Redevelop NJ

Tiny Homes – A Creative Solution for Affordable Housing and Homelessness

By: Kevin J. Moore

Good things often come in small packages, and one of those may be a simple solution to New Jersey’s well-documented shortage of affordable housing: tiny homes. A tiny home is a single family home with a floor area of 400 square feet or less, which requires creative use of space and multipurpose features. Some are built on a foundation and others are chassis mounted mobile homes. Many jurisdictions, notably California, are beginning to use tiny homes as a means of providing inexpensive housing for low and moderate income and homeless individuals.

The Revenge of the Parking Lot

By: Ted Zangari

It’s true: COVID-19 has breathed new life into parking lots. As Neal Freyman of Morning Brew has observed:

• Churches, synagogues, and other places of worship have been holding radio broadcasted services in their parking lots.
• DJs in Germany have been hosting drive-in raves in parking lots.
• With libraries, schools, and coffee shops closed, parking lots have become a “digital lifeline” for many Americans needing to access wi-fi.

These adaptive uses may be temporary, but “curbside” delivery and “patio” or “outdoor” bar/restaurant seating may become permanent features of the modern-day parking lot (and shopping center sidewalks) long after the epidemic subsides.

 

> Click here to read "The Revenge of the Parking Lot" from Morning Brew

 

Governor Murphy Issues Extensions of NJDEP Timeframes and Deadlines

By: Andrew B. Robins

On Saturday May 2, 2020, New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy issued Executive Order (EO) 136 providing for sweeping extensions of many statutory deadlines required under environmental laws and regulations administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP or Department) and suspending timeframes for certain NJDEP permit decisions and reporting. The extensions and suspensions are retroactive to March 9, 2020. Specifically, EO-136 includes the following:

Re-Imagining the Shopping Center Post-COVID: Zoning Changes Needed to Accommodate Store Features No Longer Deemed Convenience Amenities

By: Ted Zangari and Kevin J. Moore

Curbside pick-up lanes and “to-go” parking spaces—already trending in shopping centers before the pandemic—have become essential features of retail stores in the wake of COVID-19 and are likely to become permanent fixtures in shopping centers. Likewise, drive-throughs and walk-up or vestibule kiosks will no longer be limited to banks and pharmacies, as retailers of every type seek to adapt to the new public health normal and avoid risks and exposures to employees and customers alike. How does this sudden shift in shopping center design and layout square with existing zoning laws and municipal codes around the Garden State?

NJDEP Clarifies Exemptions for Site Remediation Projects, Announces Temporary Emergency Site Remediation Waiver to Extend Deadlines and Timeframes by Ninety Days During State of Emergency

By: Raymond S. Papperman and Thomas H. Prol

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP or Department) issued two major announcements concerning site remediation arising out of Governor Murphy’s March 9, 2020 State of Emergency and Public Health Emergency declarations. The Department clarified that construction related to site remediation may continue and also granted emergency waivers of certain site remediation timeframes and deadlines.

NJDCA to Builders: “Essential Construction” Must Adhere to Guidelines, “Non-Essential Construction” Must Use or Lose Permits After Restrictions Lifted

By: Corey Klein

Eight days after Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 122 (EO 122), which “ceased the physical operations of non-essential construction projects indefinitely,” the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), on April 14, 2020, imposed an additional requirement for builders of “essential construction projects.” Those builders must submit documentation to the local building department “attesting to how the project qualifies” to be among those that may proceed and certifying that the project is complying with the COVID-19-driven safety and social distancing measures spelled out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of EO 122.

Development Industry Needs Permit Extension Legislation

By: Meryl A.G. Gonchar

More than ever, the development industry needs permit extension legislation to ensure a robust real estate market once the current public health emergency is resolved. Legislation tracking the Permit Extension Act (PEA) of 2008 (PEA) should be implemented. While the severity of the extended economic downturn more than ten years ago made it difficult, if not impossible, for many commercial and residential developers to continue building, the severity of the situation today is more extreme.

Going Dark: Land Use Implications of Converting Retail Space to “Dark Stores” for Fulfilling Online Orders

By: Adam J. Faiella

In recent years, retailers have begun to convert unused space in their stores, including the sales floor area, to warehouse and distribution operations for online orders as e-commerce has increased. This trend has accelerated in response to the surge of home deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many retailers are utilizing even more floor area, and sometimes entire stores, as fulfillment centers. Re-purposing vacant or unused space can aid brick and mortar retailers in competing with pure-play online merchants and help property owners prevent lease defaults and maintain healthy occupancy levels. Municipalities also benefit when the rent roll of a commercial tax ratable of any kind, especially a shopping center, is stabilized. However, retailers and their landlords need to proceed carefully because converting unused retail space to “dark stores” for warehouse and distribution could have land use implications.*

NJDEP Proposes Significant Revisions to Cleanup Standards With Controversial New Requirements

By: Andrew B. Robins

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed substantive changes to the remediation standards administered under New Jersey’s Site Remediation Program (SRP). The 273-page rule proposal includes 84 pages of commentary and 26 pages of rule amendments, and the remainder consisting of technical detail and charts. If adopted, it will have a significant and far-reaching effect on the remediation of contaminated sites in New Jersey so the regulated community should carefully assess those ramifications and take advantage of the opportunity to offer comments and other input to the DEP.

What's Old Is New Again: Legislation up for a Vote in Trenton Would Revive Permit Extension Act

By: Adam J. Faiella

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, state legislators are set to vote on a bill on April 13 that would  revive the Permit Extension Act, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-136.1 et seq. (the “Act”). If the legislation is enacted, the Act would once again automatically suspend the running of the period of eligible permits and approvals—this time, during the “COVID-19 Extension Period.” The COVID-19 Extension Period is defined as the time period beginning on March 9, 2020, and continuing for as long as a public health emergency or a state of emergency, or both, has been declared by the Governor in response to COVID-19 and is in effect.