Netflix is getting a major exemption from New Jersey’s new coastal flood rules after months of lobbying over permitting issues at the sprawling former Army base it is working to redevelop.
The carve-out will allow one of Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) pet projects — a $1 billion film and television studio — to avoid complying with climate change regulations his administration has been working on since before the pandemic.
New coastal development rules, which are expected to be finalized by the end of the year, require builders to plan for future sea-level rise.
Republicans, industry groups and coastal mayors have attacked the rules from the state Department of Environmental Protection as too onerous, prompting Murphy’s administration to weaken them in recent days.
