ASSEMBLY LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 331

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: AUGUST 23, 1996

      The Assembly Local Government Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No.331.

      Assembly Bill No. 331 makes various changes to P.L.1993, c.32 (C.40:55D-40.1 et seq.), which established a Site Improvement Advisory Board and required the adoption of Statewide site improvement standards.

      Specifically, this bill would limit the applicability of those standards to engineering construction specifications as they apply to the physical infrastructure of residential developments. The bill would require that the recommended standards be formulated by the board as a range of standards which reflect the diversity of the State's geography, soil types and settlement patterns. The bill also clarifies that the model application form which the board develops may be used by municipalities, but it is not mandatory that it be used statewide.

      The bill requires that the terms and concepts used by the board in the recommended standards be consistent with their usage in the "Municipal Land Use Law."

      The bill permits a municipality and a developer mutually to agree on a waiver of any standard if the nature of the waiver is clearly stated in writing and justified on an engineering basis. Under current law, either a municipality or a developer may seek a waiver of any site improvement standard but only if adhering to the standard would jeopardize the public health and safety.

      The bill amends P.L.1993, c.32 (C.40:55D-40.1 et seq.) to reflect the narrowing of the law's focus to engineering construction standards.

      This bill is intended, in part, to respond to a recent Attorney General's letter opinion which found that the zoning authority of a municipality does not limit the authority of the Site Improvement Advisory Board and the Commissioner of Community Affairs to establish specific uniform site improvement standards as required under P.L.1993, c.32 (C.40:55D-40.1 et seq.).

      Assembly Bill No. 331 was pre-filed for introduction in the 1996-1997 legislative session pending technical review. As reported by the committee, the bill contains the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.