[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Phillipsburg as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-5-1996 by Ord. No. O:96-27 (Ch. 48C, Art. I of the 1969 Code)]
A. The municipality shall be responsible for implementing
redevelopment plans and carrying out redevelopment projects as authorized
by N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-4c.
[Amended 6-2-2015 by Ord.
No. O:2015-14]
B. The Municipal Council shall have the power to cause
a preliminary investigation to be made by the Planning Board as to
whether an area is in need of redevelopment, determine that an area
is in need of redevelopment, adopt a redevelopment plan for the area
and determine that an area is in need of rehabilitation.
The following procedures shall govern the determination
that a proposed area is an area in need of redevelopment:
A. No area of a municipality shall be determined a redevelopment
area unless the Municipal Council shall, by resolution, authorize
the Planning Board to undertake a preliminary investigation to determine
whether the proposed area is a redevelopment area according to the
criteria set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5. Such determination shall
be made after public notice and public hearing conducted by the Planning
Board.
B. Before proceeding to a public hearing on the matter,
the Planning Board shall prepare a map showing the boundaries of the
proposed redevelopment area and the location of the various parcels
of property located therein. There shall be appended to the map a
statement setting forth the basis of the investigation.
C. The Planning Board shall specify a date for and give
a notice of a hearing for the purpose of hearing persons who are interested
in or would be affected by a determination that the delineated area
is a redevelopment area.
D. The hearing notice shall set forth the general boundaries
of the area to be investigated and state that a map has been prepared
and can be inspected in the office of the Municipal Clerk. A copy
of the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the municipality once each week for two consecutive weeks, and
the last publication shall not be less than 10 days prior to the date
set for the hearing. A copy of the notice shall be mailed at least
10 days prior to the date set for the hearing to the last owner, if
any, of each parcel of property within the area according to the assessment
records of the municipality. A notice shall also be sent to all persons
at their last known address, if any, whose names are noted on the
assessment records as claimants of any interest in such parcel. The
Assessor of the municipality shall make a notation upon the records
when requested to do so by any person claiming to have an interest
in any parcel of property in the municipality. The notice shall be
published and mailed by the Municipal Clerk or by such Clerk or official
as the Planning Board shall otherwise designate.
E. At the hearing, which may be adjourned from time to
time, the Planning Board shall hear all persons who are interested
in or would be affected by a determination that the delineated area
is a redevelopment area. All objections to such determination and
evidence in support of those objections, given orally or in writing,
shall be received and considered and made part of the public record.
F. After completing its hearing on this matter, the Planning
Board shall recommend that the delineated area or any part thereof
be determined or not be determined by the Municipal Council to be
a redevelopment area. After receiving the recommendation of the Planning
Board, the Municipal Council may adopt a resolution determining that
the delineated area or any part thereof is a redevelopment area. The
determination, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be binding
and conclusive on all persons affected by the determination. Notice
of the determination shall be served, within 10 days after the determination,
upon each person who filed a written objection thereto and stated,
in or upon the written submission, an address to which the notice
of determination may be sent.
G. If written objections were filed in connection with
the hearing, the Municipal Council shall, for 45 days next following
its determination to which the objections were filed, take no further
action to acquire any property by condemnation within the redevelopment
area.
H. If a person who filed a written objection to a determination
by the Municipal Council pursuant to its determination shall, within
45 days after the adoption by the Municipal Council of the determination
to which the person objected, apply to the Superior Court, the Court
may grant further review of the determination by procedure in lieu
of prerogative writ; and in any such action the court may make any
incidental order that it deems proper.
I. An area in need of redevelopment shall be deemed to be a "blighted area" for the purpose of Article VIII, Section III, Paragraph 1, of the Constitution. If the area is determined to be a redevelopment area and a redevelopment plan is adopted for that area, the Municipal Council is authorized to utilize those powers set forth in §
117-3 herein.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-8, the municipality
or redevelopment entity appointed by the Municipal Council shall have
the following powers:
A. Issue bonds in order to undertake redevelopment projects.
B. Acquire property by contract or by eminent domain
through condemnation. However, the Municipal Council, acting in its
capacity as the entity responsible for implementing redevelopment
plans and carrying out redevelopment projects for the Town of Phillipsburg,
shall not exercise its power to acquire property through condemnation
if said property has a building or structure on it which is lawfully
occupied as a residence or residences. However, nothing herein contained
shall be construed to further limit the authority of the Town of Phillipsburg
under the Eminent Domain Act of 1971 (N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq.).
[Amended 3-7-2000 by Ord. No. O:2000-05]
C. Clear any area owned or acquired, and install, construct,
reconstruct streets, facilities, utilities and site improvements essential
to the preparation of sites in accordance with a redevelopment plan.
D. Prepare or arrange by contract for the provision of
professional services, including architects, engineers, planners and
attorneys, for carrying out redevelopment projects.
E. Arrange or contract with public agencies or private
redevelopers for the planning, replanning, construction, reconstruction
or the undertaking of any project or redevelopment work; negotiate
and collect revenue from a redeveloper to defray the cost of such
activities; provide for the extension of credit or grants to a private
redeveloper; arrange or contract with public agencies or private redevelopers
for the opening, grading or closing of streets, roadways, alleys or
other places; arrange or contract for the acquisition of property
options, property rights and easements in connection with a redevelopment
area.
F. Lease or convey property or improvements to any other
party without the need for public bidding and at such prices and under
such terms as it deems reasonable, provided that said transactions
are in conjunction with a redevelopment plan.
G. Make, consistent with the redevelopment plan, plans
for carrying out a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation
of buildings and improvements and plans for the enforcement of laws,
codes and regulations relating to the use and occupancy of buildings
and improvements and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition
or removal of buildings or improvements.
H. Request that the Planning Board recommend and the
governing body designate particular areas as being in need of redevelopment
or in need of rehabilitation and make recommendation for the redevelopment
or rehabilitation of such areas.
I. Study the recommendations of the Planning Board for
such area.
J. Publish or disseminate information concerning any
redevelopment area, plan or project.
K. Do all things necessary or convenient to carry out
its powers.
No redevelopment project shall be undertaken
or carried out except in accordance with a redevelopment plan adopted
by ordinance of the Municipal Council. The redevelopment plan shall
include an outline for the planning, development, redevelopment or
rehabilitation of the project area sufficient to indicate:
A. Its relationship to local objectives as to appropriate
land uses, density of population, traffic and public transportation,
public utilities, recreational and community facilities and other
public improvements.
B. Proposed land uses and building requirements in the
project area.
C. Identification of any property within the redevelopment
area which is proposed to be acquired in accordance with the redevelopment
plan.
D. Any significant relationship of the redevelopment
plan to the Master Plan of contiguous municipalities and to the state
development and redevelopment plan.
Prior to adoption of a redevelopment plan, or
revision or amendment thereto, the Planning Board shall transmit to
the Municipal Council, within 45 days after referral, a report containing
its recommendation concerning the redevelopment plan. This report
shall include an identification of any provisions in the proposed
redevelopment plan which are inconsistent with the Master Plan and
recommendations concerning these inconsistencies and any other matters
the Board deems appropriate. The Municipal Council, when considering
the adoption of a redevelopment plan, or revision or amendment thereof,
shall review the report of the Planning Board and may approve or disapprove
or change any recommendation by a vote of a majority of its full authorized
membership and shall record in its minutes the reasons for not following
the recommendations. Failure of the Planning Board to transmit its
report within the required 45 days shall relieve the Municipal Council
of this section with regard to the pertinent proposed redevelopment
plan or revision or amendment thereof.
The redevelopment plan shall supersede applicable
provisions of the development regulations of the municipality or constitute
an overlay zoning district within the redevelopment area. All provisions
of the redevelopment plan shall either be substantially consistent
with the municipal Master Plan or designed to effectuate the Master
Plan; but the Municipal Council may adopt a redevelopment plan which
is inconsistent with or not designed to effectuate the Master Plan
by affirmative vote of a majority of its full authorized membership,
with the reasons for so acting set forth in the redevelopment plan.
[Adopted 5-5-1998 by Ord. No. O:98-14 (Ch. 48C, Art. II of the 1969 Code)]
A. A body corporate and politic known as the "Phillipsburg
Redevelopment Agency" be and the same shall be hereby created upon
the passage of this article.
B. The Phillipsburg Redevelopment Agency shall be an
instrumentality of the Town of Phillipsburg and shall be created pursuant
to the provisions of the Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law (N.J.S.A.
40A:5A-1 et seq.).
A. The Phillipsburg Redevelopment Agency shall consist
of seven Commissioners. The Commissioners shall be appointed by the
governing body, in the manner generally required for appointments
in the Town of Phillipsburg.
B. Each Commissioner shall serve for a term of five years;
except that the first of these appointees shall be designated to serve
for the following terms: one for a term of one year, one for a term
of two years, two for a term of three years, one for a term of four
years and two for a term of five years.
C. No more than two Commissioners shall be officers or
employees of the municipality.
D. Each Commissioner shall hold office for the term of
his appointment and until his successor shall have been appointed
and qualified.
E. Any vacancy occurring in the office of Commissioner,
from any cause, shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment, but for the unexpired term.
F. Not more than two of the Commissioners shall be members
of the governing body and shall serve for a term of one year.
G. A certificate of the appointment or reappointment
of each Commissioner shall be filed with the Clerk, and that certificate
shall be conclusive evidence of the due and proper appointment of
that Commissioner.
H. A Commissioner shall receive no compensation for his
or her services but shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual
expenses incurred and the discharge of the duties of the Commissioner,
including travel expenses.
I. The powers of the Agency shall be vested in the Commissioners
thereof in office from time to time. Four Commissioners shall constitute
a quorum for the purpose of conducting business and exercising powers
and all other purposes. Action may be taken by the Agency upon the
affirmative vote of the majority, but no less than four of the Commissioners
present, unless in any case the bylaws of the Agency require a larger
number. The Agency shall select a Chairman and a Vice Chairman from
among the Commissioners, and it shall employ an Executive Director,
who shall be its Secretary.
No Commissioner or employee of an agency shall
acquire any interest, direct or indirect, in a redevelopment project
or in any property included or planned to be included in a project,
nor shall be have any interest, direct or indirect, in any contract
or proposed contract for materials and services to be furnished or
used in connection with a project. All other terms of N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-11c
shall be implemented herein.
The provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-12, relating
to the Executive Director of the agency, shall be implemented as if
set forth at length herein.
All applications for development or redevelopment
of a designated redevelopment area or portion of a redevelopment area
shall be submitted to the Municipal Planning Board for its review
and approval in accordance with the requirements for review and approval
of subdivisions and site plans as set forth by ordinance adopted pursuant
to the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.).
A delineated area may be determined to be in
need of redevelopment if, after investigation, notice and hearing
as provided in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-6, the governing body of the Town,
by resolution, includes that, within the delineated area, items under
N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5a through 40A:12A-5h apply to that designated area.
A. Prior to adoption of the resolution, the governing
body shall submit it to the Municipal Planning Board for its review.
Within 45 days of its receipt of the proposed resolution, the Municipal
Planning Board shall submit its recommendations regarding the proposed
resolution, including any modifications which it may recommend, to
the governing body for its consideration. Thereafter, or after the
expiration of the 45 days if the Municipal Planning Board does not
submit recommendations, the governing body may adopt the resolution,
with or without modification.
B. A delineated area shall be deemed to have been determined
to be an area in need of rehabilitation in accordance with the provision
of this act if it has heretofore been determined to be an area in
need of rehabilitation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.72 et seq., N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.95 et seq. or N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.121 et seq.
In accordance with the provisions of a redevelopment
plan adopted pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-7, a municipality or redevelopment
entity may proceed with clearance, replanning, conservation, development,
redevelopment and rehabilitation of an area in need of rehabilitation.
With respect to a redevelopment project in an area in need of redevelopment
or with rehabilitation, the municipality or redevelopment entity,
upon the adoption of a redevelopment plan for the area, may perform
any of the actions set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-8, except that with
respect to such a project the municipality shall not have the power
to take or acquire private property by condemnation in furtherance
of a redevelopment plan, unless the area is within an area determined
to be in need of redevelopment pursuant to this act or exercise of
that power is authorized under any other law of this state.