Board hears state publication reform changes and GovPilot rollout, members report login issues

Board member Kelly told the Clark Board of Adjustment that a recently enacted Publication Reform Act will change how public notices are published in New Jersey and is likely to affect how planning and land-use hearings are noticed going forward. Kelly said the statute will permit municipalities to publish required notices on their websites and requires towns to maintain a public-notice page and link to a statewide database; the law will reduce or eliminate the requirement to place notices in print newspapers after the statute’s implementation.

Kelly explained that the change will not eliminate the 200-foot mailed-notice requirement for individual land-use applications, but it will alter the publication step applicants and boards use for public hearing notices. “The state is requiring every township to now have on their websites a specific place to place public notices,” Kelly said. She added that the legislation contains broad, omnibus language covering many public bodies and that the board will need to watch how planning-board and applicant-specific notices are handled in practice.

Why it matters: the board relies on published notices for legally required public hearing communications and for transparency. Kelly said municipalities will still have to provide mailed notices to abutters, but the publication portion of notice may move to online outlets or designated online publications. The board discussed that applicants historically have been responsible for mailing abutter notices and for placing the publication notice; under the new process, applicants may be required to use online publication options rather than print newspapers.

Practical impact and implementation: Kelly said towns must add a dedicated public-notices tab to municipal websites and the state plans to host a centralized notice database. She cautioned there will likely be “growing pains” after implementation and that she expects some initial cancellations or errors as officials learn the new process. The statute’s implementation timeline was described as imminent, but Kelly noted the state could delay the rollout if the centralized system is not ready.

GovPilot rollout and user issues: the board then discussed GovPilot, the municipal records and permitting portal used by the township for application documents. Several members reported login difficulties. Janet, the board secretary, and other staff worked with the vendor to correct an initial setup issue: several members could not find a “planning” folder and were not matched to the planning view. After Janet worked with the vendor the problem was corrected for at least one member.

Board members were reminded that GovPilot contains both public-facing application materials and administrative fields meant for staff; Kelly advised members not to change or edit entries. She also noted GovPilot stores expanded property information and prior application history, which can be useful for the board’s review. Members asked about first-time login procedures; staff agreed to re-send initial login instructions and to help members who have not yet received their usernames and passwords.

Next steps: board staff will follow up with members who still lack credentials and will coordinate with the vendor to ensure planning folders display correctly. Kelly said staff and board members should expect a learning curve in the first months after the Publication Reform Act and the GovPilot adjustments take full effect.