Grantwood Lumber Co. v. Schweitzer
Grantwood Lumber Co. v. Schweitzer
Opinion of the Court
This writ of certiorari brings up for review a conviction of the prosecutor for violating section 2 and subdivision 4 of section 6 of the zoning ordinance of the borough of Cliff-side Park, approved September 27th, 1920, in that the prosecutor made a use of its premises not allowed by such ordinance.
Upon careful consideration wo feel constrained to think that there is merit in this contention.
The ordinance upon which the conviction is founded is said to have been passed pursuant to the provisions of chapter 240, laws of 1920, page 455, a supplement to the Home Eule act. That supplement provides (among other things) that:
“1. The governing body of each and every municipality in this state shall have power by ordinance to regulate and restrict the location thereafter of trades and industries and the subsequent location of buildings designed for a specified use in any designated area, and may divide the municipality into districts of such number, shape and area as it may deem best suited to carry out the purpose of this act,” &c.
The Home Eule act (chapter 152, article 10, section 1, as amended by Pamph L. 1918, ch. 163, p. 478), reads:
“No ordinance shall be finally passed unless it has been read in substantially its final form at a meeting held at least one week prior to its final passage,” &c.
The prosecutor points to the last quoted provision and says that it was not complied with in the passage of the ordinance. That seems to be so, in that the record laid before us discloses, as we shall more fully point out, that the ordinance was finally passed on the same day that it was amended in respect to a substantial matter. The record discloses that the original ordinance was introduced and received its first reading on August 23d, 1920; that notice of intention to consider the final passage of the ordinance on September 13th, 1920, was given; that on September 13th, 1920, a hearing was held and “the ordinance was continued on its first reading;” that on September 27th, 1920 (a regular meeting), it was resolved by a unanimous vote that the ordinance “be amended so as to make the area fronting on the westerly side of Palisade avenue, from Franklin avenue
It will therefore be seen that the ordinance in question, as amended, had its only reading on September 27th, 1920, the date of its final passage. This fact is not disputed by the defendants; on the contrary, it is admitted. But the defendants through their counsel say (and this is all that is said in this connection) that '“at this meeting, before final action was taken, a minor amendment was adopted changing, in a very small way, the ordinance in question. From an examination of the zoning map it will • be seen that the amendment did not change the ordinance in substance.”
We believe that to be a mistaken and erroneous view. The ordinance introduced was a zoning ordinance, its object being to divide the borough into areas and to define the uses to which property could be put in each area. The ordinance as introduced showed the divided areas and the uses to each allocated in full on a map accompanying and made part of the ordinance. On that map, two certain areas, hereinbefore referred to, one fronting on the westerly side of Palisade avenue from Franklin avenue north to the northerly boundary line, and one fronting on the westerly side of Palisade avenue from Oakdene avenue north to Washington avenue, were laid out on the map and marked thereon as business districts. The change made was unquestionably a change in essence or substance. That the above areas should be open or restricted
Upon the authority of Rutgers College Athletic Association v. New Brunswick, 55 N. J. L. 279, and State v. Newark, 30 Id. 303, we consider that the ordinance in question was not legally adopted, and therefore the conviction in the present case must be set aside, with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- GRANTWOOD LUMBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION, PROSECUTOR v. NICHOLAS J. SCHWEITZER, RECORDER OF THE BOROUGH OF CLIFFSIDE PARK IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN, AND BOROUGH OF CLIFFSIDE PARK IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN
- Status
- Published