The League of Women Voters
of New Jersey

a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility
through informed and active participation in government

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

New Jersey municipalities have the major responsibility for their land-use decisions in New Jersey. According to state law, they are required to process and adopt a Master Plan: a guide for land use designed to protect the public health and safety and provide for the common welfare.Your municipality formulates a comprehensive plan for its present and future development based upon its economic, social, and physical features. This is done within a framework of stated goals and policies and may include maps and diagrams. At least once every six years it must be re-examined; then either changed or re-adopted. Municipalities sometimes also amend it between reviews.

The municipality decides how its land is to be divided into zones according to use: residential, commercial, etc. It then adopts ordinances to implement the master plan and to regulate the uses allowed in specific zones, as well as to set the size of lots, height of buildings, width of buffers, amount of impervious surface, etc.

To have the greatest impact, the public needs to get involved during the development and/or the re-examination of the Master Plan and the ordinance which supports it. Residents should get the current Master Plan and ordinance for their community (which should be available in local libraries as well as at town hall), evaluate it, and participate in changing it if necessary. It is very difficult to modify a site plan if it is in accordance with the zoning ordinance.

To ensure that changes in land use conform to the zoning ordinance and the Master Plan, development proposals are subject to site plan and/or subdivision review. Usually the Planning Board does the review; in cases where a site plan requires a "use" variance, because the proposed use is not permitted, the Zoning Board hears the application. Phone your municipal clerk or Planning/Zoning Board secretary to find out which board will be hearing an application. SEE SITE PLAN REVIEW FLOW CHART

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Suppose you are concerned about some new development in your community?

Suppose the local supermarket, a permitted use, wants to double its square footage?

Suppose a bank wants to build a branch in a residential zone?

What can you do?

Call the Board's secretary for the date of the hearing and an agenda for the meeting at which the proposed development will be presented. Attend the meeting, at which time the applicant will present the proposal. If the application is deemed "complete" (all requirements necessary to hold the hearing have been met), the Board will begin to hear the application.

If you wish, you may examine the site plans or subdivision applications at your municipal center before the hearing. The applicant's package must be on file with maps and diagrams giving all relevant information (grading, drainage and utility, soil erosion and sediment control, landscape, lighting, and construction plans) at least ten days prior to the beginning of the formal hearing process. It may include special traffic and drainage studies and copies of applications for state and county permits, if needed. As reports from municipal officials (e.g. police, fire department) and boards (e.g. environmental, shade tree) regarding the plan are made, they will be on file as well. Copies of NJ Municipal Land Use Law, your Master Plan, and your municipal ordinance are available for public perusal. Notification of the hearing shall be given under Public Notices in the official newspaper of the municipality at least ten days prior to the hearing. SEE SITE PLAN REVIEW FLOW CHART

At the Planning Board meeting, the applicant will present the site plan with the application. A lawyer and engineer may testify for the applicant. In some cases a traffic expert, planner, and environmental consultant may testify as well. The Board will have its own lawyer, engineer, and possibly a planner present. They will have reviewed the plan from the municipality's viewpoint and prepared a report for the Board.

After each of the applicant's experts has testified, the Board members will question him or her. After that, the public will be invited to ask questions regarding the testimony. The process will be repeated for each of the experts. When the applicant's presentation is finished, the public will have an opportunity to make general comments on the proposal before the Board votes.

Although the hearing may not be completed in one evening and may be carried to a later date, unnecessary delays are avoided since state law lays out specific timeframes for the consideration of subdivisions and site plans.

The applicant for the bank, in the example above, would appear before the Zoning Board to request a use variance; a bank is not permitted in a residential zone. This Board's procedure is similar to the Planning Board's.

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Suppose you are concerned about increasing traffic, increased development and its effect on schools, or lack of open space for recreation?

What can you do?

Attend a meeting of your municipal governing body, the ultimate authority in your town. Your mayor and council (or committee) members are responsible for implementing the Master Plan, the basic guide for the town's development. They appoint members to all boards, oversee the administration of the town and pass ordinances. They have regularly scheduled meetings at which you may give suggestions or voice complaints during the period for public comment. These meetings are the forum for public participation. It is wise to prepare your presentation beforehand to be sure that you include all the points you wish to make.

Individuals and/or groups of concerned citizens may attend any and all public meetings and may submit petitions and read letters into the record. Workshop meetings are also held which the public may attend for information, but not comment unless specifically invited to speak.

Making the decisions that are right for your community is often difficult. Your elected officials need to hear your concerns. Informed, interested, and involved citizens are a necessary ingredient in the mix that makes democracy work.

ANJEC - The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, a non-profit organization promoting long-term natural resource protection by supporting local environmental commissions and educating local officials and other concerned citizens.

AQUIFER - A water-bearing geologic formation, sometimes confined between clay layers and sometimes on the surface. The source of ground water for drinking and irrigation.

BMP - Best Management Practice; refers to the practice considered most effective to achieve a specific desired result for protection of water, air and land and to control the release of toxins.

CAFRA - Coastal Area Facilities Review Act. Passed by the NJ Legislature to regulate development within a specific geographic coastal zone. CAFRA II amended the original act in 1993 to address single units of development near coastal waters and coordinate CAFRA Regulations with the State Plan.

CR0SS-ACCEPTANCE - The process through which local and county government have input into the state planning process, negotiating differences with the Office of State Planning.

CZMA - Coastal Zone Management Act. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides funding for implementation and sets standards (including prevention of non-point source pollution) for states to comply with when they develop a plan to protect their coastal areas. NJDEP uses CAFRA Regulations to implement this program. NOAA reviews state implementation every 3 years.

DCA - Department of Community Affairs, a state agency which oversees local government activity, housing, finances, etc.

DEP - Department of Environmental Protection, a state agency charged with protection and preservation of natural resources and control of toxins in the natural environment.

DOT - Department of Transportation, a state agency charged with development and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in New Jersey.

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, a federal body charged with responsibility for natural resource protection and oversight of the release of toxins and other threats to the environment.

ERI (NRI) - Environmental Resource Inventory, a listing and description of natural resources and general environmental characteristics of a given geographic area.

ESTUARY - A water body where salt and fresh water meet resulting in brackish water. These areas usually have associated marshlands and are critical nursery and feeding habitat for a variety of marine species.

EUTROPHICATION – The natural aging process of water bodies, by siltation and organic decomposition, which reduces both water volume and oxygen levels. Surface run-off or airborne deposition of nitrogen and phosphorus accelerate this.

FLOOD HAZARD AREA – Total stream and adjacent area periodically covered by overflow from the stream channel containing 1) the floodway which is the channel itself and portions of the immediately adjacent overbank that carry the major portion of flood flow, and 2) the flood fringe beyond it which is inundated to a lesser degree.

FLOOD PLAIN - Nearly level area adjacent to a water body, subject to inundation under heavy rain or blockage conditions (overflow area).

GROUNDWATER - All water below the surface of the land.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE - Any surface through which rainfall cannot pass or be effectively absorbed. (Roads, buildings, paved parking lots, sidewalks etc.)

ISTEA now TEA-21 - Federal legislation that encompasses all transportation regulation and funding (Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was the original title).

MITIGATION – Process or projects replacing lost or degraded resources, such as wetlands or habitat, at another location.

MLUL - Municipal Land Use Law, the legislation under which land use planning and decisions are carried out at the local level, specifies the process for such determination and usage.

NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION (NPS) - Pollution that cannot be identified as coming from a specific source and thus cannot be controlled through the issuing of permits. Storm water runoff and some deposits from the air fall into this category.

RESIDENTIAL SITE IMPROVEMENT STANDARDS (RSIS) - A body of development rules, promulgated by DCA, that delineates infrastructure requirements for new residential areas. (Road widths, sidewalks, type of materials used, etc.)

RUNOFF – The water that flows off the surface of the land, ultimately into our streams and water bodies, without being absorbed into the soil.

SILTATION - Process by which loose soil is transferred and builds up in streams, rivers, and lakes, causing changes in stream channels and in depth. It may result in filling in an area and/or causing flooding.

STATE PLAN - The State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP). A body of goals and objectives delineating the future physical appearance of New Jersey after consultation at all levels of government.

STREAM CORRIDOR - The area (containing wetlands, flood plains, woodlands, unique habitats, and steep slopes) which lies between relatively level uplands and stream banks and through which water, draining from the uplands, flows and is naturally cleansed and stored. Base flow for streams comes from ground water as springs and seeps.

SWAP - Source Water Assessment Plan, a requirement of the 1996 amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act that an assessment and protection plan be developed for each surface water source used for drinking water. New Jersey is in the process of developing such a plan.

USGS - The United States Geological Survey. A federal agency which provides mapping of topography, aquifer levels, and areas where aquifers are recharged.

WATERSHED - The geographic area which drains into a specific body of water. A watershed may contain several sub-watersheds.

WETLANDS – Area having specific hydric soil and water table characteristics supporting or capable of supporting wetlands vegetation.

 

 Produced by the League of Women Voters of Monmouth County

January 2000

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The League of Women Voters is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women devoted to encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government and to acting on specific public issues after grassroots study and consensus.

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