Palatine I v. Planning Board of the Township of Montville

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

GARIBALDI, J.

This appeal presents the question of whether a municipal planning board’s grant of preliminary site-plan approval and a building permit insulates a developer in perpetuity against zoning changes. Specifically, is a municipal planning board equitably estopped from denying final site-plan approval and applying post-preliminary site-plan approval zoning amendments to a developer whose preliminary site-plan approval and construction permit have expired? Like the trial court and Appellate Division below, we conclude that it is not. Accordingly,…