On February 25, 2021, the New Jersey Superior Court invalidated Jackson Township’s ordinance regulating the movement of soil and fill in the Township. In response to a motion for summary judgment filed by several builders, the Court issued a decision agreeing with builders’ position that the ordinance was not properly adopted because it was not referred to the Township’s Planning Board before adoption.

In June 2020, NJBA and SBACNJ (along with the individual builders) filed an action against Jackson Township challenging the ordinance which required that anyone planning to import or export fill material into the Township in quantities exceeding a certain threshold first obtain a permit. The ordinance was adopted in April 2020 on the heels of a model ordinance generated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). (NJBA successfully worked with DEP to revise its model ordinance.)

The Associations challenged the ordinance on the basis that the Township exceeded its authority both procedurally and substantively, and that the ordinance went beyond what was envisioned by NJDEP in creating the model ordinance. To read more, click here.