SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

Amerada Hess Corporation n/k/a Hess Corporation v. Burlington County Planning Board (A-41-07)

Argued April 8, 2008 -- Decided July 16, 2008

LONG, J., writing for a unanimous Court.

The issue in this appeal is the meaning of N.J.S.A. 40:27-6.7, a provision of the County Planning Act that directs that a completed land use application is automatically deemed approved if the county planning board fails to take official action within thirty days, or within sixty days if both the municipal planning board and the applicant consent.

Hess Corporation owns a gasoline station on County Route 541 in Burlington Township. Hess planned to develop an adjoining parcel, which abuts Burlington Bypass, to modify the station and build a minimart. Because Hess’s plan included a one-way egress onto the Bypass, which is a county road, Hess needed to obtain county and municipal approval.