Bill Text: NJ A3929 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain preliminary approval by municipality prior to licensure of cooperative sober living residence.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-04 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee [A3929 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3929-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman AL BARLAS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman CHRISTIAN E. BARRANCO
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain preliminary approval by municipality prior to licensure of cooperative sober living residence.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning licensure of cooperative sober living residence and amending and supplementing P.L.1979, c.496.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-3) is amended to read as follows:
3. As used in this act:
a. "Boarding house" means any building, together with any related structure, accessory building, any land appurtenant thereto, and any part thereof, which contains two or more units of dwelling space arranged or intended for single room occupancy, exclusive of any such unit occupied by an owner or operator, and wherein personal or financial services are provided to the residents, including any residential hotel or congregate living arrangement, but excluding any hotel, motel, or established guest house wherein a minimum of 85 percent of the units of dwelling space are offered for limited tenure only, any resource family home as defined in section 1 of P.L.1962, c.137 (C.30:4C-26.1), any community residence for the developmentally disabled and any community residence for the mentally ill as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2), any adult family care home as defined in section 3 of P.L.2001, c.304 (C.26:2Y-3), any dormitory owned or operated on behalf of any nonprofit institution of primary, secondary, or higher education for the use of its students, any building arranged for single room occupancy wherein the units of dwelling space are occupied exclusively by students enrolled in a full-time course of study at an institution of higher education approved by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, any facility or living arrangement operated by, or under contract with, any State department or agency, upon the written authorization of the commissioner, and any owner-occupied, one-family residential dwelling made available for occupancy by not more than six guests, where the primary purpose of the occupancy is to provide charitable assistance to the guests and where the owner derives no income from the occupancy. A dwelling shall be deemed "owner-occupied" within the meaning of this section if it is owned or operated by a nonprofit religious or charitable association or corporation and is used as the principal residence of a minister or employee of that corporation or association. For any such dwelling, however, fire detectors shall be required as determined by the Department of Community Affairs.
b. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.
c. "Financial services" means any assistance permitted or required by the commissioner to be furnished by an owner or operator to a resident in the management of personal financial matters, including, but not limited to, the cashing of checks, holding of personal funds for safekeeping in any manner or assistance in the purchase of goods or services with a resident's personal funds.
d. "Limited tenure" means residence at a rooming or boarding house on a temporary basis, for a period lasting no more than 90 days, when a resident either maintains a primary residence at a location other than the rooming or boarding house or intends to establish a primary residence at such a location and does so within 90 days after taking up original residence at the rooming or boarding house.
e. "Operator" means any individual who is responsible for the daily operation of a rooming or boarding house.
f. "Owner" means any person who owns, purports to own, or exercises control of any rooming or boarding house.
g. "Personal services" means any services permitted or required to be furnished by an owner or operator to a resident, other than shelter, including, but not limited to, meals or other food services, and assistance in dressing, bathing, or attending to other personal needs.
h. "Rooming house" means a boarding house wherein no personal or financial services are provided to the residents.
i. "Single room occupancy" means an arrangement of dwelling space which does not provide a private, secure dwelling space arranged for independent living, which contains both the sanitary and cooking facilities required in dwelling spaces pursuant to the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.), and which is not used for limited tenure occupancy in a hotel, motel, or established guest house, regardless of the number of individuals occupying any room or rooms.
j. "Unit of dwelling space" means any room, rooms, suite, or portion thereof, whether furnished or unfurnished, which is occupied or intended, arranged, or designed to be occupied for sleeping or dwelling purposes by one or more persons.
k. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2015, c.125)
l. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2015, c.125)
m. "Cooperative sober living residence" means a residential setting that serves solely as a home for individuals who are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction and is intended to provide an environment where the residents can support each other's sobriety and recovery.
(cf: P.L.1979, c.496, s.3)
2. (New section) Notwithstanding section 7 of P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-7) and prior to the issuance of a license to operate a cooperative sober living residence pursuant to P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-1 e seq.), the Commissioner of Community Affairs shall require an applicant to obtain a certificate of preliminary approval from the appropriate municipal officials of the municipality in which the cooperative sober living residence is located. The preliminary approval shall consist of a letter or affidavit from the appropriate municipal officials that the proposed cooperative sober living residence conforms to all applicable municipal ordinances and regulations adopted prior to the date of the request for preliminary approval, including but not limited to, zoning and land use ordinances and regulations. The commissioner shall not approve an application for a license to operate a cooperative sober living residence if the applicant fails to provide this certificate of preliminary approval to the commissioner with the license application.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires preliminary approval by a municipality as a condition for the Commissioner of Community Affairs (commissioner) to be able to issue a license to operate a cooperative sober living residence (CSLR), as defined in the bill.
Specifically, the bill requires an applicant who seeks a license from the commissioner to operate a CSLR to first obtain, notwithstanding R.S.55:13B-7, a certificate of preliminary approval from the appropriate municipal officials in the municipality in which the CSLR is located. The bill requires the preliminary approval to consist of a letter or affidavit from the appropriate municipal officials that the proposed CSLR conforms to all applicable municipal ordinances and regulations adopted prior to the date of the request for preliminary approval, including but not limited to, zoning and land use ordinances and regulations. The bill further requires that the commissioner not approve an application for a license to operate a CSLR if the applicant fails to provide this certificate of preliminary approval to the commissioner with the license application.
