Opinion ID: 1901249
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Glenview Development Co. v. Franklin Township

Text: The SDGP's treatment of agricultural areas is similar to that of limited growth municipalities: municipalities, like Franklin, classified as exclusively agricultural and/or conservation have no obligation to provide a fair share of the prospective regional housing need. The validity of this policy judgment is made clear by an examination of Franklin Township and its zoning history. Franklin Township is a predominantly rural municipality in the center of Hunterdon County comprised of 23.3 square miles (14,718 acres), characterized as exclusively agricultural by the SDGP. It is located approximately 45 miles from Newark, 40 miles from Trenton, and 35 miles from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Seventy-six percent of the Township is under farmland assessment pursuant to the New Jersey Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1 to -23.24. Less than 3 percent of the Township is devoted to industrial and commercial uses. The population of Franklin, 2,294 in 1980, though substantially greater than its 1950 population of 1,255, has grown by only 140 since 1970. Franklin's 1980 population density of 98.4 people per square mile is significantly fewer than Hunterdon County's 203.4 and the state's 983.3. Franklin's infrastructure network is relatively undeveloped. The Township itself has no public sewer or water utilities, although such services may be available from the adjacent Town of Clinton. Roads in the Township amount to only 2.58 linear miles per square mile, compared with a state mean of 10.24 linear miles per square mile. Mass transit is non-existent. There is only one public elementary school and one volunteer fire department. The challenged Franklin zoning ordinance contains four zones: R-3 (agricultural, residential single family with three acre minimum, home occupations in a residence, public buildings, roadside stands, industrial) (12,798 acres or 87 percent of total); R-5 (same as R-3 with five acre minimum) (1,143 acres or 8 percent); Business (206 acres or 1.5 percent); and Flood Plain (only agricultural and recreational uses  no structures permitted) (279 acres or 2 percent). No multi-family dwellings are permitted. Plaintiff Glenview's property is wholly within the R-3 zone. Glenview owns 242 acres in Franklin that are presently zoned primarily for residential or agricultural uses on three acre or larger lots. On September 7, 1976, it brought an action in lieu of prerogative writ against Franklin challenging both the Township's zoning ordinance as a whole and its application to plaintiff's land. Glenview claimed that the ordinance failed to provide for Franklin's fair share of the regional low and moderate income housing need and was therefore invalid under both Mount Laurel and the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL), N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 to -92. On December 18, 1978, two and one half years after the original complaint was filed and after a seven day trial, the trial court, in an opinion reported at 164 N.J. Super. 563 (1978), held that because Franklin Township has not yet shed its rural characteristics, it was not a developing municipality and therefore was not subject to the mandate of Mount Laurel. The court further held that no distinct obligation to provide low and moderate income housing was imposed on municipalities by certain sections of the MLUL. Finally, the court rejected plaintiff's claim that the Township's zoning ordinance was confiscatory as applied to plaintiff's property. [64] Clearly, imposition of a fair share requirement on Franklin at this time would be terribly costly and would result in tremendous change. The SDGP's classification of Franklin as an area where growth should be discouraged appears logical. The SDGP's conclusion was that high density development should be located elsewhere; that agricultural areas such as those found in Franklin should be preserved. We see no reason for the judiciary to disturb this conclusion of the state's comprehensive plan. We therefore affirm the trial court's determination that Franklin has no prospective fair share obligation. This does not, of course, relieve Franklin of its obligation to meet the present housing needs of its indigenous poor. Plaintiff suggests that the MLUL is, in large part, a codification of the Mount Laurel fair share duty, particularly sections 55D-2(a), (d), and (e). Moreover, plaintiff claims that the MLUL extends the application of a fair share duty to all municipalities in the state, making the developing distinction obsolete. We do not believe that the MLUL in any way attempts to define or codify the Mount Laurel obligation, although, as noted above, the MLUL explicitly recognizes the municipal obligation to zone with regional consequences in mind, and certain of its provisions strongly support the use of the SDGP to determine the locus of the obligation. The legislative history of the MLUL leads us to conclude that while the Legislature was cognizant of our Mount Laurel I decision and drafted the MLUL so as not to conflict with it, it did not incorporate the doctrine into the legislation. This legislative intent was made clear by the MLUL's sponsor, Senator Greenberg, during a public hearing on the bill (S-3054): The bill is a codification of five basic land use statutes enacted at different points in time, including the Planning Acts and the Zoning Enabling Acts, the Official Map and Building Act, the Plan Unit Development Act, and the Regional Planning Act. Now as everyone in this room and throughout the State, I would suspect, knows by this time the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey has rendered a decision which is commonly referred to as the Mt. Laurel Decision. So that the record is clear, this bill is not a response to that decision. This bill, as I have stated, is a procedural bill in concept and it should not be confused with any other bills which are pending dealing with the Mt. Laurel decision, one of which is mine and that may have given rise to some confusion. I have introduced a bill, the number of which is 3100, [65] which deals with a balanced housing concept. That is not the subject of this hearing, and I want to make that very, very clear. Public Hearing Before Senate County and Municipal Government Committee on Senate Bill No. 3054, April 3, 1975, at 2. Other speakers reiterated Senator Greenberg's point: This Bill is void of any provision concerning the problem of exclusionary zoning as set forth in the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision of Southern Burlington County, N.A.A.C.P., et al. v. Township of Mount Laurel , which was decided on March 24, 1975. [ Id. at 32.] [Robert Molnar, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association]; It should also be noted that S-3054 does not affect the zoning powers of a municipality with respect to that municipality's power to determine use and density, lest the bill be confused with the recent Mt. Laurel Supreme Court decision. The key element of S-3054 is its procedural streamlining. [ Id. at 13.] [Stewart Hutt, General Counsel, New Jersey Builder's Assn.] In fact, Mr. Molnar expressed his Committee's regret that the proposed MLUL did not address the substantive zoning duties announced in Mount Laurel I: Although we realize this hearing is not on Senate Bill 3100, we think the time and attention of this Committee would be better directed to the provisions of that Bill in terms of meeting the issues raised by the Mount Laurel decision. Our Committee feels that the time has long passed for any half-way measures and that strong affirmative action will have to be taken by the New Jersey legislature so that these vital matters can be settled here where they rightly belong, not in the Courts by default. [ Id. at 33.] Senator Greenberg's response is self-explanatory: SENATOR GREENBERG: Well, I appreciate your views. Since you were not here, let me just succinctly state again that this bill has been approximately one and a half years in the drafting at the direction of this Committee. It is true that the Mount Laurel decision was making its way up through the courts at that time. And almost simultaneously with the drafting of this bill, I have been engaged in the drafting of a bill dealing with housing which is presently pending in our Committee, to which you have also referred. I do not agree that the matters must be considered at the same time, and I have so stated. This is a bill which I deem to be procedural in nature and will permit, in my judgment, the implementation of any modifications which the Legislature sees fit to make as a result of the mandate directed to the Legislature in the Mount Laurel decision. I have very carefully attempted to read the Mount Laurel decision and I have only read it three times, so I am not quite yet sufficiently familiar with all of the ramifications to comment on it, nor do I think it's appropriate today. But I have also re-read this bill that is under consideration today in the light of the Mount Laurel decision to determine whether or not there is anything in it which runs contrary to the concepts and principles of the Mount Laurel decision, and I do not find such conflict. I do find that local municipalities will have to function in some capacity with some element of home rule maintained in this State in the future but in conformity with the decision in the Mount Laurel opinion. My view, and I speak for myself on this subject, is that this bill would permit those municipalities to function more effectively from a procedural point of view, regardless of any ultimate legislation that the Legislature may see fit to adopt in conformity with Mount Laurel. [ Id. at 35-36.] In other words, the MLUL was viewed as a procedural device. It did not interfere with the satisfaction of the constitutional duty. It was not a legislative effort aimed at creating balanced housing opportunities in New Jersey. See, e.g., The Comprehensive and Balanced Housing Plan Act, S-505 (1978). Given the realities of the political process discussed previously, the actual passage and enactment of the MLUL serve as further evidence of its limited purpose. We therefore agree with the trial court's rejection of plaintiff's claim that the MLUL legislative imposes a fair share duty on all municipalities. As in Caputo v. Chester, we necessarily decide that no builder's remedy is warranted here, since Glenview did not prevail either at the trial or appellate level. Furthermore, since its claim essentially was for Mount Laurel relief that would require Franklin to provide its fair share of the region's prospective need, a builder's remedy would be inappropriate even if, on further proceedings authorized below, it is determined that the ordinance does not adequately provide for Franklin's present indigenous lower income housing needs. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court denying a builder's remedy. Given the new principles set forth in this opinion, plaintiff should be given the opportunity at the trial level to challenge the adequacy of the amended ordinance to meet Franklin's indigenously generated present need. We therefore reverse and remand for such further proceedings as plaintiff may wish to pursue on that issue alone, in accordance with our opinion.