Opinion ID: 2365726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 24

Heading: Enjoin Municipal Approval of Other Forms of Development

Text: This remedial device  the imposition of a moratorium on building and other development within the municipality until such time as the municipality has taken steps to provide for its fair share of the regional housing need  is one of the most extreme and possibly most effective remedies available. While it should be used sparingly, this remedy might provide an ideal form of judicial relief in certain cases. Modified versions of this device have already been suggested by commentators and employed by some courts. In Kennedy Park Homes Ass'n v. Lackawanna, supra , for example, the U.S. District Court included in its decree an order That defendants be enjoined from issuing building permits for any construction in the second and third wards which will contribute additional sanitary sewage to the municipal system until Kennedy Park Subdivision (a low and moderate income housing project) has been granted permission to tap into the sewer system by the appropriate authority. [318 F. Supp. at 698.] See Rubinowitz, supra note 8, 6 Mich. J.L. Reform at 661; Rubinowitz, supra at 211-212. Another example of this technique appears in the American Law Institute's proposed Model Land Development Code. Section 7-305 of that code expressly provides that no local land use agency shall approve any proposed development which will create more than 100 new jobs, unless the agency also finds that (1) adequate and reasonably accessible housing for prospective employees is available within or without the jurisdiction of the local government.... If appropriate under the circumstances, these or like provisions could be incorporated by the trial court into its final decree.