Court Opinion

ID: 9757495
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:42:52.788405+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:39.960616
License: Public Domain

Burling, J.
(dissenting). The right to rezone was recently examined and sustained by this court in Monmouth Lumber Co. v. Township of Ocean, 9 N. J. 64 (1952). Abandonment of business use for which the area in question was originally zoned and residential growth in that area were elements involved in the decision upholding the zoning ordinance in that case. Those factors seem present here. The revision of the general planning of the community under R. S. 40:55-2, etc., was also reviewed in the Monmouth Lumber Co. ease, supra, and is applicable here. Also R. S. 40:55-35 provides that the boundaries of zones may be changed. Here the boundary of the residential area was changed to include as much as possible of the area east of Grand Avenue, to prevent a further encroachment of business and light industry. The zoning effort in question appears reasonably related to the lessening of congestion in *190the streets and promotion of the general welfare of the community, with reasonable consideration to the character of the district and its suitability for particular uses and with a view of conserving the value of property and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the municipality. R. S. 40:55-32.
Much of the oral argument of the plaintiffs was addressed to the-fact that Grand Avenue is heavily traveled and therefore should be zoned for business. To so rule would be to open every heavily traveled street to business, a result inimical to the theory of zoning. So likewise with the argument that if one side of a street is zoned for business, the other side should be so zoned. As stated in the majority opinion, zoning of opposite sides of a street for different uses is not per se illegal but must relate to the statutory purpose.
It is my conclusion that in this case, upon the application of the facts to the pertinent legal principles, the judgment of the Superior Court, Appellate Division, should be reversed and the zoning ordinance of the City of Englewood should be sustained in its effect upon the plaintiffs’ property. Zoning is an exercise of the police power and its exercise is not rendered unconstitutional merely by the fact that it works curtailment of private activity; the burden of proof of the unreasonableness of the exercise of this power is upon those who attack it. Monmouth Lumber Co. v. Township of Ocean, supra.
In support of this conclusion attention is invited to the following:
Six owners of real property situate in the City of Englewood initiated this action to test the validity of a 1949 amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance. This amendment was comprehensive, re-zoning much of the area of the city. Of these owners Scarborough Apartments, Inc. (with property situated in Block 116), Realty Investors, Inc. (with property situated in Block 154), and F. A. R. Realty Corporation (with property situated in Block 270) subsequently requested entry of voluntary dismissal, which was granted *191by order of the trial court. The remaining plaintiffs, George-K. McKenzie, Edward Eugene McKeever and Mary T. MeKeever, were owners respectively of. Lots 3, 26C and 27 in Block 215. Lot 3 is on the northeast corner of Grand and Van Kostrand Avenues, with a frontage of 46.32 feet on Grand Avenue; Lot 27 is an interior lot, with a frontage of 89.04 feet on Grand Avenue. Lot 26C is likewise an interior lot, fronting 61.12 feet on Grand Avenue. Lot 3 contains a small real estate office; Lot 27, a residence; and Lot 26C is vacant. The remaining lots in Block 215 are: Lot 1, 46.24 feet frontage on Grand Avenue, residential; Lot 2, 46.32 feet frontage on Grand Avenue, residential; Lot 26D, 129.94 feet frontage on Grand Avenue, a corner lot (Madison and Grand Avenues), contains a gasoline service station and small repair shop.
The evidence shows that Block 215 is located within a large residential area which exists with few exceptions for the entire length of Grand Avenue, in the City of Englewood, along the east side of that thoroughfare. The west side of Grand Avenue is devoted to business and light industry to a fair degree, although a considerable portion is zoned and used for residential purposes and residential use continues even in the business zones. Much of the area of the city west of Grand Avenue is zoned for business and light industry, but the entire area of the city east of Grand Avenue is residential (with a few exceptions on the east side of Grand' Avenue, several blocks distant from Block 215). Block 215 is residential in character. The lots fronting on Grand Avenue are themselves more residential than business in character (three residences, one gas station and repair shop, one small real estate office and vacant land). Plaintiffs’ witness Wilma Mitchell (the real estate agent whose office is mentioned above), mother-in-law of the plaintiff Edward McKeever (and apparently owner of an equitable interest in his property), testified that the three residences above mentioned have been .there many years; that one is lived in by Edward McKeever; that another had been sold recently and *192was still in use as a residence. She further testified that she had made no attempt to sell any of these properties for business purposes, and that there have been no sales for business on that side of the street because the “time wasn’t ripe.” She admitted that in neighboring areas along the east side of Grand Avenue it has been developed by residential and apartment houses, that in the areas to the rear of the east side of Grand Avenue residences had been constructed recently (about 200 feet away),’ and that in a nearby portion of this general area a great many new residences had been built “within the last year or so.” Plaintiff Edward Mc-Keevei testified he entered into the purchase of his residence for his own occupancy, although he claimed to have known it was “unsuitable for living purposes.” He admitted that the three residences in Block 215 had always been occupied as homes and were still occupied as homes; that he continued to occupy his premises as a home; that the people next to him had invested a “lot of money” in their home. He also testified to considerable residential growth in the general area. Borg, a real estate expert called by plaintiffs, testified that many residences exist “east of the newly zoned property”; that “the time has not arrived economically when this property can be employed for business purposes. The expansion hasn’t occurred to that point.” He indicated by his testimony that he believed the question of different zoning on opposite sides of the street depended on the circumstances of the particular area. He corroborated the other evidence as' to the preponderance of residential use in Block 215. He admitted that business use in this block was “hazardous today.” Moon, a defense witness, testified that within 300 feet of the properties in question ten new homes had been built during the last year, and on the opposite side of Madison Avenue (nearby) 16 new dwellings had been authorized; that all of these were one-family houses. Dederick, a real estate expert who testified for the defendant, described these new homes as “rather attractive” and otherwise corroborated Moon. Swan, city planner, testified (with*193out objection) that “there is no demand for stores or businesses on the other side of the street” (referring to the east side of Grand Avenue); he corroborated the testimony of Moon and Dederick. He further testified without objection: “There is no business value in traffic, as such. In fact, heavy traffic can kill a street for business purposes. And to have its stores in this particular block, where you come off of Route 4, it would mean parked cars on the highway; cluttering it up, and holding back traffic”; he discredited the denomination of the real estate office as “business use,” saying that it is not unusual to permit such offices in residential zones to encourage development. Swan testified that the property in question had never been put to business use.
I do not find sufficient in the record to show that the plaintiffs in this case have overcome the presumption of reasonableness with which the law surrounds a zoning ordinance. The preponderance of the evidence shows compliance with the theory and purposes of the statute, B. S. 40:55-32, supra.
I am authorized by Mr. Justice Heher to state that he concurs in the views expressed herein.
For affirmance — Chief Justice Vanderbilt, and Justices Oliphant and Wachenpeld — 3.
For reversal — Justices Heher and Burling — -2.