Opinion ID: 1962760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rumson Estates v. Mayor & Council of Borough of Fair Haven

Text: Fair Haven is a fully developed municipality of approximately one square mile. Its population of 6,000 is basically dispersed among single lot construction and small subdivisions. In 1999, as part of a comprehensive revision of its Development Regulations, Fair Haven changed the zoning of the William Street block from R-7.5 (requiring sixty feet of frontage and a minimum lot area of 7,500 square feet) to R-5 (requiring fifty feet of frontage and a minimum lot area of 5,000 square feet). It included a maximum floor area ratio of .40. Such a ratio essentially limits habitable floor area to a percentage of the total lot. The ordinance also capped the floor area at 2,200 square feet for all single-family dwellings in the district. Under the ordinance, the smaller of the floor area ratio or the cap applies. Plaintiff, Rumson Estates, Inc., is the owner of an approximately 27,000 square foot parcel of property in Fair Haven that it proposed to subdivide into three lots of fairly equal size. Each lot was to have fifty feet of frontage, a depth of 181.5 feet and a total area of 9,066.4 square feet. Applying the floor area ratio only, plaintiff would have been able to build a house of approximately 3,600 square feet on each lot. However, the cap limited plaintiff to 2,200 square feet. After the Fair Haven Planning Board denied the application for a subdivision and a variance to exceed the cap, plaintiff filed a Complaint in Lieu of Prerogative Writs claiming, among other things, that the cap was ultra vires because it altered the MLUL definition of lot and thus skewed the MLUL definition of floor area ratio. The gist of that argument was that the cap interfered with the relationship between floor area and total land area, which is at the heart of the MLUL definition of floor area ratio. While the matter was pending in the Law Division, plaintiff refiled its subdivision application without the floor area variance request, and the Fair Haven Planning Board granted approval subject to the cap. Thereafter, plaintiff moved for summary judgment, citing the Appellate Division decision in Manalapan Builders Alliance, Inc. v. Township Comm. of Manalapan, 256 N.J.Super. 295, 606 A. 2d 1132 (1992), for the proposition that the cap was ultra vires because it violated the definition of floor area ratio in the MLUL. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that Fair Haven's purpose in enacting the cap, which was to diversify the town's residential housing stock by allowing for smaller, more affordable construction, was a legitimate one, and that plaintiff did not defeat the presumption in favor of the cap's validity. Plaintiff appealed. Before the Appellate Division, plaintiff reiterated its argument that the cap violated the floor area ratio definition in the MLUL and was ultra vires. The Appellate Division disagreed. In a ruling penned by Judge Carchman, the court began its analysis with the presumption of validity of the zoning ordinance and the absence of a provision restricting Fair Haven from enacting a cap. Rumson Estates, Inc. v. Mayor & Council of Fair Haven, 350 N.J.Super. 324, 331-32, 795 A. 2d 290 (App.Div.2002). Proceeding, the court observed that Fair Haven's putative purposes in enacting the ordinance were the legitimate goals of ensuring the proportionality of new construction to other homes in the zone and providing affordable housing in a municipality with limited area and housing stock. Id. at 329, 795 A. 2d 290. The court upheld the cap as an exercise of the municipality's authority to regulate the size of structures, by using, in addition to floor area ratios, other ratios and regulatory techniques. Id. at 331-32, 795 A. 2d 290. In so doing, the court distinguished Manalapan Builders because the cap did not violate a definition in the MLUL. Id. at 330, 795 A. 2d 290. The dissenting judge, Judge Wells, concluded that if redefining the formula for floor area ratio to achieve the salutary goal of protecting environmentally sensitive land is ultra vires under Manalapan Builders, then it is also impermissible to manipulate the definition by use of a cap. Id. at 334, 795 A. 2d 290 (Wells, J., dissenting). The matter is before us as of right because of the dissent in the Appellate Division. R. 2:2-1(2). We accorded amicus status to the New Jersey Builders Association.