Land Use

Gebhardt & Kiefer plays an important role in real estate development activities in the central New Jersey area. Over the past two decades, this aspect of the firm's practice has become increasingly specialized, representing developers as well as private citizens.  The firm has represented numerous land owners in projects ranging from the very smallest variance application to planned unit developments involving over 2,000 units. Our land use clients range from Fortune 500 companies to individual property owners, and we seek to give the same high level of service to all of our land use clients.

Our work in the land use field has brought us into close contact with many of the leading engineering, architectural, planning, environmental, and traffic consulting firms that are active in the central New Jersey area. As a result, Gebhardt & Kiefer has outstanding professional relationships with those firms and is able to assist clients in assembling the appropriate professionals for any type of land use project. In dealing with land use applications, we emphasize the team approach, and recognize that different clients may wish to coordinate the team's activities in different ways. While some clients, particularly full-time real estate developers, may wish to serve as the organizer and coordinator of all of the professionals associated with the project, other clients may not be staffed to do so, and may ask our firm to undertake that responsibility. Gebhardt & Kiefer is prepared to cooperate fully with the client's wishes in that regard.

Gebhardt and Kiefer can also seamlessly combine the process of purchasing a property with making land use applications on behalf of the purchaser, as the real estate and land use departments are fully integrated and work collaboratively.

Although litigation relating to land-use issues is normally undesirable, it is sometimes inevitable. Varying interpretations of ordinances and regulations, coupled with the growing tendency of neighboring property owners and special interest groups to commence litigation against developers, has created an environment in which land-use litigation is no longer rare. Because of our long background in the field of general civil litigation, coupled with our expertise in the land use field, Gebhardt & Kiefer is well-suited to represent developers and property owners who find themselves in land-use related litigation.

Gebhardt & Kiefer’s Land Use Department can provide services relating to:

• Subdivisions
• Site Plans
• Variances
• Redevelopment
• NJDEP permits, including freshwater wetlands permits and stream encroachment permits
• Roadway access permits
• Affordable housing compliance
• Highlands Act compliance
• Appeals and litigation
• Municipal Representation

Our land use law attorneys include Lori MacWilliam and Tara St. Angelo.