## Facts

- The Village of Ridgewood operated a municipal water-supply system.
- Ridgewood owned and used a tract of land located within the Township of Washington as part of its water-supply operations, under statutory authority permitting municipalities to acquire property outside their borders for water purposes.
- After Ridgewood had acquired and begun using the land for water purposes, Washington Township adopted or applied zoning regulations designating the area for residential use.
- Washington Township sought to enforce its zoning ordinance against Ridgewood’s continuing water-supply use of the tract, aiming to restrict or halt the nonresidential municipal use on the site.
- The lower court declined to apply Washington Township’s zoning ordinance to Ridgewood’s water-supply use, and Washington Township appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a municipality’s use of land in another municipality for operation of a public water-supply system is subject to the host municipality’s zoning ordinance.
2. Whether Ridgewood’s water-supply operations should be treated as a governmental function (and thus immune from sister-municipality zoning) rather than a proprietary activity.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that Ridgewood’s operation of a public water-supply system is a governmental function.
- Because the use was governmental and authorized by state law, Ridgewood’s use of its land within Washington Township for water-supply purposes was not subject to Washington Township’s zoning ordinance absent clear legislative direction to the contrary.
- The Court affirmed the judgment in Ridgewood’s favor, leaving Washington Township without zoning-based relief against the water-supply use.

## Legal Principles

- A municipality acting under legislative authority to provide a public water supply performs a governmental function.
- When a municipality performs a legislatively authorized governmental function on land it owns in another municipality, the host municipality’s zoning ordinance generally does not control that use unless the Legislature clearly provides otherwise.
- Statutory authorization for extraterritorial acquisition and operation of water facilities can imply immunity from local zoning interference that would materially obstruct the authorized public service.
- The governmental/proprietary distinction has been used to resolve inter-municipal land-use conflicts, with immunity turning on classification of the activity as governmental.

## Conclusion

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Ridgewood’s water-supply operations on its land within Washington Township were a governmental, legislatively authorized municipal function, and therefore Washington Township could not apply its zoning ordinance to bar or restrict that use without express legislative authorization; the judgment for Ridgewood was affirmed.


Township of Washington v. Village of Ridgewood, 141 A.2d 308 (1958)