Excludes farmland from definitions of "redevelopment area" and "rehabilitation area" in "Local Redevelopment and Housing Law."

A177

ASSEMBLY, No. 177

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Peterson

SYNOPSIS

���� Excludes farmland from definitions of
"redevelopment area" and "rehabilitation area" in
"Local Redevelopment and Housing Law."

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning the designation of farmland as a
redevelopment area or rehabilitation area under the �Local Redevelopment and
Housing Law,� and amending P.L.1992, c.79.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� Section 3 of P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-3) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� As used in
[
this act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
:

���� "Bonds" means any
bonds, notes, interim certificates, debentures
,
or other obligations
issued by a municipality, county, redevelopment entity, or housing authority
pursuant to P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et al.).

���� "Comparable, affordable
replacement housing" means newly-constructed or substantially
rehabilitated housing to be offered to a household being displaced as a result
of a redevelopment project, that is affordable to that household based on its income
under the guidelines established by the Council on Affordable Housing in the
Department of Community Affairs for maximum affordable sales prices or maximum
fair market rents, and that is comparable to the household's dwelling in the
redevelopment area with respect to the size and amenities of the dwelling unit,
the quality of the neighborhood, and the level of public services and
facilities offered by the municipality in which the redevelopment area is
located.

���� "Development" means
the division of a parcel of land into two or more parcels, the construction,
reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation, or enlargement
of any building or other structure, or of any mining, excavation
,
or
landfill, and any use or change in the use of any building or other structure,
or land or extension of use of land, for which permission may be required
pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1
et seq.).

���� "Electric vehicle
charging station" means an electric component assembly or cluster of
component assemblies designed specifically to charge batteries within electric
vehicles by permitting the transfer of electric energy to a battery or other storage
device in an electric vehicle.

���� "Governing body"
means the body exercising general legislative powers in a county or
municipality according to the terms and procedural requirements set forth in
the form of government adopted by the county or municipality.

���� "Housing authority"
means a housing authority created or continued pursuant to
[
this act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
.

���� "Housing project"
means a project, or distinct portion of a project, which is designed and
intended to provide decent, safe
,
and sanitary dwellings, apartments
,

or other living accommodations for persons of low and moderate income; such
work or undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities and
other real or personal property for necessary, convenient or desirable
appurtenances, streets, sewers, water service, parks, site preparation,
gardening, administrative, community, health, recreational, educational,
welfare
,
or other purposes.� The term "housing project" also
may be applied to the planning of the buildings and improvements, the
acquisition of property, the demolition of existing structures, the
construction, reconstruction, alteration
,
and repair of the improvements
and all other work in connection therewith.

���� "Parking authority"
means a public corporation created pursuant to the "Parking Authority
Law," P.L.1948, c.198 (C.40:11A-1 et seq.), and authorized to exercise
redevelopment powers within the municipality.

���� "Persons of low and
moderate income" means persons or families who are, in the case of State
assisted projects or programs, so defined by the Council on Affordable Housing
in the Department of Community Affairs, or in the case of federally assisted
projects or programs, defined as of "low and very low income" by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

���� "Public body" means
the State or any county, municipality, school district, authority
,
or
other political subdivision of the State.

���� "Public electric vehicle
charging station" means an electric vehicle charging station located at a
publicly available parking space.

���� "Public housing"
means any housing for persons of low and moderate income owned by a
municipality, county, the State
,
or the federal government, or any
agency or instrumentality thereof.

���� "Public hydrogen fueling
station" means publicly available equipment to store and dispense hydrogen
fuel to vehicles according to industry codes and standards.

���� "Publicly assisted
housing" means privately owned housing which receives public assistance or
subsidy, which may be grants or loans for construction, reconstruction,
conservation, or rehabilitation of the housing, or receives operational or maintenance
subsidies either directly or through rental subsidies to tenants, from a
federal, State
,
or local government agency or instrumentality.

���� "Publicly available
parking space" means a parking space that is available to, and accessible
by, the public and may include on-street parking spaces and parking spaces in
surface lots or parking garages, but shall not include: a parking space that is
part of, or associated with, a private residence; or a parking space that is
reserved for the exclusive use of an individual driver or vehicle or for a
group of drivers or vehicles, such as employees, tenants, visitors, residents
of a common interest development, or residents of an adjacent building.

���� "Real property"
means all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of
any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith, and every
estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for
years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage
,
or otherwise, and
indebtedness secured by such liens.

���� "Redeveloper" means
any person, firm, corporation
,
or public body that shall enter into or
propose to enter into a contract with a municipality or other redevelopment
entity for the redevelopment or rehabilitation of an area in need of
redevelopment, or an area in need of rehabilitation, or any part thereof, under
the provisions of
[
this
act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
, or for any construction or other work forming
part of a redevelopment or rehabilitation project.

���� "Redevelopment"
means clearance, replanning, development
,
and redevelopment; the
conservation and rehabilitation of any structure or improvement, the
construction and provision for construction of residential, commercial,
industrial, public
,
or other structures and the grant or dedication of
spaces as may be appropriate or necessary in the interest of the general
welfare for streets, parks, playgrounds, or other public purposes, including
recreational and other facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, in
accordance with a redevelopment plan.

���� "Redevelopment
agency" means a redevelopment agency created pursuant to subsection a. of
section 11 of P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-11) or established heretofore pursuant
to the "Redevelopment Agencies Law," P.L.1949, c.306 (C.40:55C-1 et
al.), repealed by
[
this
act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
, which has been permitted in accordance with the
provisions of
[
this
act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
to continue to exercise its redevelopment
functions and powers.

���� "Redevelopment area"
or "area in need of redevelopment" means an area determined to be in
need of redevelopment pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of P.L.1992, c.79
(C.40A:12A-5 and
C.
40A:12A-6) or determined heretofore to be a
"blighted area" pursuant to P.L.1949, c.187 (C.40:55-21.1 et seq.)
repealed by
[
this
act
]

P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.)
, both determinations as made pursuant to the
authority of Article VIII, Section III, paragraph 1 of the Constitution. A
redevelopment area may include lands, buildings, or improvements which of
themselves are not detrimental to the public health, safety
,
or welfare,
but the inclusion of which is found necessary, with or without change in their
condition, for the effective redevelopment of the area of which they are a
part.�
A �redevelopment area� or �area in need of redevelopment� shall not
include any land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use that is
valued, assessed, and taxed pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of
1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.).

���� "Redevelopment
entity" means a municipality or an entity authorized by the governing body
of a municipality pursuant to subsection c. of section 4 of P.L.1992, c.79
(C.40A:12A-4) to implement redevelopment plans and carry out redevelopment projects
in an area in need of redevelopment, or in an area in need of rehabilitation,
or in both.

���� "Redevelopment plan"
means a plan adopted by the governing body of a municipality for the
redevelopment or rehabilitation of all or any part of a redevelopment area, or
an area in need of rehabilitation, which plan shall be sufficiently complete to
indicate its relationship to definite municipal objectives as to appropriate
land uses, public transportation and utilities, recreational
,
and
municipal facilities, and other public improvements; and to indicate proposed
land uses and building requirements in the redevelopment area or area in need
of rehabilitation, or both.

���� "Redevelopment
project" means any work or undertaking pursuant to a redevelopment plan;
such undertaking may include any buildings, land, including demolition,
clearance
,
or removal of buildings from land, equipment, facilities, or
other real or personal properties which are necessary, convenient, or desirable
appurtenances, such as but not limited to streets, sewers, utilities, parks,
site preparation, landscaping, and administrative, community, health,
recreational, educational, and welfare facilities, and zero-emission vehicle
fueling and charging infrastructure.

���� "Rehabilitation"
means an undertaking, by means of extensive repair, reconstruction
,
or
renovation of existing structures, with or without the introduction of new
construction or the enlargement of existing structures, in any area that has
been determined to be in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment, to eliminate
substandard structural or housing conditions and arrest the deterioration of
that area.

���� "Rehabilitation
area" or "area in need of rehabilitation" means any area
determined to be in need of rehabilitation pursuant to section 14 of P.L.1992,
c.79 (C.40A:12A-14).�
�Rehabilitation area� or �area in need of
rehabilitation� shall not include any land actively devoted to agricultural or
horticultural use that is valued, assessed, and taxed pursuant to the
"Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et
seq.).

���� "Zero-emission
vehicle" means a vehicle certified as a zero emission vehicle pursuant to
the California Air Resources Board zero emission vehicle standards for the
applicable model year, including but not limited to, battery electric-powered
vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

���� "Zero-emission vehicle
fueling and charging infrastructure" means infrastructure to charge or
fuel zero-emission vehicles, including but not limited to, public electric
vehicle charging stations and public hydrogen fueling stations.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.168, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and apply to any redevelopment plan adopted by a governing
body of a municipality after the effective date of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would amend the
�Local Redevelopment and Housing Law,� P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.), to
specify that farmland is not a redevelopment area or an area in need of
redevelopment under that law.� Specifically, this bill amends the definitions
of �redevelopment area� and �rehabilitation area� used in the law to
specifically exclude any land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural
use that is valued, assessed, and taxed pursuant to the "Farmland
Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.).

���� The classification of
productive farmland as an area in need of redevelopment or rehabilitation under
the �Local Redevelopment and Housing Law� is detrimental to the State�s
agricultural economy.� Retaining productive farmland is critically important to
New Jersey, nicknamed �The Garden State,� as agriculture is one of the State�s
largest industries.