N.J. Admin. Code § 7:36-25.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 7:36-25.2 - Disposal or diversion of funded parkland and unfunded parkland; exceptions

(a) Except as provided in (d) below, a local government unit shall not divert to a use other than recreation and conservation purposes or dispose of any funded or unfunded parkland unless the local government unit obtains prior approval from the Commissioner and the State House Commission in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:36-26. The diversion or disposal of funded or unfunded parkland by a local government unit without the approval of the Commissioner and the State House Commission is void and of no legal effect.

(b) Except as provided in (d) below, a nonprofit shall not divert to a use other than recreation and conservation purposes or dispose of any funded parkland unless the nonprofit obtains prior approval from the Commissioner and the State House Commission in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:36-26. The diversion or disposal of funded parkland by a nonprofit without the approval of the Commissioner and the State House Commission is void and of no legal effect.

(c) As examples, uses that may constitute the diversion of funded or unfunded parkland from recreation and conservation purposes include, but are not limited to: bridges; through roads or other transportation improvements; rights of way; public or private utility or other non-recreation easements (surface or subsurface); communications towers, antennas or other communications equipment, whether freestanding or attached to existing structures; billboards; municipal buildings, libraries, schools, and fire, police, or emergency services facilities; housing; well houses or water towers; solid waste facilities (including composting facilities); private recreation and conservation facilities; wetlands creation or buffer areas or threatened or endangered species habitat creation or mitigation required by other laws, regulations, codes, or ordinances in connection with non-parkland uses, including habitat creation or wetlands mitigation required by permits; deposit of dredge spoils, except those used as part of a development as defined in these rules; sewage sludge disposal; pump stations; stormwater management facilities such as detention, retention, or sedimentation basins and outfall structures to manage stormwater generated off-site, including flow easements or implied flow easements; and flood control facilities such as levees, berms, flood walls, channel construction, and ponding areas unless the flood control facilities will not have any negative effect on the natural resource or recreational value of the parkland.

(d) The following activities do not constitute a diversion or disposal of funded or unfunded parkland:

1. Construction of a regional flood control project that is part of a regional flood control plan and that will, as a significant design element and purpose of the project, create or enhance a permanent water body suitable for water-dependent public recreation, provided the project does not have any significant adverse impact on the natural resource or recreational value of the affected parkland;

2. The continued operation of a municipal or County leaf composting facility that existed as of the time of receipt of Green Acres funding, provided that the facility is in compliance with all applicable State and local regulations; however, any expansion of the facility (including the use of adjacent parkland as a regulatory buffer for the composting facility), any use of the composting facility for materials other than leaves, or any use of the facility for another non-recreation or non-conservation purpose requires the approval of the Commissioner and the State House Commission as a diversion under N.J.A.C. 7:36-26. In addition, in the event the local government unit ceases operation of the facility, the underlying land shall be subject to the Green Acres restrictions to the same extent as it would have been had the leaf composing facility not existed;

3. The removal of a non-historic structure from funded or unfunded parkland to facilitate or expand the recreation or conservation use of the parkland, whether or not the structure was purchased with Green Acres funding;

4. The administrative transfer of parkland by a local government unit or nonprofit to another local government unit, the State, the Federal government or a nonprofit for recreation and conservation purposes, provided such transfer complies with the procedural requirements of 7:36-25.5;

5. The use of a parking lot as a designated commuter parking lot, provided the parking lot was constructed on parkland prior to June 30, 1999 and was not constructed with Green Acres funding and that such use is approved by the Commissioner under 7:36-25.15;

6. Replacement or enlargement of an existing municipally-owned or County-owned drainage structure or sewer or water pipeline within a 20-foot assumed easement width (as calculated by measuring ten feet on each side from the center of the pipe or drainage structure). However, construction of new privately-owned utilities or construction of new roads to service municipal or County utilities within the assumed easement shall constitute a diversion of parkland;

7. Replacement or enlargement of a highway or pedestrian bridge within an existing road right-of-way or, if no right-of-way is formally delineated, within an assumed right-of-way corridor created by connection of the road rights-of-way on either end of the bridge;

8. Any lease or use agreement, or renewal thereof, which supports or promotes the use of parkland for recreation and conservation purposes, has a term of less than 25 years and is approved by the Department under 7:36-25.13 and any concession agreement meeting the requirements of 7:36-25.13(f); and

9. Any lease or use agreement for the use of parkland for a beneficial public purpose other than recreation and conservation purposes which is approved by the Department under, and subject to the limitations of, 7:36-25.14.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:36-25.2