SENATE, No. 296

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Senator BENNETT

 

 

An Act concerning certain hotels, guest houses, rooming houses and boarding houses and repealing P.L.1989, c.67.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. P.L.1989, c.67 (C.40:55D-68.1 et seq.) is repealed

 

    2. a. Any hotel, guest house, rooming house or boarding house containing 60 rooms or more which has operated on a full-year basis under the authorization provided pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1989, c.67 (C.40:55D-68.2) may continue to operate on a full-year basis, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

    b. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C.         ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), any hotel, guest house, rooming house or boarding house with 150 or more rooms which, prior to the effective date of P.L.1989, c.67, was closed for renovations and which, as of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), has not sought permission to operate on a full-year basis under the authorization provided pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1989, c.67 (C.40:55D-68.2), may seek such permission to operate on a full-year basis upon the completion of renovations.

 

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    In 1989, the Legislature enacted into law P.L.1989, c.67 (C.40:55D-68.1 et seq.), which allowed certain hotels, guest houses, rooming or boarding houses to operate on a year-round basis in shore municipalities in Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties. Specifically, the law provides that as long as one such establishment functions on a year-round basis within the municipality, any other operator within the municipality would be entitled to operate his establishment throughout the year. That law was an attempt to circumvent local ordinances which, in many shore communities, consider full-year operation on the part of these concerns to be a non-conforming use.

    Residents of every community in the State other than the shore communities can expect that when they zone a neighborhood for single family use, nonconforming uses will not expand, but will eventually "wither and die and be replaced by conforming uses." (Grundlehner v. Dangler, 28 N.J. 256 263 (1959). Residents of shore communities, on the other hand, even if they zoned a neighborhood for single family use decades ago, must permit all nonconforming seasonal hotels, guest houses, rooming and boarding houses to expand their operations, simply because one such operation functions on a year-round basis.

    Since 1989, a sufficient time has elapsed for interested facilities to take advantage of the act's provisions and the purpose of the original enactment, enhancing beach access, has been achieved.

    By repealing P.L.1989, c.67, this bill restores the zoning power of these shore municipalities with respect to the seasonal operation of hotels, guest houses, and rooming or boarding houses containing 60 rooms or less.

 

 

 

Repeals authorization for certain hotels, guest houses and rooming and boarding houses to operate all year.