In February 2024, Manville adopted a revised Zoning Ordinance. This ordinance appears to "condense" various zones into single zones. For example, instead of having "S-80" and "S-100" residential zoning, now it's just "Residential".

The "number" part of a zone typically has specific requirements, such as the minimum size a piece of land should be. For example, the width of a yard being 80 feet for a S-80 residential zone, as well as other requirements such as building size, etc.

The Zoning Board, per meeting minutes, found here, explains that having all these zones is confusing, for both the Land Use Board and residents.

However, neighboring towns such as Somerville, have many more "zones" than Manville.

The biggest change in the zoning map is the drastic change made to South Main Street. Rustic Mall, along with almost all of South Main Street, is now classified as "Municipal".

The official definition of the Municipal zone states that "the purpose of this zone is to promote municipal or municipally beneficial uses" (Full definition can be found here)

The definition continues: "Previously approved uses within this zone are permitted to continue, however any future development of parcels following the adoption of this ordinance within this zone must conform to the intent of this chapter - future uses must be of benefit and use to the greater municipality."

From this definition, it appears that any existing commercial-use parcel that is now located in the Municipal zone can continue, but any future uses have to conform to the Municipal zone definition.

While most of Main Street is already developed, there are a few lots remaining that are undeveloped. These lots would need to conform to the Municipal Zone definition. It's also unclear if any special permission would be needed if a new business moves in to an existing building that's now located in the Municipal zone.

Reclassifying South Main Street raises more questions. While the focus was originally on Rustic Mall, it seems to have encompassed the entire stretch of South Main Street, from the underpass to the former CVS Plaza.

If Rustic Mall's property value was harmed by the zoning change as claimed in their lawsuit against Manville, one would have to assume that the zoning changes could negatively affect any property contained within this zone.

We were made aware of an appraisal being worked on during Council Comments at the meeting held on February 10th, 2025. ManvilleToday submitted an OPRA request for the property appraisal report of Rustic Mall, that the Borough of Manville had prepared.

Our OPRA request was fulfilled, and we received a complete copy of the appraisal report. The Rustic Mall's appraisal valuation, from the Appraisal Report prepared for the Borough, is $2,760,000.

The appraisal report was prepared on February 4th, 2025, and has 17 disclaimers present within the document, along with other information.

One item that is prevalent is a section titled "Extraordinary Assumptions" which details:

"The use of an extraordinary assumption(s) may have impacted the results of the assignment. The site is located in a restrictive land use zone. This appraisal is based on the extraordinary assumption that the property would gain some zoning relief for development."

The "restrictive land use zone" cited is referring to the property being in the Municipal Zone, and this coincides with Rustic Mall's recent lawsuit against the Borough of Manville.

Another point of interest in the report was "Government Influence" which cites: "Rezoning is typically discouraged and requires public input in all municipalities." (emphasis added)

ManvilleToday has spoken with several property owners on South Main Street, showing them the new revised zoning map, and questioning if they knew about these modifications.

The owners we spoke with were not aware of the zoning change from Commercial to Municipal, and stated they received no notifications from the Borough of Manville that their parcels had been reclassified.

This is particularly concerning, as property owners should have been the first to be notified of these proposed changes. This aligns with Rustic Mall LLC also not being aware of the change.

Upon further investigation, it appears the zoning changes did not require any notification to property owners at all. Since the Borough of Manville rezoned land via their "Master Plan," there are no requirements to notify property owners, only neighboring towns.

ManvilleToday submitted OPRA requests to the following towns, requesting notification of Manville's Master Plan revision. Here are the results of our requests:

Hillsborough Township - Sent us a copy of the Master Plan document that was presented to Manville's Borough Council.

Bridgewater Township - Response stated no records matched our request.

Somerville Borough - Late to respond to our request, however, stated no communication received from Manville.

Franklin Township - Responded with a copy of a letter from the Borough of Manville regarding revising their Master Plan.

Bound Brook Borough - Response stated no records matched our request.

Raritan Borough - Response stated no records matched our request.

Further, when the Land Use Board met on April 4th, 2024, to have public comment and adopt the revised Master Plan, it is noted in the meeting minutes that no one from the public was present, therefore the meeting had no Public Portion. (Minutes located here.)

After discussing the revised Master Plan, it was mentioned that a representative from the Watershed Institute sent an email earlier that day requesting more time to review the document.

Land Use Board Attorney Flynn stated that the plan was sufficiently noticed through the papers, websites, and neighboring municipalities. He advised the Board it was within their authority to approve the plan that evening, if it was deemed appropriate, and amendments can always happen later.

The Chairman of the Land Use Board made a motion to approve to vote on the re-evaluation of the Master Plan, and move it to Council. It was unanimously approved by those who were present at the meeting.

The Revised Master Plan would then be moved to Council, where it would be adopted on May 20th, 2024.

In Part 3, we will discuss the appraisal value in more detail, particularly, how it curiously matches up to the Resilient Communities Grant the Borough was awarded last year.