ASSEMBLY HOUSING COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 17

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: NOVEMBER 7, 1996

      The Assembly Housing Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 17.

      This bill, entitled the "Local Government Citizen Friendly Practices Act," would require a municipality to routinely grant certain applications for minor property line adjustments without conditioning the approval upon the provisions of certain improvements as is required of bigger developments. The bill also specifies that a maximum fee amount of $50 may be charged by a municipality in its review of such an application.

      "Minor property line adjustment" is defined in the bill to mean a shifting of a property boundary line between no more than two contiguous parcels of land, which change will affect less than 10 percent of the total square footage of either parcel, and will not involve any improvements or development to either parcel. An example of a minor property line adjustment would be the purchase by one neighbor of another neighbor's garden which is contiguous to the first neighbor's property.

      Such land use applications currently are considered "minor subdivisions" under the law, and are required to comply with rules pertaining to larger developers of housing, including the payment of application review fees and in some cases, development fees. This bill would fix a maximum fee of $50 as reasonable for review of such applications, and also would direct that no other fees, such as impact fees or "Mount Laurel" development fees be charged an applicant for a minor property line adjustment.