125 N.J. 193 (1991) 593 A.2d 251

MARY GARDNER, INDIVIDUALLY AND MARY GARDNER, EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF HOBART R. GARDNER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
NEW JERSEY PINELANDS COMMISSION, NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, COMMISSIONER OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND JOHN DOE(S), DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued October 22, 1990. Decided July 23, 1991.

*197 Patrick F. McAndrew argued the cause for appellant (Brandt, Haughey, Penberthy, Lewis & Hyland, attorneys).

Mary C. Jacobson, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondents (Robert J. Del Tufo, Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

The opinion of the Court was delivered by HANDLER, J.

The central issue in this case is whether the application of state regulations that limit the use of land in an environmentally-sensitive area constitutes an unconstitutional taking of private property. The regulations strictly limit residential development on such land and require that all remaining undeveloped acreage be subject to a recorded deed restriction limiting it to agriculture and related uses. A farmer contends that the application of this regulatory scheme to his farm effects a partial taking of his property without compensation.

Hobart Gardner lived and worked for almost seventy years on a 217-acre farm that had been owned by his family since 1902. The farm is located in Shamong Township, Burlington County, a part of the pinelands region subject to the regulations. Gardner, now deceased, and his son, who lives on the farm today, cultivated sod and grain. The farm includes a two-family house, barns, and out-buildings.

When confronted with the regulations, Gardner sought compensation, claiming that the land-use restrictions resulted in an unlawful taking of his property. After the State refused payment, Gardner, on February 7, 1988, initiated this action for inverse condemnation against the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Pinelands Commission (Commission), which had promulgated the regulations. Gardner also contended that the regulations constituted an unlawful exaction and a denial of equal protection. He did not assert that the Pinelands Protection Act and the *198 regulations otherwise are unconstitutional or invalid in terms of whether they constitute an impermissible or unreasonable exercise of the police powers in general or the zoning powers specifically. Moreover, the constitutional claims that he did assert are based exclusively on the New Jersey Constitution.

The trial court granted summary judgment for defendants on the claim for inverse condemnation, finding that the overall zoning plan to protect agriculture was a permissible exercise of the State's regulatory power, and, further, that neither the zoning regulation nor the deed restriction was an impermissible taking or exaction. 227 N.J. Super. 396, 402-06, 408, 547 A.2d 725; (Ch.Div. 1988). The court permitted Gardner to advance an equal protection claim by the filing of an amended complaint, id. at 409, 547 A.2d 725, and subsequently granted summary judgment for defendants on that claim as well. The Appellate Division affirmed the judgments substantially on the basis of the lower court's reasoning. 235 N.J. Super. 382, 562 A.2d 812 (1989). This Court granted Gardner's petition for certification, 117 N.J. 663, 569 A.2d 1355 (1989). For ease of understanding, we refer to Gardner as "plaintiff" though his successors-in-interest currently prosecute the case.

I

The value of the unique ecological, economic, and cultural features of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, or Pinelands, has been recognized for decades. E.g., L. 1971, c. 417 (creating Pinelands Environmental Council; repealed by L. 1979, c. 111). Protection of the area, however, did not begin in earnest until Congress enacted the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, Pub.L. No. 95-625, 92 Stat. 3492 (codified at 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i), establishing over one-million acres as the Pinelands National Reserve. The Pinelands were the first natural resource to be protected by the innovative "national reserve" program. Designed to conserve areas of ecological sensitivity, natural beauty, and cultural importance, the national reserve *199 concept combines limited public acquisition of property with land-use controls in a cooperative framework involving federal, state, and local governments, as well as concerned private groups and persons. Senate Energy and Environment Committee Statement, reprinted at N.J.S.A. 13:18A-1 (Senate Committee Statement). Governor Byrne promptly issued an Executive Order restricting development in the Pinelands until appropriate state legislation could be enacted. See Orleans Builders & Developers v. Byrne, 186 N.J. Super. 432, 434-35, 453 A.2d 200 (App.Div. 1982).

Congress chose the Pinelands as the first protected site with good reason. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation and lies at the midpoint of the emerging megalopolis that extends from Boston to Richmond. Statistical Abstracts of the United States, 1990 at 21; J. McPhee, The Pine Barrens 4-5 (1981). The central corridor of the state between New York and Philadelphia has been described as "one great compression of industrial shapes, industrial sounds, industrial air, and thousands and thousands of houses webbing over the spaces between the factories." J. McPhee, supra, at 4. Astride that corridor in central and southern New Jersey is the Pinelands.

The pristine nature of the Pinelands sharply contrasts with its contiguous, dense urban and industrial surroundings. A "wilderness" of pine-oak forests and wild and scenic rivers, the Pinelands harbors a "wide variety of rare, threatened and endangered plant and animal species," and encompasses "many other significant and unique ecological, historical, recreational, and other resources." Senate Committee Statement, supra; J. McPhee, supra, at 4-5. The region overlies the vast, seventeen-trillion gallon Cohansey aquifer, "one of the largest virtually untapped sources of pure water in the world." Senate Committee Statement, supra; see J. McPhee, supra, at 13-16. There has been very little development within the Pinelands; there are no major retail centers, and developed property comprises only one to two percent of the land in most areas. New *200 Jersey Pinelands Commission, New Jersey Pinelands: Comprehensive Management Plan 128-29 (1980) (Comprehensive Management Plan). Agriculture in the Pinelands, especially the cultivation of cranberries and blueberries, is particularly important both nationally and locally. New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Annual Report — Ag Statistics 38, 72-73 (1990).

In recent years, anxiety over the loss of farming and the fragile ecology of the Pinelands has produced increasingly stringent federal and state regulation. Both the federal and the implementing state legislation make clear that conservation, preservation, and protection are the principal ends of governmental regulation of land use in the Pinelands. The federal statute states its purpose is "to protect, preserve and enhance the significant values of the land and water resources of the Pinelands area." 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i(b)(1). Similarly, the New Jersey Pinelands Protection Act (Act), L. 1979, c. 111; N.J.S.A. 13:18A-1 to 29, declares that its goals are, among others, to protect, preserve, continue, and expand agriculture and horticulture and to discourage piecemeal and scattered development within the Pinelands. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-9b. The Act stresses preservation of the region:

[T]he continued viability of [the Pinelands] area and resources is threatened by pressures for residential, commercial and industrial development * * * [T]he protection of such area and resources is in the interests of the people of this State and of the Nation * * *.

* * * * * * * *

The Legislature further finds and declares that the current pace of random and uncoordinated development and construction in the pinelands area poses an immediate threat to the resources thereof, especially to the survival of rare, threatened, and endangered plant and animal species and the habitat thereof, and to the maintenance of the existing high quality of surface and ground waters; that such development and construction increase the risk and extent of destruction of life and property which could be caused by the natural cycle of forest fires in this unique area * * *. [N.J.S.A. 13:18A-2.]

The Act authorizes the designation of "protection areas" for promotion of agriculture, horticulture, and "appropriate patterns of compatible residential, commercial and industrial development in or adjacent to areas already utilized for such purposes." *201 N.J.S.A. 13:18A-9b. It also calls for the establishment of an extensive "preservation area" to protect especially sensitive land in its natural state and to promote compatible agricultural, horticultural, and recreational uses. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-9c.

In keeping with the paramount objective of both federal and state governments, i.e., protecting the Pinelands from overdevelopment and consequent ecological degradation, the plan for the Pinelands National Reserve calls for the full participation of federal, state, county, and municipal authorities. 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i(b), (d), (f)(4), (g), (h). To ensure that pressures for development do not overwhelm the need for preservation, actions of the lower levels of government that do not conform to that objective can be pre-empted by a higher authority.

The federal statute directs the Governor of New Jersey to create a planning commission. 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i(d). The New Jersey Pinelands Commission (the "Commission") is the instrumentality envisaged by federal and state law as having primary responsibility for planning in the Pinelands. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-4. Its charge is to develop a "comprehensive management plan" (CMP) to serve as the land-use blueprint for the region, subject to the approval of the federal Secretary of the Interior. 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i(d), (f), and (g); N.J.S.A. 13:18A-4, -5, -8, -9. To assist the State's efforts, the federal government provides funds for planning and land acquisition, which are subject to repayment if the State does not properly implement a preservation program. 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i(g)(5), (g)(6), (k).

A similar system of incentives to cooperate, reinforced by the power to pre-empt, characterizes the relations between the State and local governments under the Act. Initially, the Commission assumed all power to exercise traditional zoning functions within the Pinelands, promulgating minimum land-use standards under the CMP. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-8, -10. Thereafter, counties and municipalities were required to conform *202 their master plans and zoning ordinances to the CMP and to have such plans and ordinances approved by the Commission. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-12(a), (b). If a county or municipality fails to conform to the CMP, the Commission will continue to exercise direct control over local land use. N.J.S.A. 13:18-12(c).

In developing the CMP, the Commission has been directed to "[r]ecognize existing economic activities within the area and provide for protection and enhancement of such activities as farming, forestry, proprietary recreational facilities, and those indigenous industries and commercial and residential developments which are consistent with such purposes and provisions." N.J.S.A. 13:18A-8(d)(3). To those ends, the Commission has been given broad authority to invoke

a variety of land and water protection and management techniques, including but not limited to, zoning and regulation derived from State and local police powers, development and use standards, permit systems, acquisition of conservation easements and other interest [sic] in land, * * * transfer of development rights, dedication of private lands for recreation or conservation purposes and any other appropriate method of land and water protection and management which will help meet the goals and carry out the policies of the management plan. [N.J.S.A. 13:18A-8(d)(1).]

Reflecting the aims of the federal and state statutes, the goals of the CMP include the "continuation and expansion of agricultural and horticultural uses." N.J.S.A. 13:18A-9(b)(3). The original CMP, adopted by the Commission in November 1980, stressed that agriculture contributes both to the unique characteristics of the Pinelands and to the environment "by creating open space, terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and wildlife feeding areas." Comprehensive Management Plan, supra, at 242. It also stated that suburban development contributes to "an unfavorable economic environment for farmers through escalating taxes, enactment of inhibiting local ordinances, and increased trespassing and vandalism." Ibid. Consequently, the original CMP called for several programs to accomplish the objective of agricultural preservation. It identified eight "Pinelands Management Areas" of varying ecological sensitivity, including a Preservation Area District, Forest Areas, *203 Agricultural Production Areas, and Regional Growth Areas. N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.12(a).

The original CMP restricted residential development in Agricultural Production Areas, reserving them primarily for farm and farm-related purposes. Section 5-304 of the plan allowed residential units on lots with 3.2 acres as long as the applicant met certain stringent conditions. The original CMP also permitted ten-acre residential zoning, that is, one residential unit per ten acres, "provided that the dwelling unit is accessory to an active agricultural operation, and is intended for the use of the owners or employees of the agricultural operation."

The Commission further created a development-rights transfer program, under which it would award Pinelands Development Credits (PDCs) to landowners for recording permanent deed restrictions on their property limiting the land to specific uses set forth in the CMP. See Comprehensive Management Plan, supra, at 210-12 and sections 5-401 to -407; N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.41 to -5.47 (current version). The PDC program seeks to channel development by permitting holders of PDCs to transfer them to owners who wish to increase densities in specially-designated Regional Growth Areas. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-31; N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.41, -5.45. PDCs may be sold privately at market prices; according to the Assistant Director for Development Review at the Commission, Burlington County has a PDC bank that routinely pays $10,000 per credit. A landowner in an Uplands Agricultural Production Area — the designation that apparently includes the Gardner farm — receives two PDCs per thirty-nine acres. N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.43(b)(2)(i).

In the fall of 1987, Gardner explored the possibility of subdividing his property into fourteen to seventeen ten-acre "farmettes" in accordance with the CMP option allowing one farm-related residential unit per ten acres of land. Before the application was submitted, the Commission completed a periodic revision and amendment of the CMP, as required by the Act. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-8. The Commission determined, according to *204 an affidavit submitted by its Assistant Director for Development Review, that the ten-acre farm option had deteriorated into a ten-acre subdivision requirement with no guarantee that the land actually would be used for farming, and had led in some situations "to the cessation of agricultural operations," "effectively eliminating existing agricultural uses, and threatening significant agricultural use of adjoining areas."

The revised CMP permits only three options for residential development of farmland in Agricultural Production Areas: (1) second-generation Pinelands residents or persons whose livelihood depends on traditional Pinelands economic activities may build homes on 3.2-acre lots, N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.24(a)(1), -5.32; (2) a home may be constructed on a ten-acre lot for an operator or employee of the farm, but that option may be exercised only once every five years, N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.24(a)(2); or (3) homes may be constructed at a density of one unit per forty acres, but only if the residences are clustered on one-acre lots and the remaining thirty-nine acres allocated to each residence are permanently dedicated to agricultural use by a recorded deed restriction, N.J.A.C. 7:50-5.24(a)(3), -5.24(c). The restriction of residential development to forty-acre tracts prompted the filing of Gardner's complaint.

II

Land use regulations span a wide spectrum, from conventional zoning, e.g., Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty, 272 U.S. 365, 47 S.Ct. 114, 71 L.Ed. 303 (1926); Cobble Close Farm v. Board of Adjustment, 10 N.J. 442, 92 A.2d 4 (1952), to particularized restrictions on property with special characteristics, e.g., Penn Cent. Transp. Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978) (Penn Central). The Pinelands Protection Act virtually fills the entire spectrum. It imposes comprehensive and complex regulatory land-use controls over an extensive geographic region with distinctive natural, economic, cultural, and historic characteristics.

*205 Because the Pinelands scheme is fundamentally a regime of zoning, takings doctrine dealing with zoning is particularly relevant. In its most general formulation, takings analysis makes two fundamental demands of any zoning scheme: it must substantially advance legitimate state interests, and it cannot deny an owner all economically viable use of the land. Agins v. Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2141, 65 L.Ed.2d 106, 112 (1980). Those demands may become more elaborate when takings analysis is applied to complex, special-purpose regulations. The public purpose of the regulation may consist of the furtherance of a "public function" or the prohibition of particular uses that are inimical to the public welfare. The economic effect of the regulatory scheme can be assessed in terms of the adjustment of economic benefits and burdens or the extent of interference with "distinct investment-backed expectations." Penn Central, supra, 438 U.S. at 124-28, 98 S.Ct. at 2659-61, 57 L.Ed.2d at 648-51. Although those standards bear the imprint of federal constitutional doctrine, our own state constitutional principles governing the taking of property are in general conformity. See Littman v. Gimello, 115 N.J. 154, 161, 557 A.2d 314, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 324, 107 L.Ed.2d 314 (1989); N.J. Const. art. I, § 20. Essentially, then, application of takings principles requires a fact-sensitive examination of the regulatory scheme, focusing on whether it substantially advances a legitimate public purpose and whether it excessively interferes with property rights and interests.

A

There is not the slightest quarrel that the Act substantially advances several interrelated legitimate and important public purposes. We need refer only to the Legislature's declaration of the Act's objective: to protect the Pinelands, an area providing "a unique habitat for a wide variety of rare, threatened and endangered plant and animal species" and containing "significant and unique * * * resources." Protection of *206 the Pinelands "is in the interests of the people of this State and of the Nation." N.J.S.A. 13:18A-2. The CMP reiterates that purpose, recognizing especially the importance of agriculture because of its capacity to contribute to the special character of the Pinelands and to the environment "by creating open space, terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and wildlife feeding areas," as well as adding "to the cultural, historical, social, visual, and economic characteristics of the Pinelands." Comprehensive Management Plan, supra, at 242. That protection of the Pinelands serves the public interest is underscored by the congressional dedication of the region as the Pinelands Natural Reserve. 16 U.S.C.A. § 471i.

The preservation of agriculture and farmland constitutes a valid governmental goal. N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 1, para. 1(b) (lands used for agriculture or horticulture entitled to favorable tax treatment); see Boundary Drive Assocs. v. Shrewsbury Township Bd. of Supervisors, 507 Pa. 481, 491 A.2d 86 (1985); cf. City of E. Orange v. Township of Livingston, 102 N.J. Super. 512, 246 A.2d 178 (Law Div. 1968) (favorable tax treatment under Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.1 to -23.23, reserved for actual agricultural use, hence not available to municipal water reserve land used only incidentally for sale of hay, timber and cordwood), aff'd o.b., 54 N.J. 96, 253 A.2d 546 (1969). The Act and the land-use regulations directly advance agricultural preservation, particularly through the limitation of residential development by large-tract requirements and complementary deed restrictions on undeveloped, nonresidential land. Cf. Barancik v. County of Marin, 872 F.2d 834, 837 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 242, 107 L.Ed.2d 193 (1989) (upholding county plan that restricts housing density to one residence per sixty acres in a valley used for agriculture); Gisler v. County of Madera, 38 Cal. App.3d 303, 112 Cal. Rptr. 919 (Ct.App. 1974) (upholding ordinance providing for exclusive agricultural use and prohibiting sales of parcels less than eighteen acres); Wilson v. County of McHenry, 92 Ill. App.3d 997, 48 Ill.Dec. 395, 416 N.E.2d 426 (1981) *207 (upholding 160-acre minimum lot size in agricultural zones); Codorus Township v. Rodgers, 89 Pa.Commw. 79, 492 A.2d 73 (1985) (upholding ordinance prohibiting division of productive farmland into tracts of less than fifty acres).

The Act further advances a valid public purpose by preventing or reducing harm to the public. That is exemplified most dramatically by its measures to safeguard the environment and protect the water supply by severely limiting development. The Legislature specifically determined that "pressures for residential, commercial and industrial development" and the "current pace of random and uncoordinated development" pose an "immediate threat" to a region of vital public importance. N.J.S.A. 13:18A-2.

The health, safety and morals or general welfare may be promoted by prohibiting certain uses of land. See Penn Central, supra, 438 U.S. at 125-27, 98 S.Ct. at 2659-61, 57 L.Ed.2d at 649-50; see also Keystone Bituminous Coal v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470, 107 S.Ct. 1232, 94 L.Ed.2d 472 (1987) (upholding restrictions against removal of coal to prevent mine subsidence); Goldblatt v. Town of Hempstead, 369 U.S. 590, 82 S.Ct. 987, 8 L.Ed.2d 130 (1962) (upholding ordinance prohibiting excavation within two feet of groundwater level); Miller v. Schoene, 276 U.S. 272, 48 S.Ct. 246, 72 L.Ed. 568 (1928) (upholding destruction of disease-carrying cedar trees to protect apple orchards). The prevention of damage to the environment constitutes a particularly strong justification for prohibiting inimical uses. E.g., New Jersey Sports & Exposition Auth. v. McCrane, 61 N.J. 1, 63, 292 A.2d 545 (1972) (Hall, J., concurring) ("we must also thoroughly respect the balance of nature"); Texas E. Transmission Corp. v. Wildlife Preserves, Inc., 48 N.J. 261, 268, 225 A.2d 130 (1966) (government conservation of natural resources serves a legitimate public purpose); Usdin v. Environmental Protection Dep't, 173 N.J. Super. 311, 329, 414 A.2d 280 (Law Div. 1980) ("No longer are we able to afford the luxury of squandering nature or indiscriminate *208 over-development * * *."), aff'd, 179 N.J. Super. 113, 430 A.2d 949 (App.Div. 1981). A property owner "has no absolute and unlimited right to change the essential natural character of his land so as to use it for a purpose for which it was unsuited in its natural state and which injures the rights of others," Usdin, supra, 173 N.J. Super. at 327, 414 A.2d 280 (citation omitted); accord Penn Central, supra, 438 U.S. at 144-45, 98 S.Ct. at 2669-70, 57 L.Ed.2d at 661-62 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting); New Jersey Builders Ass'n v. Department of Envtl. Protection, 169 N.J. Super. 76, 96-97, 404 A.2d 320 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 81 N.J. 402, 408 A.2d 796 (1979).

That land itself is a diminishing resource cannot be overemphasized. See Holmdel Builders v. Township of Holmdel, 121 N.J. 550, 565-66, 583 A.2d 277 (1990). Environmentally-sensitive land is all the more precious. Hence, a proposed development that may constitute only a small insult to the environment does not lessen the need to avoid such an offense. The cumulative detrimental impact of many small projects can be devastating. See, e.g., Barancik, supra, 872 F.2d 834; cf. Gilbert v. State, 218 Cal. App.3d 234, 266 Cal. Rptr. 891 (1990) (water connections prohibited to preserve water supply). "If exemptions should be granted because development on individual tracts would impair only minutely the entire resources of the Pinelands, the cumulative effect of such exemptions would defeat the legislative goals of the Pinelands Protection Act." Orleans Builders & Developers, supra, 186 N.J. Super. at 444, 453 A.2d 200; see Lom-Ran Corp. v. Department of Envtl. Protection, 163 N.J. Super. 376, 388, 394 A.2d 1233 (App.Div. 1978).

Plaintiff argues that the regulatory scheme does not fulfill its public purposes in a lawful manner, relying heavily on the Supreme Court's 1987 decision in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825, 107 S.Ct. 3141, 97 L.Ed.2d 677. There, owners of a beachfront property with a small bungalow applied to the California Coastal Commission for a permit to tear down the bungalow and replace it with a much larger *209 house. Because the larger structure would increase blockage of the ocean view and private use of the shorefront, that Commission conditioned the permit on the owners granting the public a right-of-way easement along the shoreline of their property. Id. at 827-29, 107 S.Ct. at 3143-44, 97 L.Ed.2d at 683-84. The Supreme Court determined first that the easement was tantamount to a permanent physical invasion of the property; hence, had the Commission wished to appropriate a right of way by direct regulation, it would have had to exercise the state's eminent domain power and pay for it. Id. at 831-34, 107 S.Ct. at 3145-47, 97 L.Ed.2d at 686-87. The Court further concluded that preserving visual access to the ocean from the street side of the Nollans' house served a wholly different purpose from creating a right-of-way along the shore, and for that reason the easement was not a reasonable and acceptable exercise of the police powers but a taking of property requiring just compensation. Id. at 836-40, 107 S.Ct. at 3148-50, 97 L.Ed.2d at 688-91.

The restriction in Nollan was in the nature of a classic easement or servitude. By authorizing physical access to the beach, it sought to advance a goal collateral to the underlying governmental purpose of preserving visual access to the beach. Here, the underlying regulation limiting residential development on forty-acre tracts restricted predominantly to agriculture directly furthers the central purposes of the Act. The required deed restriction is a constituent part of the regulatory scheme, imposing use limitations substantially identical to the underlying regulation; it does not constitute a burden that is unrelated to the essential purposes of the regulatory scheme. See also, e.g., Rector of St. Bartholomew's Church v. City of New York, 914 F.2d 348 (2d Cir.1990) (limiting modification or alteration of structures with special historic, architectural or cultural significance substantially advanced by city's landmark preservation scheme), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 1103, 113 L.Ed.2d 214 (1991); Glisson v. Alachua County, 558 So.2d 1030 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App.) (development limitations substantially *210 advanced legitimate state interests of protecting environment and preserving historic sites), review denied, 570 So.2d 1304 (Fla. 1990); Historic Albany Found. v. Coyne, 159 A.D.2d 73, 558 N.Y.S.2d 986, 989 (1990) (ordinance requiring authorization for major alterations, demolition, or new construction of buildings in protected historic districts substantially advanced goal of historic preservation); Orion Corp. v. State, 109 Wash.2d 621, 747 P.2d 1062 (1987) (strict development restrictions on least disturbed estuary on Puget Sound substantially advanced environmental preservation goal), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1022, 108 S.Ct. 1996, 100 L.Ed.2d 227 (1988); cf. Departm