Policy Watch

Open Business

Municipal Ordinances: Is Your Town Open for Business?

September 26, 2018: A recent glossy four-page insert in The New York Times from Restoration Hardware—touting its upcoming 90,000 square foot store in Manhattan—proclaimed that “The death of retail is overrated.” That’s the good news. Now for the bad news. Many, if not most, of New Jersey’s municipalities are not ready for the “new” retail landscape that we face in 2018.

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Policy News Feature

Downtown New Jersey POLICY WATCH – September 2018

Sept. 25, 2018: Downtown New Jersey acts as an advocate for downtown commercial districts in New Jersey, tracking judicial and legislative issues that can affect the success of the state’s downtowns and then informing and educating members on these issues. Since our last Policy Watch, there has been movement on a few bills impacting downtowns…

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NJ State House 3a

Connection Fee Credits

August 18, 2018: On August 10, 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill establishing a “credit” system to aid redevelopment efforts while ensuring that municipal authorities are equitably compensated for connecting into their system.  The legislation, S1247/A2779, was jointly crafted over several years by the New Jersey Builders Association and the Association of Environmental Authorities.

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Canabis Culture

Legalization of Marijuana

June 19, 2018: For the past several years, the question of whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults has been a hotly debated topic across the country. The 2017 gubernatorial race brought this debate to New Jersey, when then-candidate Phil Murphy proclaimed that one of his goals for his first 100 days as Governor would be the passage of legislation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults.

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Policy News Feature

Downtown New Jersey Policy Watch – June 2018

June 13, 2018: Downtown New Jersey acts as an advocate for downtown commercial districts in New Jersey, tracking judicial and legislative issues that can affect the success of the state’s downtowns and then informing and educating members on these issues. Since our last Policy Watch, there has been movement on a few bills impacting downtowns…

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NJ State House 3a

NJ Rule Change Simplifies Administrative Tasks of SIDs

For municipal clerks getting ready to submit financial disclosures statements to the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) by the April 30th deadline, they can remove Special Improvement District (SID) directors and members from the list of officials that need to comply.

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