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A1789
ASSEMBLY, No. 1789
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
���� Provides that sterile syringe access programs are
inherently beneficial uses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning
the zoning of sterile syringe access
programs and amending P.L.1975, c.291.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 3.1 of P.L.1975,
c.291 (C.40:55D-4) is amended to read as follows:
���� 3.1. "Days" means
calendar days.
���� "Density" means the
permitted number of dwelling units per gross area of land that is the subject
of an application for development, including noncontiguous land, if authorized
by municipal ordinance or by a planned development.
���� "Developer" means
the legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or of any land proposed to be
included in a proposed development, including the holder of an option or
contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest
in such land.
���� "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
P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
���� "Development
potential" means the maximum number of dwelling units or square feet of
nonresidential floor area that may be constructed on a specified lot or in a
specified zone under the master plan and land use regulations in effect on the
date of the adoption of the development transfer ordinance or on the date of
the adoption of the ordinance authorizing noncontiguous cluster, and in
accordance with recognized environmental constraints.
���� "Development
regulation" means a zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance, site plan
ordinance, official map ordinance or other municipal regulation of the use and
development of land, or amendment thereto adopted and filed pursuant to
P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
���� "Development
restriction" means an agricultural restriction, a conservation
restriction, or a historic preservation restriction.
���� "Development
transfer" or "development potential transfer" means the
conveyance of development potential, or the permission for development, from
one or more lots to one or more other lots by deed, easement, or other means as
authorized by ordinance.
���� "Development transfer
bank" means a development transfer bank established pursuant to section 22
of P.L.2004, c.2 (C.40:55D-158) or the State TDR Bank.
���� "Drainage" means the
removal of surface water or groundwater from land by drains, grading or other
means and includes control of runoff during and after construction or
development to minimize erosion and sedimentation, to assure the adequacy of
existing and proposed culverts and bridges, to induce water recharge into the
ground where practical, to lessen nonpoint pollution, to maintain the integrity
of stream channels for their biological functions as well as for drainage, and
the means necessary for water supply preservation or prevention or alleviation
of flooding.
���� "Electric vehicle supply
equipment" or "electric vehicle service equipment" or
"EVSE" means the equipment, including the cables, cords, conductors,
connectors, couplers, enclosures, attachment plugs, power outlets, power electronics,
transformer, switchgear, switches and controls, network interfaces, and point
of sale equipment and associated apparatus designed and used for the purpose of
transferring energy from the electric supply system to a plug-in electric
vehicle.� "EVSE" may deliver either alternating current or,
consistent with fast charging equipment standards, direct current electricity.�
"EVSE" is synonymous with "electric vehicle charging
station."�
���� "Environmental
commission" means a municipal advisory body created pursuant to P.L.1968,
c.245 (C.40:56A-1 et seq.).
���� "Erosion" means the
detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice and
gravity.
���� "Final approval"
means the official action of the planning board taken on a preliminarily
approved major subdivision or site plan, after all conditions, engineering
plans and other requirements have been completed or fulfilled and the required improvements
have been installed or guarantees properly posted for their completion, or
approval conditioned upon the posting of such guarantees.
���� "Floor area ratio"
means the sum of the area of all floors of buildings or structures compared to
the total area of land that is the subject of an application for development,
including noncontiguous land, if authorized by municipal ordinance or by a
planned development.
���� "General development
plan" means a comprehensive plan for the development of a planned
development, as provided in section 4 of P.L.1987, c.129 (C.40:55D-45.2).
���� "Governing body"
means the chief legislative body of the municipality.� In municipalities having
a board of public works, "governing body" means such board.
���� "Historic district"
means one or more historic sites and intervening or surrounding property
significantly affecting or affected by the quality and character of the
historic site or sites.
���� "Historic preservation
restriction" means a "historic preservation restriction" as
defined in section 2 of P.L.1979, c.378 (C.13:8B-2).
���� "Historic site"
means any real property, man-made structure, natural object or configuration or
any portion or group of the foregoing of historical, archeological, cultural,
scenic or architectural significance.
���� "Inherently beneficial
use" means a use which is universally considered of value to the community
because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general
welfare.� Such a use includes, but is not limited to, a hospital, school, child
care center, group home,
[
or
]
a wind, solar
or photovoltaic energy facility or structure,
or a sterile syringe access
program, as established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2006, c.99 (C.26:5C-27)
.
���� "Instrument" means
the easement, credit, or other deed restriction used to record a development
transfer.
���� "Interested party"
means: (a) in a criminal or quasi-criminal proceeding, any citizen of the State
of New Jersey; and (b) in the case of a civil proceeding in any court or in an
administrative proceeding before a municipal agency, any person, whether
residing within or without the municipality, whose right to use, acquire, or
enjoy property is or may be affected by any action taken under P.L.1975, c.291
(C.40:55D-1 et seq.), or whose rights to use, acquire, or enjoy property under
P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.), or under any other law of this State or
of the United States have been denied, violated or infringed by an action or a
failure to act under P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
���� "Land" includes
improvements and fixtures on, above or below the surface.
���� "Local utility"
means any sewerage authority created pursuant to the "sewerage authorities
law," P.L.1946, c.138 (C.40:14A-1 et seq.); any utilities authority
created pursuant to the "municipal and county utilities authorities law,"
P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.); or any utility, authority, commission,
special district or other corporate entity not regulated by the Board of
Regulatory Commissioners under Title 48 of the Revised Statutes that provides
gas, electricity, heat, power, water or sewer service to a municipality or the
residents thereof.
���� "Lot" means a
designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat or otherwise, as
permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.171, s.5)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would revise the
definition of �inherently beneficial use in the �Municipal Land Use Law,�
P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) (MLUL) to include a sterile syringe access
program. Under the MLUL, if a use is deemed inherently beneficial it
presumptively satisfies the positive criteria for the grant of a use variance
under subsection d. of section 57 of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55-70).
���� Sterile syringe access
programs are designed to prevent the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other
blood borne pathogens, and have been proven effective in reducing the spread of
these pathogens without adverse social impacts or an increase in drug abuse.
Additionally, the programs provide drug users with a bridge to treatment and
other social services. This bill would make it easier for the programs to be
established, providing more individuals with access to the program benefits.