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Posted by: Carl Peters | on February 14, 2011
NJ Municipal Land Use Jurisdiction Table
I recently taught a class about NJ Municipal Land Use Law and the NJ Residential Site Plan Standards to a group of Professional Land Surveyors. There were some questions about how to know which group has the authority to make decisions about land use matters in the State of NJ. I have attempted to provide a quick reference of these jurisdictional issues in the attached table.
The author, Carl E. Peters is one of fewer than 10 people licensed by the State of New Jersey as a Professional Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor, Professional Planner, Construction Official, Building Subcode Official and Plumbing Subcode Official. He is also a Certified Municipal Engineer and Mediator and founder of Carl E. Peters, LLC
Posted in New Jersey Land Use, The Peters Perspective | Comments Off on NJ Municipal Land Use Jurisdiction Table
Posted by: Carl Peters | on January 18, 2011
NJ Underground Utility Information During Design
For years, owners, contractors, utility companies and design professionals, in the State of New Jersey, have wrestled with the problem of conflicting underground utilities. When excavators uncover a pipe or cable in an unanticipated location costs usually rise – either due to underground utility damage or a need to redesign the project.
Knowing the size and location of existing piping, conduits and cables is essential for the design of all types of building and public works projects. Unfortunately, accurate data is often unavailable until a project has commenced.
The NJ One Call system requires contractors to obtain mark outs three days prior to excavating. The service does not permit engineers, architects and land surveyors to request a field mark out of utilities while projects are in the design phase.
In 2007 the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers (NJSME) entered into a pilot program with the New Jersey Utilities Association (NJUA) that enabled members of NJSME to obtain underground utility location information from the members of NJUA in three different ways. The utilities were given the option of:
Providing a field mark out;
Marking up a base map provided by the engineer, or;
Providing the engineer with the record plan maintained by the utility.
NJUA compiled a list of utility personnel who had been assigned by each of its member organizations to provide Municipal Engineers with utility information during the design phase of a project. NJSME members found that finding the right contact person was often the biggest step in obtaining the information they needed.
I’m happy to report that NJUA has now posted the contact information on its website: www.njua.com for all design professionals to use. Check it out for your next project.
NJUA is also hosting a group called the New Jersey Utilities Coordinating Council – a working group whose mission is to improve the communication among the different groups concerned with the utility infrastructure in the State of New Jersey, including government agencies, utilities, engineers, contractors and the general public. Ultimately the group hopes to suggest policies and procedures that will result in more cost effective, efficient and safer public improvement projects.
Unfortunately, NJUA does not represent all utility companies in the State of New Jersey. There are many privately held and municipal utilities that are not yet participating in this program.
I’d like to hear about problems that you have encountered with utility conflicts on your projects and your thoughts about ways to improve coordination among municipalities, utility companies, engineers and contractors.
The author, Carl E. Peters is one of fewer than 10 people licensed by the State of New Jersey as a Professional Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor, Professional Planner, Construction Official, Building Subcode Official and Plumbing Subcode Official. He is also a Certified Municipal Engineer and Mediator and founder of Carl E. Peters, LLC
Posted in Land Surveying, Municipal Engineering, The Peters Perspective | Comments Off on NJ Underground Utility Information During Design
Posted by: Carl Peters | on November 12, 2010
What is a current survey? – Why should anybody care?
I’ve been wrestling with the question of “What is a current survey?” for quite some time. Why, you may ask, am I wasting time and energy worrying about such an arcane matter?
In my capacity as a Municipal Engineer and Construction Official, I’ve been called upon to render judgments about the adequacy of land surveys to be used for proposed land developments or construction projects. If the property owner uses a recent survey, prepared by a licensed New Jersey Professional Land Surveyor, engaged for the project, things generally run smoothly. Sometimes, the property owner tries to save money by using an old survey. Then the confusion starts.
The property survey becomes the basis for the design of a new building project. It shows the size, shape, and contour of the property as well as existing features that are located on the lot and sometimes overhead or underground. The survey may also show evidence of legal encumbrances on the property such as rights of way, easements or building setback lines. These conditions change over time.
Design of buildings and site improvements should be based on accurate, up to date plans of the existing conditions. How old a survey is too old? One year? Five years? Twenty five years. What if the survey was prepared for someone other than the current property owner? Is that OK? Is it acceptable if the surveyor who performed the work is no longer licensed, or is dead? Who gets to determine if the old survey accurately depicts site conditions at the time the permit application is filed?
In most cases, the public official asked to review the survey will not be a licensed professional land surveyor. It’s likely to be a zoning officer, municipal engineer or construction official. I believe that they should be given guidelines to follow for making this determination. While some municipalities have enacted such rules, I’ve not been able to locate them in any state statute or regulation.
New Jersey law provides for licensing of professionals such as architects, attorneys, code officials, engineers and land surveyors to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. These licensees have shown that they possess specialized knowledge to assist the public with complicated real property and construction issues. Their designs and legal guidance should be based upon current, accurate land surveys.
To kick off the discussion, I’d suggest that a survey submitted for a building permit, subdivision or site plan should be no more than one year old. It must have been performed for the current applicant or property owner by a Professional Land Surveyor currently licensed in the State of New Jersey.
What do you think? Have you encountered problems with outdated surveys being submitted to your office? Have you experienced problems because of the use of bad data?
Please let me know.
The author, Carl E. Peters is one of fewer than 10 people licensed by the State of New Jersey as a Professional Engineer, Professional Land Surveyor, Professional Planner, Construction Official, Building Subcode Official and Plumbing Subcode Official. He is also a Certified Municipal Engineer and Mediator and founder of Carl E. Peters, LLC
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