A municipal board of education (BOE) challenged the grant of a use and bulk variances by a local zoning board of adjustment (ZBA) to permit construction of multi-family residential structures. The BOE alleged it had standing to bring the suit because the additional families would further tax an already overcrowded school district. In addition, the BOE argued that the ZBA violated the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21, because it failed to include on its meeting agenda any item reflecting its intention to adopt a memorializing resolution. The trial court rejected these arguments, and this court affirmed.
The court concluded that the BOE lacked standing, because it was not an "interested party," N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, based on a generalized claim that more families might overburden the school district. The court also concluded that the ZBA did not violate the OPMA, because it included the particular meeting as a "special meeting" on its annual published notice of meetings. See Witt v. Gloucester Cty. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, 94 N.J. 422, 433 (1983) (holding that "[p]ublication of an agenda . . . is required only in those instances where no annual notice has been provided in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-18
