Court Opinion

ID: 9897554
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-14 19:16:04.807638+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:53.130381
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
             APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

                                   SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
                                   APPELLATE DIVISION
                                   DOCKET NO. A-2564-21

IN THE MATTER OF
ROUTE 66, JUMPING BROOK
                                           APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION
ROAD TO BOWNE ROAD/
                                                  October 11, 2023
WAYSIDE ROAD,
MODIFICATION OF ACCESS,                         APPELLATE DIVISION

BLOCK 3705, LOT 12,
NEPTUNE, MONMOUTH
COUNTY (THE MASSA
DESIGN & BUILDING CO., LLC).
______________________________

          Argued September 11, 2023 – Decided October 11, 2023

          Before Judges Sabatino, Mawla, and Marczyk.

          On appeal from the New Jersey Department of
          Transportation.

          Eric J. Boden argued the cause for appellant Massa
          Design & Building Company, LLC (Brach Eichler
          LLC, attorneys; Susan R. Rubright and Eric J. Boden,
          of counsel and on the briefs).

          Dennis J. Mikolay II, Deputy Attorney General, argued
          the cause for respondent New Jersey Department of
          Transportation (Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General,
          attorney; Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney
          General, of counsel; Dennis J. Mikolay II, on the brief).

    The opinion of the court was delivered by

SABATINO, P.J.A.D.
      This administrative appeal concerns a State roadway project's alteration

of a commercial property owner's access to a State highway. It presents this

court with its first opportunity in a published opinion to address certain

provisions adopted in 2018 that extensively revised the State Highway Access

Management Code (the "Access Code"), N.J.A.C. 16:47–1.1 to –14.1.

      The pivotal legal issue here is whether the roadway project's replacement

of appellant's direct access to State Highway 66 ("Route 66") through an existing

driveway with access through a shared driveway connecting to an adjacent

landowner's parcel comprises a "revocation" or "removal" of appellant's means

of access, or, alternatively, whether the change is simply a "modification" of

access.

      Our analysis of this issue entails consideration of both the pertinent

statutory provision, N.J.S.A. 27:7–94, and various 2018 amendments to the

companion regulations within the Access Code that revised the applicable

terminology.   The configuration will enable motorists going to appellant's

property from Route 66 to turn into the shared driveway, briefly travel on an

easement through the adjacent property, and then branch off to an internal

driveway on appellant's lot leading to appellant's commercial building.

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      For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Department of Transportation's

final agency decision deeming the new configuration a "modification" of

appellant's access to Route 66, rather than a "revocation" or "removal" of access.

The new configuration is a modification because under the revised 2018 version

of the Access Code, it entails "replacing all ingress or all egress between a State

highway and a lot or site with ingress or egress via a private easement on a

different lot or site[.]" N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1.

      The configuration is not a revocation or a removal because it does not

eliminate all access to Route 66 and does not require motorists to traverse

another public street in order to connect to appellant's premises.             The

Department did not misapply its authority and regulatory expertise in deeming

the roadway changes a modification.

      We also sustain the Department's rejection of the alternative new means

of access proposed by appellant and its expert. The rejection was neither

arbitrary nor capricious.

                                        I.

      We derive the following pertinent facts from the administrative record.

Appellant Massa Design & Building Company, LLC ("Massa Design") owns a

single-story office building situated on the westbound side of Route 66 in

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Neptune.    The building houses an architect's office and a round-the-clock

dialysis center that accommodates emergency patient visits.         The property

includes eighty-nine parking spaces. It is adjacent to MJ's Restaurant Bar &

Grill ("the restaurant"). The restaurant was not a party to the agency proceedings

and has therefore not participated in the appeal.

      Currently, a motorist driving eastbound or westbound along Route 66 can

turn into Massa Design's property through a driveway entrance connecting to

the highway. Westbound motorists on Route 66 make a right turn into Massa

Design's driveway, whereas motorists going eastbound must wait for opposing

traffic to clear and then turn left across Route 66 into that existing driveway.

      In November 2020, the Department's Office of Access Design ("the

OAD") notified Massa Design of its plans to change Route 66 in a manner that

would affect Massa Design's driveway access to the highway. In April and June

2021, Massa Design's owner and counsel attended informal meetings with the

OAD to discuss the owner's objections to the proposed plan. In August 2021,

the OAD informed Massa Design it had decided to modify the driveway as the

OAD had proposed.

      Massa Design filed an administrative appeal of the OAD's determination.

Two days of formal hearings ensued, presided over by the Director of the

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Department's Division of Right of Way and Access Management, pursuant to

N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3(f).       The Department presented testimony from a

supervising engineer in the OAD, and a project manager of the firm undertaking

the Route 66 re-configuration. Appellant presented testimony from the owner

of Massa Design and an engineering expert.

      The change to Massa Design's access was proposed in conjunction with a

State highway project to improve capacity and safety of the highway corridor

by expanding Route 66. In October 2015, the Department held a public meeting

in Neptune to provide the public with information about the project and to

answer questions about the initial project design. That initial design retained a

separate driveway for Massa Design, but proposed creating a physical grass

median down the middle of Route 66 and adding a signalized intersection.

      Massa Design's owner expressed concerns at the meeting about the plan's

elimination of direct left turns into and out of the property (due to the median)

for vehicles traveling eastbound. He asserted the change would impede access

of ambulances traveling to the dialysis center.

      As the Route 66 project progressed, the Department replaced its initial

engineering consultants with another firm, which prepared the final project

design at issue here. The final design plan included creating a traffic circle (also

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termed a "roundabout") on Route 66 at a nearby intersection, located east of

Massa Design and the restaurant, at the behest of federal highway

administrators.   The installation of the traffic circle would create a more

continuous flow of vehicles traveling westbound on Route 66 towards Massa

Design and the restaurant, eliminating the breaks in traffic caused by the former

traffic light. To preserve Route 66 access to the Massa Design and restaurant

properties, the final design plan proposed replacing Massa Design's existing

driveway with one driveway shared with the restaurant.

      As described in the record, the Department's proposed design features a

designated left-turn lane on Route 66, which will allow vehicles traveling

eastbound to "make a left turn using the left turn slot, enter the shared -use

driveway and hang a left into the Massa [Design] site and then a right . . . into

the internal site driveway." "Vehicles traveling westbound on Route 66 would

. . . make a right into the shared driveway . . . . They would then turn left into

the Massa [Design] site and then right into the internal driveway."

      This revised access plan requires the Department to obtain an easement

from the restaurant for a portion of the shared driveway and to relocate Massa

Design's pylon sign and four parking spaces. Two of the four spaces and the

sign would have to be moved to the restaurant's property.

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      Massa Design and its expert presented an alternative plan that would

retain separate driveways onto Route 66 for its property and the restaurant.

Under its proposal, visitors to the Massa Design property traveling eastbound

on Route 66 would use the left turn slot currently going into the restaurant to

make a u-turn, turning left onto the highway going west. Drivers would then

decelerate on Route 66, and then finally turn right into Massa Design's separate

driveway.

      When asked why the Department's final design eliminated Massa Design’s

separate driveway, its testifying expert explained that the initial design had

included a traffic signal that would "provide predictable gaps in traffic which

would allow a vehicle in the u-turn lane . . . to make a u-turn using this

predictable gap[][.]" But the addition of a roundabout to the project, he stated,

"creates a more continuous flow of traffic, so there aren’t the predictable gap s

for the car to make a u-turn." The expert expounded, "we were concerned with

the u-turn movements from Route 66 eastbound, to access the Massa [Design]

site, in that . . . a vehicle would have to make a u-turn, enter into high-speed

traffic, in the outside lane and then immediately start to decelerate, to access the

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Massa [Design] site as having a separate driveway." As he further recounted,

the Department

            wanted the left turn lane to go directly into a driveway
            instead of crossing the highway at an angle and slowing
            down [to] enter[] another driveway . . . . It's safer with
            a shared driveway than to have a car cross two lanes of
            highway and a shoulder to get to that driveway at an
            angle.

      Massa Design's expert agreed that the introduction of a roundabout will

"change what the gap patterns are along the highway[,]" but he opined that the

"u-turn maneuver [Massa Design was] proposing for the separate driveways is

in no way different than the left turn that is permitted" in the final design. He

conceded, however, that his design was not in compliance with the Access

Code's twelve-foot edge clearance requirement between adjacent driveways.

      After the administrative record closed, the Director issued a final agency

decision on March 23, 2022, adopting the OAD's proposed plan as a

"modification of a driveway." Determining the plan to be compliant with the

Access Code, the Director made several findings.

      First, the Director found the shared driveway plan promotes public safety,

noting that the Access Code "encourages the sharing of driveways . . . to

minimize the number of driveways on the State highway system[,]" N.J.A.C.

15:47–1.3(l). He highlighted the testimony of the OAD's engineering expert,

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                                        8
who had explained that "[e]very driveway on a [S]tate highway creates a conflict

point with entering and exiting vehicles onto the highway corridor. So every

driveway that is eliminated improves the highway safety." The Director also

found critical that, under Massa Design's alternative plan, a driver would be

required "to make a [u]-turn into traffic coming from the roundabout at speeds

up to fifty-five miles per hour[,]" which would create "a less than desirable

condition[.]"

       Second, the Director determined that to adopt Massa Design's plan

entailed a non-compliant design, because it does not have the sufficient twelve-

foot edge clearance required under the Access Code.

       Third, the Director found insignificant Massa Design's stated concerns

about "overflow parking" from the restaurant and "maintenance and operation

of the [s]hared [d]riveway" because neither presents a departure from the status

quo.

       This appeal by Massa Design ensued. As its central point, Massa Design

contends the Department erroneously deemed the new configuration a

modification rather than a revocation or removal of access. This error is argued

to be one of consequence because, under the statutory and regulatory scheme,

the Department's obligation to pay for the costs of reconfiguring the access to

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Route 66 is more explicit for a revocation or removal than for a modification.

In addition, appellant contends the Department's adoption of its own proposed

plan, and its rejection of Massa Design's alternative, is arbitrary and capricious.

                                        II.

      Our standard of review is limited. Appellate courts will only reverse an

administrative agency decision that is "arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, or

[] not supported by the evidence in the record as a whole." Zimmerman v.

Sussex Cnty. Educ. Servs. Comm'n, 237 N.J. 465, 475 (2019) (quoting Henry v.

Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J. 571, 579–80 (1980)); see also Parsells v. Bd. of

Educ. of Somerville, 254 N.J. 152, 162 (2023). An agency action is arbitrary,

capricious, or unreasonable if it violates the law, if the record does not contain

substantial evidence to support it, or if the agency conclusion "could not

reasonably have been made on a showing of the relevant factors." In re Carter,

191 N.J. 474, 482–83 (2007) (quoting Mazza v. Bd. of Trs., 143 N.J. 22, 25

(1995)). We also acknowledge the Department of Transportation's considerable

expertise over issues of State highway access. A "presumption of validity" is

afforded to the Department's plans and decisions in that domain.             In re

Revocation of Access of Block No. 613, Lots No. 4 & 5, Twp. of Toms River,

224 N.J. 53, 67, 69 (2016). That said, we review questions of law arising in

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administrative cases de novo. Mayflower Sec. Co. v. Bureau of Sec., 64 N.J.

85, 93 (1973).

      The issues presented here arise under the State Highway Access

Management Act, N.J.S.A. 27:7–89 to –98 ("the Act"). Among other things, the

Act recognizes that "[e]very owner of property which abuts a public road has a

right of reasonable access to the general system of streets and highways in the

State, but not to a particular means of access." N.J.S.A. 27:7–90(e). However,

"[t]he right of access is subject to regulation for the purpose of protecting the

public health, safety and welfare." Ibid. Further, "[t]he access rights of an

owner of property abutting a State highway must be held subordinate to the

public's right and interest in a safe and efficient highway." N.J.S.A. 27:7–90(g).

See also High Horizons Dev. Co. v. State, Dep't of Transp., 120 N.J. 40, 48

(1990) (noting that the right of access "must be consonant with traffic conditions

and reasonable and uniform police requirements" (quoting State Highway

Comm'r v. Kendall, 107 N.J. Super. 248, 252, 258 (App. Div. 1969))). The

approved means of access is created by a property owner obtaining an access

permit from the Department. N.J.S.A. 27:7–92.

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     N.J.S.A. 27:7–94 provides the statutory framework for the revocation of

a property owner's access to a State highway. In relevant part, the statute

provides:

            (a) The commissioner [of the Department] may . . .
            revoke an access permit after determining that
            alternative access is available which meets the
            standards provided in subsection c. . . .

                  ....

            (c) For the purposes of this section, alternative access
            shall be assumed to exist if the property owner enjoys
            reasonable access to the general system of streets and
            highways in the State and in addition, in the case of the
            following classes of property, the applicable following
            condition is met:

                  (1) For property zoned or used for commercial
                  purposes, access onto any parallel or
                  perpendicular street, highway, easement, service
                  road or common driveway, which is of sufficient
                  design to support commercial traffic to the
                  business or use, and is so situated that motorists
                  will have a convenient, direct, and well-marked
                  means of both reaching the business or use and
                  returning to the highway.

            [N.J.S.A. 27:7–94(a), (c), (c)(1) (emphasis added).]

     The statute gives the Department authority to revoke State highway access

only when alternative access is provided under a two-pronged standard for

reasonable access. See In re Revocation of Access of Block No. 613, 224 N.J.

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                                      12
at 67 (noting the statute "establish[es] two criteria for reasonable access"). The

purpose of this dual-pronged reasonable access provision in N.J.S.A. 27:7–94(c)

"is to [e]nsure that a property owner is being treated fairly and equitably, and is

not being deprived of reasonable use of th[eir] property, when the [Department]

determines to close an existing access point because it does not comply with

current requirements." In re Revocation of Access of Block No. 1901, Lot No.

1, Borough of Paramus, Bergen Cnty. Parkway 17 Assocs., 324 N.J. Super. 322,

332 (App. Div. 1999).

      The Act requires the Department to adopt regulations to carry out the

legislative objectives, specifically in the form of a "State highway access

management code." N.J.S.A. 27:7–91 (i.e., the Access Code). The Access Code

was first adopted in 1992 and has been periodically revised since that time.

      The Access Code was extensively revised in 2018 after a lengthy comment

process that began in 2012. 50 N.J.R. 11(a), 11 (Jan. 2, 2018) (Summary). The

Department explained that in the intervening twenty-five years since its

adoption, the Access Code had been amended in numerous ways, but the rules

"ha[d] never been evaluated for ease of use, simplification of organizational

layout, or clarity of intent." Ibid. The Department performed such an evaluation

and believed that "extensive revisions [we]re needed." Ibid. Consequently, the

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Department promulgated "a full repeal and replacement of the [Access] rules."

Ibid. As part of that full repeal, many aspects of the Access Code's definitions

and terminology were revised. Ibid.

      The term "revocation" is not defined within the statute. However, it is

defined by regulation within the Access Code as follows:

                  "Revocation" means termination of an access
            permit by the Commissioner, when all State highway
            access is removed after a determination that alternative
            access will be available for use at the conclusion of the
            highway project.

            [N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1 (emphasis added).]

The underscored phrase "when all State highway access is removed" was

inserted into the definition of revocation as part of the 2018 amendments.

Compare N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1 with N.J.A.C. 16:47–1.1 (2012).

      The above-mentioned term "State highway access" was not defined in the

Access Code until 2018. Ibid. It is now defined this way:

                   "State highway access" means a driveway [1] on a
            lot or site, or an easement over an adjacent lot or site's
            frontage, that allows for vehicular movement between
            a State highway and a lot or site.

1
  A "driveway" is defined as "a private roadway providing access between a
State highway or street and a lot or site that does not exist in its own right -of-
way. A driveway provides ingress, egress, or both. A driveway is not a State
highway or street." Ibid.

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                                       14
            [Ibid. (emphasis added).]

      Conversely, the 2018 version of the Access Code defines "Non-State

highway access" as follows:

                   "Non-State highway access" or "NHSA" means
            access between a public street and a lot or site. The
            access can be either across the lot or site's property
            lines, by way of a permanent easement across an
            adjacent lot, or by a private street to the public street.
            An emergency driveway shall not constitute non-State
            highway access.

            [Ibid. (emphasis added).]

The distinction between State highway access and non-State highway access can

be stated rather simply: the former entails a connection between a lot and a State

highway, whereas the latter entails a lot's connection to "a public street" that is

not a State highway. Ibid.

      This critical difference was explained by the Department in its comments

to the proposed 2012 revisions to the regulations introducing the phrase "non-

State highway access . . . to indicate that it means access between a lot or site

and a public street." 50 N.J.R. at 12 (response to third comment to Subchapter

2). In the 2018 Summary of Significant Changes, the Department notes again:

            [t]he phrase "non-State highway access" replaces the
            phrase "alternative access" and means access to a lot or

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            site via an improved roadway other than a State
            highway.

            [50 N.J.R. at 22 (Summary of Significant Changes)
            (codified at N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1) (emphasis added).]

      The Access Code also uses the term "modification," a word that is not

mentioned in the Act. As revised in 2018 and thereafter, that term is defined

thusly:

                    "Modification of driveway" means changes to
            driveways in conjunction with the implementation of a
            State highway improvement advanced by the
            Department or others, with Department approval,
            which changes the number of driveways, the width of
            the curbline opening of a driveway by more than five
            feet, or the location of a driveway by more than [ten]
            feet. It includes replacing all ingress or all egress
            between a State highway and a lot or site with ingress
            or egress via a private easement on a different lot or
            site;[2] or elimination of ingress, egress, or both between
            one State highway and a lot or site, while still providing
            ingress, egress, or both between a different State
            highway and the lot or site. Modification of driveway
            does not refer to changes made by a lot or site owner to
            his or her own driveway.

2
  Of particular relevance here is that the sentence concerning "ingress or egress
via a private easement on a different lot or site" was not within the definition of
"modification" that preceded the 2018 amendments. Compare 50 N.J.R. at 28
(Proposed New Rules) (codified at N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1) with N.J.A.C. 16:47–
1.1 (2012).

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            [N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1 (emphasis added); see also
            N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.1(b)(2) (similarly defining a
            modification).][3]

      N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3 outlines the procedures to be followed when the

Department undertakes a roadway project that causes a modification of a

property owner's access to a State highway.           Among other things, the

Department must provide the owner with written notice of the proposed

modification, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3(b), an opportunity to accept or appeal the

proposal, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3(d), a meeting to attempt to resolve any dispute,

N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3(e), and a right to a hearing before a departmental hearing

officer, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.3(f).

      The 2018 revision of the Access Code also introduced the term "removal

of a driveway." It is defined as follows:

                  "Removal of driveway" means the removal of all
            ingress between a State highway and a lot or site or all
            egress between a State highway and a lot or site, or
            both.

            [N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1.]

3
  The Access Code also defines a lesser alteration known as an "adjustment,"
which pertains to changing a driveway's width by five feet or less or its location
by ten feet or less, moving a driveway away from the highway's centerline, such
as when a highway is widened, or changing the driveway's slope. N.J.A.C.
16:47–11.1(b)(1)(i)–(iv). An adjustment may not be appealed. N.J.A.C. 16:47–
11.2(c). The parties do not contend the present case involves such a mere
adjustment.
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      The regulations in N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4 specify numerous requirements

that are triggered when all ingress and egress between a site and a State highway

has been removed. The requirements include such things as revocation of an

existing permit, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4(b), identification of reasonable access to

the State highway though the "general system of streets and State highways[,]"

N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4(c), suitable signage directing motorists to and from

commercial lots, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4(e), the Department's obligation to "design

and construct any improvements to a municipal or county roadway required" for

access, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4(g), and an appeal process, N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.4(j)

and (k).

      When it revised the Access Code in 2018, the Department explained how

it was deploying the new terminology:

                   Subchapter 11 provides for the adjustment,
            modification, and removal of driveways by the
            Department and incorporates language found at
            existing N.J.A.C. 16:47–4.33.            The concept of
            revocation of access is amended to that of removal of a
            driveway. . . . The language now provides that
            modification of a driveway includes replacing all
            ingress to a lot or site from a State highway or all egress
            from a lot or site to a State highway with ingress or
            egress via a private easement between a State highway
            and a different lot or site. It also includes eliminating
            ingress to a lot or site from a State highway, egress from
            a lot or site to a State highway, or both, while still

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            providing ingress or egress, or both, on a different State
            highway. As the situations described above still
            provide the lot or site with State highway access, they
            are now considered a modification of driveway access.
            N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.1(b)[(3)(i) and (ii)] incorporate
            language found at existing N.J.A.C. 16:47–
            4.33(d)[(2)(i)].

            [50 N.J.R. at 28 (Proposed New Rules) (codified at
            N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.1) (emphasis added).]

      The fiscal and operational consequences of classifying a change in State

highway access to a property as a "modification" rather than as a revocation (or

removal) could be significant. If the change rises to the severity of a revocation,

then N.J.S.A. 27:7–94(d) imposes several obligations upon the Department.

Specifically,

            (d) When the commissioner revokes an access permit
            pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall be
            responsible for providing all necessary assistance to the
            property owner in establishing the alternative access,
            which shall include the funding of any such
            improvements by the department. Until the alternative
            access is completed and available for use, the permit
            shall not be revoked. The commissioner shall also erect
            on the State highway and on connecting local highways
            suitable signs directing motorists to the new access
            location. The commissioner may enter into agreements
            with property owners for phased development and
            provisions of this subsection shall not supersede any
            such agreements.

                   As provided in this subsection, necessary
            assistance shall include but not be limited to the costs

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             and expenses of relocation and removal associated with
             engineering, installation of access drives in a new
             location or locations, removal of old drives, on-site
             circulation improvements to accommodate changes in
             access drives, landscaping, replacement of directional
             and identifying signs and the cost of any lands, or any
             rights or interests in lands, and any other right required
             to accomplish the relocation or removal.

             [N.J.S.A. 27:7–94(d) (emphasis added).]

       The statute contains no comparable mandates for the Department to pay

the costs of improvements, engineering, construction, landscaping, signage, and

other measures in a situation of access "modification." However, the Access

Code regulations do prescribe that "[a]s appropriate, the Department will

provide all necessary assistance to establish changes in driveways pursuant to

[the modification] subchapter." N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.1(e). That may include, but

is not limited to, such things as removal of existing driveways, construction of

alternative access, engineering design, on-site circulation revisions, on-site

landscaping to replace that which is disturbed by the changes to the driveway,

replacement of directional and identifying signs, land acquisitions to

accommodate the driveway changes, and so forth. N.J.A.C. 16:47–11.1(e)(1) –

(9).

       The regulations do not define the qualifying phrase "as appropriate." Even

so, the Department cannot act arbitrarily or capriciously in withholding

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reasonably necessary funding or services in the enumerated categories.

Zimmerman, 237 N.J. at 475 (reiterating the agency's obligation to not act

arbitrarily or capriciously).

      It is not entirely clear why the parties in this case have fought so mightily

over whether the access changes ordered by the Department would be a

"modification" instead of a revocation or removal. It appears that appellant's

concerns are fueled in part by uncertainty, because the Department has yet to

make clear exactly what improvements, landscaping, signage, and so forth it will

provide or finance. The Department asserts it is premature to do so, because it

has yet to negotiate an easement agreement with the restaurant, and moreover, a

different unit within the Department than the OAD handles such issues.

      In any event, we shall presume that there is an impact of consequence in

how the change in roadway configuration is defined. Utilizing the operative

terms we have set forth above, we concur with the Department's final agency

decision that the new configuration would be a "modification," not a revocation

or removal. The analysis is straightforward.

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      As noted, Massa Design's pre-existing driveway entrance to Route 66

would be removed. In its place would be a shared driveway 4 that would initially

connect with the restaurant's lot, then connect via a private easement for a short

distance on the restaurant property, then branch off into Massa Design's property

through an interior driveway leading to appellant's building. That route would

provide "State highway access" as defined within N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1, through

the means of "an easement over an adjacent lot," Ibid. The route would not

comprise "non-State highway access" because the access would not involve the

use of a "public street" that isn't a State highway. Ibid.

      Because the Department's plan maintains Massa Design's access to State

Highway 66 using a private easement, it literally satisfies the definition of a

"modification." The plan replaces "all ingress or all egress between a State

highway and a lot or site with ingress or egress via a private easement on a

different lot or site." N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1 (emphasis added). The plan therefore

is not a revocation or a removal of access.

4
    A "shared driveway" under the Access Code "means the only driveway
between a State highway and two or more adjoining lots or sites." N.J.A.C.
16:47–2.1. "A shared driveway may be located on one of the lots or it may
straddle the lot line between two lots. A lot or site with a shared driveway may
also have non-State highway access." Ibid. In the present case, the shared
driveway directly accesses a State highway.

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      Our conclusion is consistent with case law. In In re I/M/O Route 206 at

New Amwell Road, Block 161, Lot 13B (Hillsborough), 322 N.J. Super. 345,

355 (App. Div. 1999), we determined that "revocation" under the statute "refers

to the loss of direct access to the State highway and the relocation of access onto

other than the same State highway." Because the lot owner in In re I/M/O Route

206 "retained some direct egress from and ingress to" the same highway, we

ruled there was no statutory revocation of access. Ibid. The lot owner had two

driveways with highway access and only one of them was being closed — while

the second driveway was being widened to compensate for the closure. Id. at

357–58. We thus held that "[t]he proposed access change may be classified as

a modification of access because there will be a change in the number of access

points and the width of the remaining . . . access point." Id. at 358.5 In the

present case, the sole mode of access will be substituted by another means of

access via the shared driveway directly connecting to Route 66.

5
  See also State by Comm'r of Transp. v. Marlton Plaza Assocs., LP, 426 N.J.
Super. 337, 343–44, 349 (App. Div. 2012) (determining that the proposed access
change was a modification and not a revocation, where the Department sought
to close one of three access points from the affected lot to the highway); cf. In
re Revocation of Access of Block No. 1901, 324 N.J. Super. at 327–31, 336–40
(determining that the statutory revocation criteria were met when a lot's
driveway was removed and replaced instead by a ramp and multiple new access
roads for lot access).

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      In In re Revocation of Access of Block No. 613, the Supreme Court

applied the revocation criteria of N.J.S.A. 27:7–94 to a plan to widen a highway

lane on Route 166 and place a median between northbound and southbound

lanes. 224 N.J. at 57–58. The widening of the highway would "eliminate" the

affected property's access to Route 166, because the new northbound lane would

not permit right-hand turns into the lot. Id. at 57. The median would prevent

left-hand turns into the affected lot’s driveway from the southbound lane,

instead requiring those drivers to take a three-quarters-of-a-mile detour on

"another local road" to access the lot. Ibid. The detour led the vehicles to the

northbound lane on Route 166 to then make a right-hand turn onto a local road

before being able to turn into the affected lot. Ibid. Under the Court’s reasoning,

the plan satisfied the revocation of access statute and the pertinent regulations

because the lot retained "convenient, direct, and well-marked" access to the

highway. Id. at 69. The Court found that the Department "satisfied its burden

of proof to establish that the revocation of direct access from Route 166" to the

affected lot conformed with the revocation statute. Ibid.

      In sum, the new configuration in this case is a modification and not a

revocation, essentially because it utilizes a private easement and not "another

local road," id. at 57, to provide access to Route 66. It meets the definition of a

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modification set forth in the Access Code, N.J.A.C. 16:47–2.1.            The 2018

revisions to the regulations fortify that conclusion. As enacted, they expressly

address the present scenario utilizing an easement across an adjacent private

property. Ibid.

      Having so concluded, we turn briefly to the question of whether the

Department's adoption of its proposed plan and the rejection of Massa Design's

counterproposal should be nullified. It should not be. The Department's choice

was neither arbitrary nor capricious.

      The final agency decision and the associated testimony at the hearing

amply supports the Director's conclusion that Massa Design's design presented

significant risks to safety and traffic flow. The notion of having vehicles make

an immediate u-turn on Route 66, after turning left across the center median,

rapidly accelerate, and then make a prompt right-hand turn into an access

driveway, was reasonably rejected.        As was explained at the hearing, the

installation of a traffic circle in lieu of a stop light east of the subject premises

will cause a more continuous traffic flow on Route 66 with less gaps. The

Department's plan appears to be safer. We defer to the Department's expertise

over such matters of motorist safety, consistent with the statutory scheme that

underscores the Department's duty to "protect[] the public health, safety and

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welfare." N.J.S.A. 27:7–90(e); see also Circus Liquors, Inc. v. Governing Body

of Middletown Twp., 199 N.J. 1, 10 (2009) ("[A] court must be mindful of, and

deferential to, the agency's 'expertise and superior knowledge of a particular

field.'" (quoting Greenwood v. State Police Training Ctr., 127 N.J. 500, 513

(1992))).

      We have considered all other points raised by appellant and conclude they

lack sufficient merit to warrant discussion. R. 2:11–3(e)(1)(D) and (E).

      Affirmed.

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