Thursday, December 16, 2010 (Afternoon)
NEWS
NJ Supreme Court rejects Rockaway Twp. appeal of Christ Church exemption (Jennings, The Daily Record) Rockaway, Morris County
“The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to hear Rockaway Township’s appeal of Christ Church’s exemption from the state Highlands Law.”
COURTS
Cortesini v. Hamilton Township Planning Board (Appellate Division) Hamilton, Mercer County
“This appeal involves the grant by defendant Hamilton Township Planning Board (Board) to defendant Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust (Wal-Mart) of land use approvals for the proposed renovation of an existing Wal-Mart store. The primary argument presented by plaintiffs, who are property owners in Hamilton Township, is that the Board’s resolution authorizing this renovation is invalid because the approvals did not include a bulk variance authorizing the nonconformity of parts of the existing Wal-Mart parking lot with the parking area setback requirement of the Hamilton Township zoning ordinance. We reject this argument because the nonconformity with the parking area setback requirement is a feature of the existing Wal-Mart parking lot that was authorized by the subdivision and site plan approvals granted by the Board in 2001 and 2002, and the proposed renovation will not increase or otherwise affect that nonconformity. Therefore, plaintiffs’ challenge to the land use approvals granted by the Board for this renovation constitutes an untimely collateral attack upon the land use approvals the Board granted in 2001 and 2002 for construction of the original Wal-Mart store.”
