelopment Plan

Text: While the litigation on the Ordinance made its way through the courts, the applicable zoning ordinance was changed. On October 22, 2002, Long Branch adopted a Redevelopment Plan under N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7 that strictly limited the use of properties within the “Broadway Corridor” area.5 The Property was located in this area. The Broadway 5 N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7 regulates the adoption and implementation of a redevelopment plan and requires that such a plan may not be adopted without “a finding that the specifically delineated project area is located in an area in need of redevelopment or in an area in need of rehabilitation, or in both.” N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7(a). It also provides that The redevelopment plan shall include an outline for the planning, development, redevelopment, or rehabilitation of the project area sufficient to indicate: (1) Its relationship to definite local objectives as to appropriate land uses, density of population, and improved traffic and public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities and other public improvements. (2) Proposed land uses and building requirements in the project area. 9 Redevelopment Plan (the Plan) superseded the Ordinance as the land use regulation applicable to the Property. Long Branch adopted the Plan “in order to achieve redevelopment of an underdeveloped and underutilized segment of the City.” The goals of the redevelopment included “[s]trengthen[ing] retail trade and City revenues,” “[i]ncreas[ing] employment opportunities,” and “[a]ttract[ing] more retail and service enterprises.” The Property is located in the “Broadway Corridor” of the redevelopment area, a “Regional Entertainment / Commercial” sector where the City aimed to encourage a “vibrant” and “vital” downtown residential community centered on a core “sustainable retail ‘main’ street.” Primary uses in that sector included theaters, cinemas, culinary schools, dance studios, music instruction, theater workshops, fashion design schools, and art studios and workshops. Restaurants, bars and clubs, and specialty retail (including book and craft stores), among others, were allowed as secondary uses. Churches were not listed as a permitted use, nor were schools or government buildings; the Design Guidelines under the Plan provided that “[a]ny uses not specifically listed” were prohibited. The Plan also created new application requirements for development within the relevant area. The first step in the process, the RFQ (Request for Qualifications), required applicants to describe the development team members’ expertise and qualifications. The second step, the RFP (Request for Id. 10 Proposal), required a detailed description of the project. No property could be developed in the Redevelopment Area until the plans had been approved by the City Council. The Plan provided that the approved developers would acquire the necessary properties from their owners, but reserved the right for Long Branch to condemn properties if negotiations failed. The Plan did not include an individual waiver procedure, but the Plan could be amended by ordinance of the City Council after review of the proposed amendment by the Planning Board. On November 11, 2003, Lighthouse, as the “Long Branch Center of Faith,” submitted an RFQ seeking to be designated as developer for the Property. The application, about one page long, also requested a “waiver of prohibition of church use.” It specified that Rev. Brown sought “to use the property as a church and for church related functions, including assembly for prayer, pastoral residence, church offices, and a religious gift shop from the storefront portion in front of the property.” The RFQ was not approved. Lighthouse appealed to the Long Branch City Council. The City Council held an evidentiary hearing, at which Rev. Brown and two Long Branch planners presented testimony. The City Council denied the appeal, first, because the proposed use was “not permitted in the zone,” and, second, because the application was insufficient since it contained no information as to finances, scope of the project, size of the congregation, aesthetics or design. The City Council also denied the request for amendment of the Plan because the “inclusion of a storefront church would jeopardize” the development of the Broadway 11 area, which was envisioned as “an entertainment / commercial zone with businesses that are for profit.” 6 The City Council found that a church would “destroy the ability of the block to be used as a high end entertainment and recreation area” due to a New Jersey statute which prohibits the issuance of liquor licenses within two hundred feet of a house of worship.7