At the May 20th Municipal Land Use Board (MLUB) meeting, a committee was assigned to re-examine the borough’s Master Plan. By municipal law, a municipality’s Master Plan is to be reviewed, at least, every six years. There is a state statute, that was updated in 2011, which changed the requirement to once every decade but the municipal code was never revised to reflect the state’s change.
Roselle Park Municipal Ordinance 40-109 (Periodic Reexamination Of Master Plan) states:
- The Mayor and Council shall, at least every six (6) years, provide for a general reexamination of its Master Plan or adopted elements thereof and development regulations by the Municipal Land Use Board acting as the Planning Board, which shall prepare and adopt by resolution a report on the findings of such reexamination, a copy of which report and resolution shall be sent to the Union County Planning Board and the Municipal Clerks of each adjoining municipality. A reexamination shall be completed at least once every six (6) years from the previous reexamination.
- The reexamination report shall state:
- The major problems and objectives relating to and development in the Borough at the time of the adoption of the last reexamination report.
- The extent to which such problems and objectives have been reduced or have increased subsequent to such date.
- The extent to which there have been significant changes in the assumptions, policies and objectives forming the basis for the Master Plan or adopted elements thereof or development regulations as last revised, with particular regard to the density and distribution of population and land uses, housing conditions, circulation, conservation of natural resources, energy conservation and changes in State, County and Borough policies and objectives.
- The specific changes recommended for the Master Plan or development regulations, if any, including underlying objectives, policies and standards, or whether a new plan or elements thereof or regulations should be prepared.
The state statute, 40:55D-89, Section 76 (Periodic examination) reads:
The governing body shall, at least every 10 years, provide for a general reexamination of its master plan and development regulations by the planning board, which shall prepare and adopt by resolution a report on the findings of such reexamination, a copy of which report and resolution shall be sent to the county planning board. A notice that the report and resolution have been prepared shall be sent to the municipal clerk of each adjoining municipality, who may, on behalf of the governing body of the municipality, request a copy of the report and resolution. A reexamination shall be completed at least once every 10 years from the previous reexamination.
The reexamination report shall state:
- The major problems and objectives relating to land development in the municipality at the time of the adoption of the last reexamination report.
- The extent to which such problems and objectives have been reduced or have increased subsequent to such date.
- The extent to which there have been significant changes in the assumptions, policies, and objectives forming the basis for the master plan or development regulations as last revised, with particular regard to the density and distribution of population and land uses, housing conditions, circulation, conservation of natural resources, energy conservation, collection, disposition, and recycling of designated recyclable materials, and changes in State, county and municipal policies and objectives.
- The specific changes recommended for the master plan or development regulations, if any, including underlying objectives, policies and standards, or whether a new plan or regulations should be prepared.
- The recommendations of the planning board concerning the incorporation of redevelopment plans adopted pursuant to the “Local Redevelopment and Housing Law,” P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et al.) into the land use plan element of the municipal master plan, and recommended changes, if any, in the local development regulations necessary to effectuate the redevelopment plans of the municipality.
As stated in both versions, the municipality’s Master Plan reexamination should address any major problems and objectives related to land development and to what extent have such issues been reduced or increased since the last reexamination. A major difference in both versions of the report is that the State added ‘collection, disposition, and recycling of designated recyclable materials’ and that the report should include recommendations from the MLUB concerning the incorporation of redevelopment plan and changes, if any, in local development regulations.
In previous reexaminations, a professional planner was employed in 2009 while the 2003 reexamination was performed in-house. Whichever is decided upon, even a combination of both, will require possible funding approval from the governing body based on the recommendation and decision of the MLUB, who has autonomy over the reexamination. It should be noted that the 2007 “New Directions” report has been sometimes mistaken for and referred to as the municipality’s latest Master Plan Reexamination when it is, in fact, not. The last official reexamination report is from 2009.
The MLUB has stated that it will include in its latest report that the municipal ordinance should be legally amended to reflect the 10-year time frame set by the state in 2011.
A copy of the following are included below for review and comparison: