Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Township of Mount Laurel

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

WILENTZ, C.J.

This is the return, eight years later, of Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Township of Mount Laurel, 67 N.J. 151 (1975) (Mount Laurel I). We set forth in that case, for the first time, the doctrine requiring that municipalities’ land use regulations provide a realistic opportunity for low and moderate income housing. The doctrine has become famous. The Mount Laurel case itself threatens to become infamous. After all this time, ten years after the trial court’s initial order invalidating its zoning ordinance, Mount Laurel remains…