6-23-09 Berk Cohen Associates at Rustic Village, LLC v.
Borough of Clayton (A-55-08)
A municipal garbage-collection scheme requiring all residents to
abide by the same curbside requirements facially adheres to the
guarantees of equal protection, but its application in a
particular case cannot be so arbitrary as to deny due process of
law. Here, the trial court’s findings that curbside collection
was “unhealthful, unsanitary, utterly inefficient, unsightly and
unreasonable,” established that the offer of curbside pickup
lacked a rational relation to the legislative goal of shielding
the public from the hazards associated with accumulating refuse.
In this case, the only viable option under N.J.S.A. 40:66-1.3(a)
is reimbursing the apartment complex for its trash-removal.
Richard Sadowski
Assistant Editor
