Opinion ID: 2365726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Remedial Objectives

Text: Five basic goals or objectives are readily identifiable. Most important, the trial court must prohibit continued use of the zoning power for illegal, exclusionary purposes. Ordinarily, this may be accomplished by enjoining operation of exclusionary devices and ordering the municipality to amend its zoning ordinance to correct these deficiencies. Thus the court can alter an exclusionary scheme and foreclose prospective denial of plaintiffs' rights. Mt. Laurel, supra, 67 N.J. at 191. Insofar as the majority opinion sets aside the unlawfully exclusionary provisions of the Madison Township zoning ordinance and orders the township to correct the deficiencies therein, I join in that opinion. Ante at 552-553. Second: Not only must the trial court enjoin all prospective abuse of the zoning power, but through its remedial order it must provide effective relief to remedy past discrimination as well. Thus, in Mt. Laurel, we held that where a municipality chooses to exercise its power pursuant to the zoning enabling act, it automatically assumes a presumptive obligation with respect to regional housing needs: We conclude that every such municipality must, by its land use regulations, presumptively make realistically possible an appropriate variety and choice of housing. More specifically, presumptively it cannot foreclose the opportunity of the classes of people mentioned for low and moderate income housing and in its regulations must affirmatively afford that opportunity, at least to the extent of the municipality's fair share of the present and prospective regional need therefor. [67 N.J. at 174; emphasis supplied.] When a court has determined that a municipality has failed to meet this obligation, it must order that community to fulfill its duty. [13] This means that the town must make housing opportunities reasonably available to persons who desire to live there, but have been precluded from doing so by the town's land use regulations. Obviously, if the rights afforded by Mt. Laurel are to have any real meaning or value, fulfillment of the obligation must be measured in terms of actual production of sufficiently dispersed low and moderate income housing. [14] Judicial relief therefore must be geared toward achieving that goal. One well-reasoned article states: Where a municipality has engaged in exclusionary practices, particularly where it has done so in the face of precedents like Mount Laurel, the overriding judicial consideration should be to get housing built without delay.[ [15] ] [Mytelka & Mytelka, supra, 7 Seton Hall L. Rev. at 26.] Third: While principally designed to eliminate exclusionary zoning and encourage construction of low and moderate cost housing, remedial decrees must not be insensitive to other legitimate local concerns. Therefore, judicial decrees must also strive to preserve the amenities which have made the defendant-municipality an attractive place in which to live. This goal reflects the fact that providing an appropriate variety and choice of housing, though fundamental, is not the only objective of land use planning. Other objectives include preservation of the environment, regulation of the pace of community growth and development and protection of the public health, safety and welfare. N.J.S.A. 40:55-32, superseded by Municipal Land Use Act, L. 1975, c. 291, § 2. In Mt. Laurel, we stressed the importance of these additional functions of zoning. Mt. Laurel, supra, 67 N.J. at 190-191; id. at 212-213 (Pashman, J., concurring). Cf. Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 39 L.Ed. 2d 797 (1974); Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365, 47 S.Ct. 114, 71 L.Ed. 303 (1926). A failure to advance this third objective could invariably lead to a condition which has been described as follows: Exclusionary zoning can be successfully attacked in the courts, but the excluded can win too well. If land use regulations are torn down without regard to the efficacy of substitute ordinances, the desirable residential community which originally attracted the plaintiffs can rapidly deteriorate into a place of soaring taxes, disappearing amenities, and inadequate schools, utilities, and public services  in short, a scene of chaotic, ugly growth. [Mytelka & Mytelka, supra, 7 Seton Hall L. Rev. at 1-2.] To avoid such a result the trial court must carefully balance the objective of building lower cost residences with the goal of preserving local amenities. As we noted in Mt. Laurel, both of these objectives can be achieved through careful planning and local cooperation: There is no reason why developing municipalities like Mount Laurel, required by this opinion to afford the opportunity for all types of housing to meet the needs of various categories of people, may not become and remain attractive, viable communities providing good living and adequate services for all their residents in the kind of atmosphere which a democracy and free institutions demand. They can have industrial sections, commercial sections and sections for every kind of housing from low cost and multifamily to lots of more than an acre with very expensive homes. Proper planning and governmental cooperation can prevent over-intensive and too sudden development, insure against future suburban sprawl and slums and assure the preservation of open space and local beauty. We do not intend that developing municipalities shall be overwhelmed by voracious land speculators and developers if they use the powers which they have intelligently and in the broad public interest. Under our holdings today, they can be better communities for all than they previously have been. [67 N.J. at 190-191] See generally Sedler, Conditional, Experimental and Substitutional Relief, 16 Rutgers L. Rev. 639 (1962). Fourth: So far as practical, the relief granted should respect the principle of local prerogative in land use planning. As was recognized in Mt. Laurel, zoning is still largely a function of local government. [16] Mt. Laurel, supra, 67 N.J. at 189. Therefore, at least in the first instance, it is the function and responsibility of local government to revise and amend its zoning ordinance and to formulate plans to meet its affirmative obligation under Mt. Laurel. Id. at 191. For this reason courts usually require the initial stages of remedial action to be undertaken by the municipality. Of course, respect for local judgment and control of land use decisions does not justify judicial acquiescence to indifference, evasion or subterfuge on the part of the municipality. Therefore, respect for local control should never override the other objectives of remedial action. As I stated in Mt. Laurel, [t]he mere fact that local land use control issues are involved does not preclude the court ... from exercising full panoply of equitable powers to remedy the situation. 67 N.J. at 215 (Pashman, J., concurring). Fifth: The relief ordered by the trial court must be judicially manageable. This, of course, does not mean that it may not be innovative, flexible, or require long-range or novel forms of judicial involvement. In short, the appropriateness and sufficiency of each remedial device must be measured in terms of its relation to the advancement of these five goals and objectives. [17]