NJ Building-Permit Extension Bill Approved

Avidly supported by business and labor but opposed by environmentalists, legislation to extend the life of building permits for stalled residential and commercial development projects has been approved the New Jersey Assembly and Senate. 

Called the Permit Extension Act, the legislation extends for six years all permits and approvals given to developers and landowners by the state and local governments -- even those that have expired. It enables projects permitted in past years but stalled for financial reasons to avoid having to comply with subsequent changes in environmental law, public health standards, building codes or local zoning. Environmentalists argued that the proposal will endanger public health, clean water and open space but the bill was fast-tracked through the legislature as a means of improving the building slump due to economic woes. The proposal has been amended so that it would not apply to any permit issued by a federal agency or any permit issued in an environmentally sensitive area (like the Pinelands).

Summary of Permit Extension Act as Approved by the NJ Legislature: Redevelop New Jersey Blog, June 25, 2008. http://redevelopnj.typepad.com/redevelopnj/2008/06/summary-of-perm.html 

The Star-Ledger, June 5, 2008,  http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/buildingpermit_extension_bill.html