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Belmar council adopts overlay zoning to meet court-ordered fair-housing terms amid resident concerns over notice
Summary
After extended public comment about transparency and property impacts, the Belmar Borough Council adopted two overlay zoning ordinances required by a court-conditioned settlement of the borough's round-4 fair-housing obligations. Residents and council members urged better outreach even as staff warned missing the March deadline could expose the borough to builder's-remedy lawsuits.
Belmar Borough Council voted to adopt overlay zoning ordinances the council said are necessary to satisfy a court-conditioned settlement addressing the borough's round-4 fair-housing obligations.
The council and staff stressed the action is intended to preserve the borough's control over zoning and maintain the borough's temporary immunity from builder's-remedy lawsuits. "If the borough doesn't do it by the sixteenth, the court will not issue a judgment of compliance and repose, and under the statute [the borough] will be immediately stripped of its immunity," staff warned during the workshop discussion. Council members and residents responded with questions about notification and the overlay's potential effects on single-family areas.
Why it matters: The ordinances were presented as part of a negotiated settlement with Fair Share Housing Center and the court to meet the borough's unmet affordable-housing need. Staff said the overlay approach is an option the borough can use to…
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