PQA has a very broad and active land use practice, and extensive experience in representing a diverse cross-section of municipal land use boards, large and small developers, and homeowners and neighborhood objectors.
Our attorneys are particularly well-versed in “Smart Growth” development concepts, as well as Transit Village and other transit-oriented development principles, and have played key roles in projects that have won statewide awards and other professional recognition. We are particularly proud of the representation and guidance PQA provided to the Red Bank Planning Board throughout the 1990’s as the rebirth of Red Bank’s downtown became one of New Jersey’s great downtown success stories.
PQA’s experience on behalf of its private clients is no less diverse – from applications for 200,000 square-foot shopping centers, to large new car dealerships and 300-unit residential developments for our larger developer clients, to minor subdivision and variance applications on behalf of our smaller developer and homeowner clients. Our experience has also enabled us to make successful applications to municipalities for zoning changes that have expedited our clients’ projects, while at the same time assisting municipalities in advancing their long-term planning objectives. This win-win philosophy is at the heart of the PQA’s approach in the land use area on behalf of both our municipal and private land use clients.
Inevitably, on occasion, litigation will be brought to challenge the decisions made by our municipal clients, or the land use approvals we obtain for our private clients. The Firm has extensive experience in litigating land use matters successfully on behalf of our clients. Indeed, over the years a number of municipalities have retained our firm’s services as special counsel to handle their land use appeals. Our attorneys use the experience we have developed in this arena to guide our clients on steps that will both minimize the likelihood of such litigation and maximize the probability of a successful outcome in the event litigation is brought.
Where circumstances require, the attorneys in the Land Use group work closely with attorneys in the Real Estate and Commercial Transactions and Environmental Groups to provide our clients with the full range of services they need in pursuing their development objectives.
The Land Use practice group is led by John Haulenbeek.
