Property Law Developments—Joseph William Singer

New Jersey confusingly refers to conditional permits as “conditional use variances.” This language makes it easy to confuse conditional permits and variances. In TSI East Brunswick, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of Tp. of East Brunswick, 71 A.3d 762 (N.J. 2013), the Supreme Court of New Jersey reaffirmed the traditional rule that variances should be granted only in cases of unusual hardship (or other statutory requirements) because they allow something to be done that violates the intent of the zoning ordinance. Conditional permits, on the other hand, allow an activity to occur on land as long as the conditions are met and thus are subject to a lower standard of proof; they are presumptively permitted (as long as the conditions are established) rather than presumptively prohibited.