New Jersey Highlands Council Build Out Analysis

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY – The New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council released a 'Build Out Analysis' today defining developable land within the Highlands region in accordance with the Regional Master Plan (RMP).

The 'Build Out Analysis' indicates that the RMP policies, when fully implemented in the Highlands Region, allow for resource protection and smart growth development that is protective of Highlands’s water quality and quantity.

The analysis conducted by the New Jersey Highlands Council relies on extensive new and existing data that will benefit from further analysis and refinement over time. “The Highlands Council will work with municipalities during the RMP conformance process as they perform local build out analyses that will better reflect local conditions that cannot be assessed at a regional level.” Eileen Swan, Executive Director, explained, “The Highlands Council is fully committed to partnering with our municipalities to refine the build out analysis by drawing upon their knowledge and experience concerning local circumstances.”

Read the FULL press release >>

New Jersey Highlands Council Awards Grant

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY – The New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council awarded the Town of Clinton, Hunterdon County, with a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Feasibility Grant for $23,500. It is the third municipality in New Jersey to receive this grant from the Highlands Council.

“The TDR program is a valuable land use and planning tool that allows for sensitive land to be preserved while directing development to areas where it would be the most appropriate,” said Eileen Swan, Executive Director of the Highlands Council. “To encourage municipalities to participate in this program and conform to the New Jersey Highlands Regional Master Plan, the Highlands Act provides funding mechanisms, such as this grant program. We are happy that the Town of Clinton applied for this grant, and we look forward to working with the Town in the future in the TDR program.”

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a land use tool that permits the transfer of development potential from areas identified for preservation, called sending zones, to areas that are more appropriate to accommodate increased growth, called receiving zones. Landowners in the sending zones receive compensation for the transferable development potential of their property that has been restricted in support of preservation. Payment for this lost development potential comes from purchasers who buy credits representing the lost development potential of parcels in the sending zone. The credits then entitle the purchaser to build in a receiving zone at a density greater than that permitted in existing zoning.

The Town of Clinton will use this grant for planning design analysis and an economic analysis for the potential of TDR in the municipality. The area of study for receiving sties would include areas where there are underutilized lands and buildings, as well as vacant or undeveloped lands, in the town’s commercial zone. Other tracts of land in the Town of Clinton will be analyzed as sending zones as these lands have environmental constraints such as steep slopes, carbonate rock, and floodplains.

Recognizing that planning for a receiving zone involves costs, the New Jersey Highlands Council established a $1 million Voluntary Receiving Zone Feasibility Grant Program in the spring of 2007. This grant program is designed to assist municipalities in assessing the potential for locating a receiving zone within their communities. Eligible municipalities, which need not be within the Highlands Region but must be in one of the seven New Jersey Highlands counties, will receive both financial support and technical assistance from the Council. To date, two municipalities have been awarded grants under the program while several others are currently preparing applications. Lopatcong Township in Warren County was awarded a $25,000 TDR Feasibility Grant, and the City of Clifton in Passaic County received a $40,000.

As specified by the New Jersey Highlands Act, receiving zones under the Highlands TDR Program are voluntary. To encourage municipalities to designate voluntary receiving zones, the Highlands Act provides a number of benefits to municipalities in the Planning Area that conform to the Regional Master Plan(RMP) and establish a receiving zone which provides for a minimum density of five (5) dwelling units per acre for the residential portion of the receiving zone. Planning Area municipalities that meet these criteria may:

• charge up to $15,000 per unit impact fee for all new development within the voluntary receiving zone
• receive up to $250,000 in an enhanced planning grant to offset the planning and other related costs of designating and accommodating voluntary receiving zones
• receive a grant to reimburse the reasonable costs of amending municipal development regulations to accommodate voluntary receiving zones
• receive legal representation by the State in actions challenging municipal decisions regarding TDR, provided that certain pre-requisites are met
• receive priority status in for any State capital or infrastructure programs

For municipalities outside of the Region but within the seven New Jersey Highlands counties, they are entitled to the same benefits above except for legal representation and priority status. Importantly, municipalities outside the Region must receive plan endorsement from the New Jersey State Planning Commission to participate in the Highlands TDR Program.

Any municipality in the seven counties of the New Jersey Highlands Region (Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex or Warren) interested in applying for a TDR Feasibility Grant should contact Lindsey Interlante, Manager of Grants Administration, at (908) 879-6737.

New Jersey Highlands Council Capacity Crowd

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY - A capacity crowd filled the room for the first public hearing for the final draft of the New Jersey Highlands Regional Master Plan, held Wednesday night at the Morris County Haggerty Education Center in Morristown, New Jersey.

Approximately 150 members of the public, including land owners, farmers, developers, environmental activists, and other concerned individuals attended the event. More than 40 people testified during the three-and-a-half hour hearing.

“An important part of the process of creating and adopting a Regional Master Plan for the Highlands is obtaining public input,” said John Weingart, Chairman of the New Jersey Highlands Council. Public comment has already helped the Council improve the draft Master Plan from an earlier version and we look forward to refining it further based on the additional input we are receiving this month.”

There are two remaining public hearings that will take place at the following times and dates:

Today - February 11, 2008 from 6 p.m. to end of public comment at the Passaic County Community College, One College Blvd., Paterson, New Jersey.

February 13, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to end of public comment at the Voorhees High School, 256 County Rt. 513, Glen Gardner, New Jersey.

Read the full press release(PDF) from the
New Jersey Highlands Council >>

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NJ Highlands Regional Master Plan

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY - Yesterday, the New Jersey Highlands Council announced the commencement of a 90-day public comment period for the Highlands Regional Master Plan(RMP - Final Draft 2007). Three public hearings have been scheduled for February 2008 for open public comment.

“The Final Draft of the Regional Master Plan is an exciting example of regional planning in New Jersey,” said John Weingart, Chairman of the Highlands Council. “The Council members and staff have worked hard to prepare a plan will protect, enhance and restore the valuable resources of the Highlands as required by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act. While this draft plan already reflects changes suggested by the public during the Council's many hearings and lengthy comment period earlier this year, we wanted to provide another opportunity for input. We invite the public including interested stakeholders to review the new final draft and suggest potential improvements for the Council to consider before adopting the Regional Master Plan."

Publication of the Highlands Regional Master Plan(Final Draft November 2007), the accompanying technical addenda and/or Land Use Capability Series maps are now available on the New Jersey Highlands Council's web site >>

The New Jersey Highland's Council will hold three public meetings regarding the Regional Master Plan on the following dates:

• February 6, 2008 from 4pm to end of public comment at the Morris County Haggerty Education Center, 53 East Hanover Ave, Morristown, New Jersey.


• February 11, 2008 from 6pm to end of public comment at the Passic County Community College, One College Blvd., Paterson, New Jersey.


• February 13, 2008 from 6:30pm to end of public comment at the Voorhees High School, 256 County Rt 513, Glan Gardner, New Jersey.

The public comment period will officially close on February 28, 2008. If you are unable to attend one of the scheduled public meetings the NJ Highlands Council is offering the following two additional ways to submit your comments:

• Via Email - RMPComments@highlands.state.nj.us


• Via Snail Mail -
  
  Attn: Final Draft RMP Comments
  Highlands Council
  100 North Road - Route 513
  Chester, New Jersey 07930

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