Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Department
shall issue a hardship transition area waiver under this section if a site is
not susceptible to a reasonable use if developed as authorized by this chapter,
and this limitation results from unique circumstances peculiar to the site
which:
1. Do not apply to or affect other
property in the local region;
2.
Relate to or arise out of the site itself, rather than the personal situation
of the applicant; and
3. Are not
the result of any action or inaction by the applicant, the site owner or the
owner's predecessors in title.
(b) The Department shall presume that a
hardship under (a) above exists and shall issue a hardship transition area
waiver that reduces the transition area in an amount determined under (c)
below, provided the applicant demonstrates that all of the following criteria
are met:
1. The presence of transition areas
on the site makes it impossible to build a single family dwelling on the site
under the other provisions of this chapter;
2. The lot or lots that make up the site were
created by a subdivision occurring prior to July 1, 1988;
3. The site has been owned continuously by
the applicant since prior to July 1, 1988;
4. The site is not contiguous with an
improved property that was owned by the applicant on July 1, 1988;
5. The applicant has not received a hardship
transition area waiver based on these hardship criteria at any time during the
five years prior to the present application for a hardship transition area
waiver;
6. The applicant has
unsuccessfully attempted to purchase adjacent properties for fair market value
in order to create a developable upland;
7. The applicant has offered the site for
sale at fair market value as determined by a fair market value appraisal,
performed by a State-licensed appraiser and using a form letter provided by the
Department, to adjacent property owners and the offer was refused or is not
reasonable, assuming a minimum beneficial economically viable use, in
accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7A-13, to alleviate the hardship;
8. The applicant has offered the site for
sale at fair market value as determined by a fair market value appraisal,
performed by a State-licensed appraiser, and using a form letter provided by
the Department, to interested public and/or private conservation organizations
on a list provided by the Department, and the offer was refused or is not
reasonable, assuming a minimum beneficial economically viable use, in
accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7A-13, to alleviate the hardship; and
9. The form letter offer of sale under (b)7
and 8 above shall be sent by certified mail and shall:
i. Indicate that the offer is open for a
period of at least 90 days;
ii.
Include a copy of a fair market value appraisal, performed by a State-licensed
appraiser; and
iii. Include a full
disclosure that the property is contained within a wetland transition area that
restricts its use.
(c) The amount of transition area reduction
authorized under a hardship transition area waiver shall be the minimum amount
necessary to construct one single family home and any necessary appurtenances,
such as a driveway or septic system. However, the transition area shall not be
reduced under this section to less than 75 feet for a transition area adjacent
to exceptional resource value wetlands, or 25 feet for a transition area
adjacent to intermediate resource value wetlands.
