2 ZBA Application

Seton Hall of its existing athletic facilities and field house at the Subject Property clearly are inherently beneficial. 10. Likewise, the Law Division in Rolf v. Borough of Emerson, 141 N.J. Super. 341 (Law Division 1976), the plaintiff sought to locate a school bus garage business in the Borough of Emerson. The Borough denied the applicant’s request for a variance. The court noted that the first question was “whether the use of the property for a school bus garage facility serving a regional need is so inherently beneficial to the general welfare as to constitute a special reason within the intendment of N.J.S.A. 40:55-39(d), thus warranting the grant of a use variance provided only that the negative criteria of the statute are met.” Id. at 345. Judge Pressler, then sitting in the Law Division, found that the school bus facility was “necessarily accessory to the school buildings themselves” because transportation of students was an intrinsic part of the government’s obligation to educate them. Id. at 355. Judge Pressler stated: It is this court’s conclusion, based on the facts above recited, the plaintiff has so clearly borne his ultimate burden of proof of particular suitability of the premise in question for the use sought that any contrary finding by the board of adjustment is arbitrary and unsustainable and that, as a further consequence, it is immaterial to this Application whether the use is an inherently beneficial one, although for the reasons herein stated, it is concluded that it is. Id. at 353. -A41-