N.J. Admin. Code § 7:50-3.39

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 12, June 17, 2024

Section 7:50-3.39 - Standards for certification of municipal master plans and land use ordinances

(a) Municipal master plans and land use ordinances, and any parts thereof, shall be certified only if:

1. They are based upon a current and comprehensive inventory and analysis of the natural resources of the municipality prepared by the municipality or any other source. A municipality may use the inventory provided by the Commission;

2. They include provisions that:

i. Regulate the character, location and magnitude of development within the Pinelands Area;

ii. Prescribe standards relating to lot layout, road design and construction, and public utility installation which conform to all similar standards contained in this Plan;

iii. Implement the overall development intensity standards contained in this Plan through minimum lot specifications or other appropriate means;

iv. Are adequate to ensure that all development of land in the Pinelands Area is in conformance with the development standards established by N.J.A.C. 7:50-5 and 6;

v. Encourage coordinated development along roadways by concentrating commercial development at transportation nodes, providing shared access points, encouraging comprehensive commercial planning and design and use of other appropriate techniques;

vi. Implement Pinelands management area and zoning district boundaries in a manner which provides consistent treatment of similarly situated lands and considers the suitability of lands for their assigned management area and zoning district designations as they relate to the standards and objectives of this Plan;

vii. Enable permitted densities in each Regional Growth Area zoning district in which residential development is permitted to be reasonably achieved in most cases;

viii. Establish and implement a mitigation plan as part of any municipal stormwater management plan and ordinance adopted in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:8-4.2(c)11 that:

(1) Identifies those measures necessary to offset the granting of variances from the standards set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.84(a)6 i through v;

(2) Specifies that variances from the standards set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.84(a)6 i through v will be considered only in cases where an applicant is able to demonstrate in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:84.6 that such standards cannot be met on a particular parcel; and

(3) Requires that any mitigation measures identified pursuant to (a)2viii(1) above occur within the Pinelands Area and within the same HUC-14 as the parcel proposed for development, unless no such mitigation project is available, in which case the mitigation measures shall be located within the Pinelands Area and same HUC-11 as the parcel proposed for development; and

ix. Are designed to implement a clear and straightforward process for the review of applications for residential cluster development in the Forest and Rural Development Areas, in accordance with the requirements for cluster development set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.19(c) and (d). The Commission may certify municipal clustering ordinances that contain different clustering standards than those set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.19(c) and (d) provided that those standards are supported through the application of sound land use planning principles, are based upon local conditions or circumstances that warrant such changes and do not undermine the overall goals and objectives of the Forest and Rural Development Area clustering program set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.19(c) and (d).

3. They provide that no application for development within the Pinelands Area, except as provided in 7:50-3.81 through 3.85, shall be determined to be complete by any municipal department, body or agency unless it is accompanied by a Certificate of Filing issued by the Commission pursuant to 7:50-4.34 and contains at least the information required by the Commission pursuant to 7:50-4.2(b);

4. They provide that municipal review and approval or denial are required for all development in the Pinelands Area except where pre-empted by State or Federal laws or regulations;

5. They include provisions relative to the review and action on applications for forestry operations which:

i. Are designed to implement a clear and straightforward process for the review of forestry applications that does not involve municipal site plan approval;

ii. Require that forestry permits be approved or denied within 45 days after submission of a complete application to a municipality, or within such further time as may be consented to by the applicant;

iii. Provide that failure of a municipality to act within the period prescribed in (a)5ii above shall constitute municipal approval of the permit; and

iv. At the option of the municipality, provide for the establishment of reasonable application fees for forestry permits in accordance with 40:55D-8(b) and the posting of financial sureties in accordance with 7:50-6.47;

6. They provide that no local permit shall be effective, except as provided in 7:50-3.81 through 3.85, until the review procedures in 7:50-4.31 through 4.42 have been completed;

7. They include a capital improvements program which demonstrates that adequate and necessary facilities will be available to serve permitted development;

8. They provide for sufficient residentially zoned property to be eligible for an increase in density to accommodate transferred Pinelands Development Credits as provided for in N.J.A.C. 7:50-5Part IV;

9. If the municipality has established an environmental commission, they provide for referral of applications for development approval to the environmental commission for review and comment;

10. They otherwise are in conformance with and contain all provisions necessary to implement the objectives of this Plan;

11. They demonstrate conformance to the energy conservation requirements of L. 1980, ch. 146;

12. They demonstrate that they are in compliance with the provisions of the Federal Act; and

13. In the event that the distribution and density of land uses at the boundary of a municipality are in conflict with or otherwise inconsistent with the distribution and density of land uses in adjacent municipalities, they include a description of steps which have been taken to resolve such conflicts including consultation with the county or counties in which the municipalities are located.

(b) Municipalities with areas outside the Pinelands Area but within the Pinelands may request review by the Commission of their land use ordinances and master plans for these areas to determine substantial compliance with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:50-5 and 6 of this Plan. Equivalent protection of the resources of the Pinelands will be the overall standard used in such compliance review rather than strict adherence to every standard in N.J.A.C. 7:50-5 and 6. Buffer requirements to wetlands will be evaluated based on the provisions of the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act rather than on the standards set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.14. To encourage voluntary compliance, if the Commission determines that the municipality is in substantial compliance with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:50-5 and 6, the Commission will rely upon the complying master plans and ordinances, rather than a strict interpretation of this Plan, to provide comment to relevant state and federal regulatory agencies in its role as the planning entity for the Pinelands.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:50-3.39

Amended by R.1994 d.590, effective 12/5/1994.
See: 26 N.J.R. 165(a), 26 N.J.R. 4795(a).
Amended by R.1995 d.449, effective 8/21/1995.
See: 27 N.J.R. 1557(a), 27 N.J.R. 1927(a), 27 N.J.R. 3158(a).
Amended by R.1996 d.225, effective 5/20/1996.
See: 27 N.J.R. 3878(a), 28 N.J.R. 2596(a).
In (a) added requirement of provisions relative to review and action on applications for forestry operations.
Amended by R.1999 d.306, effective 9/7/1999.
See: 31 N.J.R. 1251(a), 31 N.J.R. 2609(a).
Inserted (a)14.
Amended by R.2000 d.232, effective 6/5/2000.
See: 32 N.J.R. 151(a), 32 N.J.R. 2082(a).
Deleted a former (a)14.
Amended by R.2001 d.103, effective 4/2/2001.
See: 32 N.J.R. 4037(a), 33 N.J.R. 1095(a).
In (a), added 2vi.
Amended by R.2002 d.67, effective 3/4/2002.
See: 33 N.J.R. 3399(a), 34 N.J.R. 1024(a).
In (a), added 2vii.
Amended by R.2006 d.159, effective 5/1/2006.
See: 37 N.J.R. 4133(a), 38 N.J.R. 1829(b).
In (a), deleted "and" from the end of 2vi; substituted "; and" for a period at the end of 2vii; and added 2viii.
Amended by R.2009 d.108, effective 4/6/2009.
See: 40 N.J.R. 4874(a), 41 N.J.R. 1405(a).
In (a)2vii, deleted "and" from the end; in (a)2viii(5), substituted"; and" for a period at the end; and added (a)2ix.
Amended by R.2010 d.079, effective 6/7/2010.
See: 41 N.J.R. 2392(a), 42 N.J.R. 1044(a).
In (a)2viii(5), deleted "and" from the end; in (a)2ix, substituted "; and" for a period at the end; and added (a)2x.
Amended by R.2018 d.089, effective 3/5/2018.
See: 49 N.J.R. 3075(a), 50 N.J.R. 969(a).
In the introductory paragraph of (a)2 and of (a)2viii, substituted "that" for "which"; in (a)2viii(5), inserted "and"; in (a)2ix, substituted a period for "; and" at the end; and deleted (a)2x.
Amended by R.2022 d.021, effective 1/18/2022.
See: 53 N.J.R. 1195(a), 54 N.J.R. 138(b).
Rewrote (a)2viii.