Land Preservation
New Jersey ranks as a national leader in land conservation, through popular state and local programs to preserve farmland and open space. In round numbers, more than one-fourth of our state is publicly owned or deed-restricted parkland or farmland. Yet suburbanization spreads further into the open countryside every day, threatening water supplies, fragmenting woodlands and wildlife habitats and “checker-boarding” farming areas. Some analysts have estimated “build out” of New Jersey’s remaining buildable land in 30-50 years. And, as cities, older suburbs and some small towns have deteriorated, so have their parks.
Our state’s land conservation programs can be made more efficient and effective by integrating the purchase of land with land-use planning and regulation, infrastructure investments and tax policy. Transfer of development rights (TDR) and clustering, in particular, have the potential to preserve significant amounts of land at little or no public cost, provided they are made easier to use, as recommended by the TDR Statewide Policy Task Force. Only by coordinating all of our tools can we achieve an interconnected, regional web of open and healthy recreational areas, ecosystems, wildlife habitats, water supplies and agriculture, along with easy access to healthy neighborhood parks.
New Jersey Assembly overwhelmingly approves the cluster development bill, which could see a Senate vote as soon as May 13.
The Pinelands Protection Act appears to have been effective at steering growth within its jurisdiction, but we must remain vigilant to ensure that the area’s overall growth doesn’t degrade critical natural resources.
Four innovative projects and three visionary plans comprise the list of winners of New Jersey Future’s 2013 Smart Growth Awards.
A new bill streamlines New Jersey’s portfolio of economic incentives, but unless it is amended it will go too far toward subsidizing sprawl development.
The cluster development bill has received unanimous approval in Senate and Assembly committees, and is headed for votes in the full Senate and Assembly.
Four innovative projects, two visionary plans and a statewide policy are winners of New Jersey Future’s 2013 Smart Growth Awards. Diane Sterner receives the Cary Edwards Leadership Award.
This report from New Jersey Future examines the use of non-contiguous clustering as a land-preservation tool in nine New Jersey municipalities. May 2012.
Two plans, an innovative zoning code, a feasibility study and three projects are winners of New Jersey Future’s 2012 Smart Growth Awards. Joseph M. Taylor receives the Cary Edwards Leadership Award.
03/16/2012 — Under Eileen Swan’s watch, the New Jersey Highlands Council has become a national model for balanced natural resource protection. Other state entities would be wise to look to the successes in the Highlands as they seek to implement the new Strategic State Plan.
Four innovative projects and three visionary plans comprise the list of winners of New Jersey Future’s 2013 Smart Growth Awards. Diane Sterner will receive the Cary Edwards Leadership Award.
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Reports, Presentations and Testimony
- Route 1 Planning Through Partnerships
- 10/18/2011: Comments: Proposed Amendments to BPU Main Extension Rules
- Executive Order-78
- 12/14/2011: Joint Statement on A4422-S3165 Permit Extension Act
- Cluster Presentation - NJ Farm Bureau 1-4-2012
- 01/05/2012: Testimony A4226 Assembly Telecom & Utilities Committee
- 04/02/2012: NJFuture Comments to State Planning Commission on Draft State Strategic Plan
- Case Studies of Non-Contiguous Clustering in New Jersey 04-12
- 05/17/2012: Testimony on S1925 to the Senate Environment Committee
- 05-2009 Smart Housing Incentives Act - Summary
- Cluster-Development-Bill-Overview-11-12
- Somerset County Investment Framework 1-13 (Intern Report)
- How Clustering Works
- Cluster-development-bill-overview-with-supporters
- Cluster bill - summary of key provisions
- 03/08/2013-A3680-S2583-Economic-Opportunity-Act-Joint-Statement
- Presentation: Affordable Land Preservation Tools 6-1-11
- Notes on Affordable Land Preservation Tools 6-1-11
- 05/06/2011: Statement: Proposed Waiver of Department Rules Should be Narrowed
- Presentation: Land Preservation Using Off-site Clustering 03-19-11
- 12/15/2010: Highlands letter to Governor
- Presentation: The Status of Transfer of Development Rights in New Jersey 12-10
- Transfer of Development Rights Task Force Report 08-11-10
- Case Studies in Transfer of Development Rights 8-10 (Intern report)
- Planning Ahead 11-09
- 04-03-2009 Letter to DEP re Global Warming Solutions Fund Rules
- Getting to Work 11-08
- Climate Change and Land Use 10-08
- APA-NJ Non-Contiguous Clustering 3-08
- Success in the Highlands 05-05
- Historic Preservation 03-05
- Race to the Middle: The Homogenization of New Jersey's Population Density
- Transfer of Development Rights (Updated) 05-04
- A New Vision for the Highlands 02-04
- Impact Fees 01-04
- Smart Conservation: The "Green" Side of Smart Growth
- Municipal Resource Conservation Assessment 06-01
- Rethinking Farmland Preservation in New Jersey 05-01
- Achieving Genuine Prosperity 04-01
- Case Study Hopewell Township 08-00
