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Is Growth Share Working For New Jersey?, Daniel W. Meyler

Daniel W. Meyler

The current administrative iteration of the Mount Laurel doctrine presents a familiar problem of local government law: when should the state defer to its constituent municipalities’ zoning choices, and when should the state tell those municipalities what to build?

The Mount Laurel doctrine has both modified and been modified by the political and geographical landscape of New Jersey. The doctrine morphed from a judge-made constitutional command, to a litigation remedy, to a legislative edict, to an administrative matrix. To many who initiated and inspired the Mount Laurel movement in New Jersey, the present form of the law barely resembles the …