And developers are also cheering the move. "Without getting into specifics, we have a community where we went through all of the local approvals--every sewer hookup and water main--before being told that there was a zoning change, which shifted the mix of people from age-restricted to non," says Somerset Development president Ralph Zucker. "Even though the change didn't affect any of the underlying physical aspects of the project, some of the agencies said that they might want us to start over from scratch." According to Zucker, "that is nothing short of insanity and it's the type of thing that goes on all day in New Jersey."

"Especially in these times, it's just inexcusable to lead on developers, who will potentially spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have all of these site studies done," says McGuinness, who adds that this bill is consistent with the theme now of our government, which is to be more accountable, predictable and responsible.

But the League of Municipalities was clearly not behind the bill. According to William G. Dressel Jr., executive director of the New Jersey branch, the bill should more appropriately be tagged the "time of incomplete application, since the submission of an incomplete application would grant vested rights to the developer." He said in a statement that this legislation "would subject the public interest to a race between the developer and the time-consuming process that a municipality must undertake to revise its master plan and zoning ordinances. It is a race the municipality cannot win." What's more, he continued, "the time of decision rule has been in place for decades, through both booming economic times and economic recessions. Somehow, the rule did not discourage economic development in booming years, but we are now expected to believe that it does in lean economic times?" Dressel added that the rule is rarely used, and if abused by a municipality, the developer does have redress through the courts. "On those rare occasions when there is an unreasonable action, the courts can--and have--acted to override actions."

But many in the commercial real estate industry feel that development has been hindered by municipality's home rule hospitality. In fact, the state has been bleeding jobs to places like Pennsylvania for years now. "We are not saying that municipalities cannot change their zoning, but if they do it needs to be for a good reason," McGuinness notes. "And these good reasons should be limited to health and public safety."

But what's up next for the state now that the time of application battle is behind it? According to McGuinness, he expects some sort of COAH reform before the budget break. "Minimally, there will be a bill out of the Senate, headed by Sen. Raymond J. Leskiank (D), by the end of June," he tells GlobeSt.com. McGuinness also says that reforming the state plan--essentially a guide to where development in the state should occur--is high on his list. "Right now, one agency says, 'this is where you need to build,' while another says, 'no you can't,' " he relates. This is largely because all of the different agencies use separate data, and what's accessible to one department may not be so for the next. "With the help of the legislature, we hope to have a much better integration of data from which to make land use decisions," McGuinness says.