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A4817
ASSEMBLY, No. 4817
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 4, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman� DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblyman� MICHAEL INGANAMORT
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
���� Allows for exclusion of certain properties from
Highlands preservation area.�
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning the preservation area of the
Highlands Region and supplementing P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-1 et al.).
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� Notwithstanding
subsection b. of section 7 of P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-7) or any other law, or
any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary, beginning on
August 10, 2024, when an owner of property located within the preservation area
offers that property for sale to the State and the State rejects the offer due
to the lack of available funding to purchase the property at an amount equal to
a fair market value appraisal or appraisals of the value of the lands made
using the land use zoning of the lands, and any State environmental laws or
Department of Environmental Protection rules and regulations that may affect
the value of the lands subject to the appraisal and in effect on August 9,
2004, that property owner may request that the property be removed from the
preservation area.
���� b.��� Upon a written request
from the property owner to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the
Chair of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council containing
documentation from the State specifying that the State does not have funds available
to purchase the property at a price equal to the value of the lands as
appraised made using the land use zoning of the lands, and any State
environmental laws or Department of Environmental Protection rules and
regulations that may affect the value of the lands subject to the appraisal and
in effect on August 9, 2004, the property shall be exempt from the provisions
of sections 30 through 43 of P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-28 et al.) and shall be
regulated by the State and the local government unit in the same manner as
property located in the planning area.
���� The property shall be excluded
from the preservation area and this exclusion shall be recorded on the deed of
the property, on written order of the Commissioner of Environmental Protection
in conjunction with the Chair of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning
Council, by the clerk or register of deeds and mortgages of the county wherein
the affected property is located and shall remain attached thereto.
���� c.���� The Commissioner of
Environmental Protection and the Chair of the Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Council shall take all appropriate action to note the exclusion of a
property pursuant to this section on all maps and descriptions of the preservation
area prepared or published by the Department of Environmental Protection or the
council.
���� d.��� The provisions of this
section shall be applicable only to lands the owners of which at the time of
the proposed sale to the State is the same person who owned the lands on the
date of enactment of P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-1 et al.) and who has owned the
lands continuously since that enactment date, or is an immediate family member
of that person.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would allow,
beginning on August 10, 2024, an owner of property located in the Highlands
preservation area to request that the property be excluded from the
preservation area under certain circumstances.� Specifically, this bill would
provide that when an owner of property located within the preservation area
offers that property for sale to the State and the State rejects the offer due
to the lack of available funding to purchase the property at an amount equal to
a fair market value appraisal of the value of the lands as of August 9, 2004
(the day before the date of enactment of the �Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Act,� P.L.2004, c.120), that property owner may request that the
property be removed from the preservation area.� Under the bill, upon written
request by the property owner to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection
and the Chair of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council containing
documentation from the State that the State does not have funds available to
purchase the property at a price equal to the value of the lands as of August
9, 2004, the property would be exempt from the provisions of sections 30
through 43 of P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-28 et al.) and would be regulated by the
State and the local government unit in the same manner as property located in
the planning area.
���� The bill would apply to lands
the owner of which, at the time of the proposed sale to the State, is the same
person who owned the lands on the date of enactment of the �Highlands Water
Protection and Planning Act� and who has owned the lands continuously since
then, or is an immediate family member of that person.
���� The bill would require that
the property be excluded from the preservation area and would require this
exclusion to be recorded on the deed of the property.� The bill would require
the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the Chair of the Highlands
Water Protection and Planning Council to take all appropriate action to note
the exclusion of such a property on all maps and descriptions of the
preservation area prepared or published by the Department of Environmental
Protection or the council.