STATUTORY CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF AN
AREA IN NEED OF REDEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION
TO THE STUDY AREA
(as excerpted from “AREA IN NEED OF REDEVELOPMENT INVESTIGATION BLOCK 12.02, TOWNSHIP OF MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY”, PHILLIPS PREISS GRYGIEL LEHENY HUGHES LLC | PLANNING & REAL ESTATE CONSULTANTS, https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/Home/Components/News/News/751/15)
Under the regulations of the LRHL at N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5, a delineated area may be determined to
be in need of redevelopment if, after investigation, notice and hearing as provided in Section 6 of
P.L.1992, c.79 (N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-6), the governing body of the municipality by resolution concludes
that within the delineated area any of the following conditions is found:
a. The generality of buildings are substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, or
obsolescent, or possess any of such characteristics, or are so lacking in light, air, or space,
as to be conducive to unwholesome living or working conditions.
b. The discontinuance of the use of a building or buildings previously used for commercial,
retail, shopping malls or plazas, office parks, manufacturing, or industrial purposes; the
abandonment of such building or buildings; significant vacancies of such building or
buildings for at least two consecutive years; or the same being allowed to fall into so great
a state of disrepair as to be untenantable.
c. Land that is owned by the municipality, the county, a local housing authority,
redevelopment agency or redevelopment entity, or unimproved vacant land that has
remained so for a period of ten years prior to adoption of the resolution, and that by reason
of its location, remoteness, lack of means of access to developed sections or portions of the
municipality, or topography, or nature of the soil, is not likely to be developed through the
instrumentality of private capital.
d. Areas with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence,
overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities,
excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of
these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the
community.
e. A growing lack or total lack of proper utilization of areas caused by the condition of the title,
diverse ownership of the real properties therein or other similar conditions which impede
land assemblage or discourage the undertaking of improvements, resulting in a stagnant
and unproductive condition of land potentially useful and valuable for contributing to and
serving the public health, safety and welfare, which condition is presumed to be having a
negative social or economic impact or otherwise being detrimental to the safety, health,
morals, or welfare of the surrounding area or the community in general.
f. Areas, in excess of five contiguous acres, whereon buildings or improvements have been
destroyed, consumed by fire, demolished or altered by the action of storm, fire, cyclone,
tornado, earthquake or other casualty in such a way that the aggregate assessed value of
the areas has been materially depreciated.
g. In any municipality in which an enterprise zone has been designated pursuant to the
“New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act,” P.L.1983, c.303 (C.52:27H-60 et seq.) the
execution of the actions prescribed in that act for the adoption by the municipality and
approval by the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority of the zone development plan
for the area of the enterprise zone shall be considered sufficient for the determination
that the area is in need of redevelopment pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of P.L.1992, c.79
(C.40A:12A-5 and 40A:12A-6) for the purpose of granting tax exemptions within the
enterprise zone district pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1991, c.431 (C.40A:20-1 et seq.) or
the adoption of a tax abatement and exemption ordinance pursuant to the provisions of
P.L.1991, c.441 (C.40A:21-1 et seq.). The municipality shall not utilize any other
redevelopment powers within the urban enterprise zone unless the municipal governing
body and planning board have also taken the actions and fulfilled the requirements
prescribed in P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et al.) for determining that the area is in need of
redevelopment or an area in need of rehabilitation and the municipal governing body has
adopted a redevelopment plan ordinance including the area of the enterprise zone.
h. The designation of the delineated area is consistent with smart growth planning principles
adopted pursuant to law or regulation.
In a study area with multiple parcels, individual properties or blocks that do not meet any of the
statutory conditions may still be included within an area in need of redevelopment provided that
within the study area as a whole, one or more of the expressed conditions are prevalent. This
provision is referred to as “Section 3” and is set forth under N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-3, which states in part:
A redevelopment area may include lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves
are not detrimental to public health, safety or welfare, but the inclusion of which is found
necessary, with or without change in this condition, for the effective redevelopment of the
area of which they are a part.
Oh No 60 