An NJBIZ.com article written by Evelyn Lee contains an excellent synopsis of “developer-friendlier” legislation authored by the New Jersey Legislature and (mostly) signed into law by Governor Corzine over the last year.  The legislation was intended to extend permit approvals, expedite site cleanups and spur development in down economic times. 

However, the article notes that many industry leaders still have concerns about the practical application and limitations of several of these new laws:

[T]he Permit Extension Act has some limitations, said Tim Touhey, chief executive of the New Jersey Builders Association in Hamilton. The Highlands region has determined that it won’t allow any permits to be extended, although some of the more developed municipalities in the region — such as Dover and Rockaway — have been designated as growth areas by the state, he said.

The Site Remediation Reform Act also has many unknowns, particularly with regard to presumptive remedies that the Department of Environmental Protection will develop for sensitive sites, said David Fisher, vice president of governmental affairs at Matzel & Mumford Organization, an Edison-based homebuilder. Presumptive remedies are expected to be finalized within a year of the law’s enactment, according to DEP.

“If we don’t know how to clean up a site, then we don’t know how costly it’s going to be,” he said. “What value do you place on land when you don’t know how much it’s going to cost to clean it up?”

Others said that legislative changes fell short in terms of addressing flaws in the state’s affordable housing funding methodology and directing new projects to redevelopment areas.

For the full article, click here.