Township of Sparta v. Spillane

The Township of Sparta (plaintiff) and Mount Olive Township (plaintiff) operated under New Jersey’s Faulkner Act (the act), which gave residents the powers of referendums and initiatives. A referendum involved either the city council submitting an ordinance to voters for approval or rejection or a petition being filed for a vote on any ordinance enacted by the city council. An initiative involved voters proposing an ordinance and adopting or rejecting the ordinance at the polls. After Sparta amended its zoning ordinance to authorize planned unit development, Lawrence Spillane and others (defendants) filed a petition seeking a referendum on the ordinance pursuant to the act. The municipal clerk found the petition sufficient. Sparta then sought, and the trial court granted, a declaratory judgment that the act’s referendum provisions did not apply to amendments of zoning ordinances. In a separate case, Mount Olive amended its zoning ordinance to establish a commercial-recreational zone, in which amusement parks were permitted uses. Lakeland Industrial Park, Inc. and others (defendants) filed a petition for a referendum on the amended ordinance under the act. The township clerk found that the petition complied with the statutory requirements. Mount Olive sought, and the trial court granted, a declaratory judgment that the act’s referendum procedures did not apply to amendments to zoning ordinances. The parties who filed the referendum petitions in both cases appealed. The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, considered the Sparta and Mount Olive cases together on appeal.