The following is borrowed from the New Jersey
Pinelands Commission:
If you want to see the Pinelands Commission's web site, click here:
A Summary of the New Jersey Pinelands
Comprehensive Management Plan
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A Million Acres
In the center of America's most populous region lies over a million acres
of forests, farms, and scenic towns -- the New Jersey Pinelands.
The Pinelands is a patchwork of pine oak forests, tea-colored streams
and rivers, spacious farms, crossroad hamlets, and small towns stretched
across southern New Jersey. In the country's early years it had been a
place where fortunes were made from lumber, iron and glass. But the early
industries died out, and as the state's major roads bypassed the area,
the "Pine Barrens" gradually became known as a remote part of New Jersey
abounding in local legends like the "Jersey Devil".
About 25 years ago, as the full weight of postwar urban sprawl came
to bear on other parts of New Jersey, the path of Pinelands history forked
again. Would the Pinelands become the locale of grandiose development projects,
such as a jetport and a city of a quarter million, or would the region's
value come to be based on its open spaces, natural features, and traditional
lifestyles, which uncontrolled development would damage or obliterate?
It took years of study and debate before the choice was made. But gradually
the realization set in that the Pinelands was an environmental asset of
national and international importance, deserving safeguards to divert the
flow of growth from metropolitan Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, and
New York. Nearby Atlantic City's casino gambling boom crystallized awareness
of the need for Pinelands development controls.
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Pinelands Legislation
The solution could not have been as simple as an overall building ban or
a government purchase of all the land. The region was too large and too
ingrained with the patterns of 300 years of human use and habitation. So
in 1978 Congress created the Pinelands National Reserve, the country's
first. The Reserve was to be a place where governments at every level --
from Washington down to local planning boards -- could help shape the Pinelands'
future in keeping with some basic guidelines. The state was to take the
lead in evaluating the Pinelands' resources and planning how best to balance
their protection with new development. As provided in the federal law,
Governor Brendan T. Byrne established the Pinelands Commission by executive
order on February 8, 1979 and gave it responsibility for these tasks. The
Pinelands Commission consists of fifteen members. Seven are appointed by
the Governor, and one is appointed by each of the seven counties within
the Pinelands. One member is appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
The New Jersey Legislature, at Governor Byrne's request, supplemented
the federal law by passing the Pinelands Protection Act in June, 1979.
The Act affirmed the temporary limitations on development which the Governor
had put into effect while a plan to protect the Pinelands was being created.
It also established a requirement that county and municipal master plans
and land use ordinances be brought into conformance with the Comprehensive
Management Plan which the Commission was developing.
The boundaries of the Pinelands National Reserve and the Pinelands Area,
as defined by the state legislation, differ somewhat. The Reserve, totaling
1.1 million acres, includes land east of the Garden State Parkway and to
the south bordering Delaware Bay, which is omitted from the 927,000 acre
state Pinelands Area. The two jurisdictions together cover all or parts
of 56 municipalities spread across seven counties -- Atlantic, Burlington,
Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Ocean.
The state law makes another important distinction between the remote
interior of the Pines and the surrounding portions. Development is to be
highly regulated in the 295,000 acre Preservation Area, which encompasses
the largest tracts of relatively unbroken forest and most of the economically
vital berry industry. The larger surrounding area, known as the Protection
Area, contains a mix of valuable environmental features, farmland, hamlets,
subdivisions, and towns, making the Commission's task there more complex.
The Commission was originally given until August 8, 1980 to adopt the
Plan, but the Legislature extended the time allowed to finish the Protection
Area portion by four months. The Plan was thus adopted in two phases. The
Preservation Area part was approved by the Commission on August 8, 1980
and took effect on September 23, 1980, following Governor Byrne's approval.
The Protection Area Plan was adopted on November 21, 1980 and became effective
under state law on January 14, 1981. This final version also constituted
the Comprehensive Management Plan for the entire Pinelands National Reserve.
It was approved by Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus on January
16, 1981 and was sent to Congress for the required 90 day review.
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Acquisition
As prescribed in Section 502 of the National Parks and Recreation Act,
the federal government's primary roles in the Pinelands protection effort
are to provide money for public land acquisition and to monitor the implementation
of the plan.. The federal law originally authorized $26 million for land
acquisition and planning for the Pinelands. However, a cornerstone of the
National Reserve concept was that public land acquisitions cannot guarantee
sufficient protection for the Pinelands unless accompanied by regulatory
measures. Still, government purchase was sometimes recognized as the best
way to keep particularly sensitive parcels free of development. The Commission
proposed in the Plan that the state acquire about 100,000 acres in the
Pinelands, adding to the then current total of 265,000 acres of publicly
owned open space in the Pinelands. The estimated cost of that program was
$81 million, which would be obtained from various federal and state sources.
Interior Secretary Andrus approved the first major federal acquisition
expenditure -- $8.25 million for 11,000 acres in Ocean County's environmentally
critical Cedar Creek watershed -- at the same time that he approved the
Plan. To date, over 65,000 acres have been purchased with state and federal
funds.
If the Pinelands had been an uninhabited wilderness under no pressure
for development it, might have been feasible for the government to buy
the entire area outright. But that was not the case in southern New Jersey
in the 1980's. Because of its proximity to Philadelphia, New York, and
Atlantic City, the Pinelands' perimeter was quickly becoming attractive
real estate. The forested core was immune from that kind of development
pressure for the time being, but it was also the bastion of the cranberry
and blueberry farms, whose thriving operations the government had no reason
to acquire. Making a wholesale government purchase even more impractical
was the history of private land ownership in the Pines, with many families
tracing their occupancy back a century or more. Then there are the large
and small towns which dot the region from end to end. Although great swaths
of the Pinelands have escaped the typical effects of 20th century progress,
making them a refuge for scores of endangered plants and animals, the Pines
are in no sense really wild. Another tactic besides outright purchase was
needed to carry out the public desire to save this last great semi-wilderness
in the northeast megalopolis.
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The Comprehensive Management Plan
The answer lay in the Commission's planning program. A precept that gave
rise to the Commission was that the Pinelands could be protected primarily
within the existing framework of governmental authority if a regional perspective
could be attained. The Commission's essential tasks were to supply that
perspective and create a means of translating it into local master plans
and zoning codes.
Assuming that the Pinelands could not become a national park, it had
to be decided which pieces of the whole ought to be preserved just as they
were and which pieces could be allowed to change. The factors had to be
weighed on a regional scale, not simply as they appeared when each municipality
tried to consider its case alone. The state act furnished a starting point
from which those judgments could be made by dividing the Pinelands into
Preservation and Protection Areas. In calling for a Comprehensive Management
Plan to be prepared, both the state and federal acts also specified the
types of information which had to be assembled to justify more detailed
decisions about future land use. So, as the Commission began to function
at full speed, its first major effort was to collect and analyze that information.
All the resources of the Pinelands -- the vast and priceless water reservoir
beneath the sandy soil, the forests, plants, animals, farms, historic sites,
and the people who give the region its distinctive culture -- had to be
studied and appraised. Experts studied the Cohansey and Kirkwood aquifers,
which contain a potable water supply estimated at over 17 trillion gallons.
They documented the 580 native plant species, including 54 classified as
threatened or endangered, and the 299 kinds of birds, 91 fish, 59 reptiles
and amphibians, and 39 mammals found in the Pinelands. They catalogued
over 1,000 known prehistoric archaeological sites and the crumbled ruins
of the vanished iron and glass industries. And they interviewed hundreds
of Pinelands residents to find out what they valued most about the region
and what they thought the future of the region should be.
Gradually the picture emerged of a Pinelands region which could logically
be divided into eight areas of different land use capability. The delineation
of these areas, and the allocation among them of mandatory and optional
land uses subject to environmental standards, became a central feature
of the Commission's Plan. Click here to view the LAND
CAPABILITY MAP (101K) which contains the management areas.
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Preservation Area
The heart of the Pines from an environmental point of view is the Preservation
Area. Here one finds the pristine Pine Barrens rivers -- the Mullica, the
Batsto, the Bass, Wading, and Oswego. Here are the unique forests of pygmy
pines and oaks known as the East and West Plains. The ruins of long-deserted
towns and factories poke through the underbrush amidst a maze of twisting,
barely passable sand roads. The solemn gloom of cedar swamps gives way
to the flowery brilliance of inland marshes and bogs. To save all this,
the Plan created a Preservation Area District where conventional residential,
commercial and industrial development is largely prohibited. In general,
only new land uses compatible with the ecology of the central Pines are
allowed. Examples of acceptable activities are forestry, cultivation of
berries and native plants, and operation of recreational facilities, such
as canoe rental services and campgrounds designed for minimal impact on
the landscape.
The Preservation Area District's 295,000 acres (including acreage already
protected in public holdings, such as Wharton and Lebanon State Forests)
are immune from new residential development with one exception. Members
of families that have lived in the Pinelands for at least 20 years, or
persons who earn their living from Pinelands resources, are allowed to
build houses for their own use on land they owned as of February 7, 1979
-- the day before Governor Byrne ordered the interim development controls.
The lot has to be at least 3.2 acres to meet the Plan's water quality standard
regulating ground water contamination from septic systems.
Although most of the Preservation Area is sufficiently undeveloped to
be included in the Preservation Area District, some parts call for different
treatment. They included existing villages like Chatsworth and Green Bank,
the large berry farming complexes, and military bases. Three of the Plan's
other land capability zones are designed to control land use in these areas.
The traditional communities of the Pinelands, from tiny rural settlements
like Warren Grove to large towns like Hammonton, are just as much a part
of the landscape as the plants and animals. The Plan designates these communities
as either Pinelands Villages or Towns and allows traditional development
under certain rules. There are 44 Villages in the National Reserve, including
eight in the Preservation Area. The municipality in which a Village is
located determines its boundary according to criteria listed in the Plan.
The seven Pinelands Towns are Buena, on the southwestern Pinelands fringe
in Atlantic County; Egg Harbor City, on the old highway between Atlantic
City and Philadelphia; Hammonton, the hub of the Pinelands' fruit and vegetable
region; Lakehurst, on the northern perimeter of the Pines; Whiting in Manchester
Township, Ocean County; Tuckerton, end point of the old stage coach road
from Philadelphia to the coast; and Woodbine in Cape May County.
Few activities are as vital to the Pinelands as cranberry and blueberry
farming. Bogs and fields are valuable economically as well as environmentally
and aesthetically. Both cranberries and blueberries are native to the region,
thriving in sandy soils with high water tables. New Jersey's cranberry
production, which ranks third nationally, is carried out almost exclusively
in the Preservation Area. With bogs that must be periodically flooded,
cranberry farming is especially tied to the water supply. Growers normally
attempt to match each acre of bog with ten acres of upstream woodland as
a water source. The large, cultivated blueberry was first developed here
by Elizabeth White, and the yearly crop is worth millions. New Jersey ranks
second in blueberry production. To give the berry industry the degree of
protection and encouragement it deserves, the Plan allows municipalities
to designate Special Agricultural Production Areas in the Preservation
Area. Land uses in these areas are limited to the cultivation of berries
and other native plants, other environmentally compatible agricultural
activities, housing for people with links to the Pinelands, and housing
for agricultural employees.
With their huge tracts of vacant land, the Pinelands were an obvious
place for the government to locate military bases and similar facilities.
These installations now occupy about 46,000 acres, with 30,000 acres in
the Preservation Area. The four major ones are Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force
Base, Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center, and the Federal Aviation
Administration Technical Center in Atlantic County. The Plan includes them
in Military and Federal Installation Areas. New land uses are generally
permitted if they are in keeping with the Plan's development standards.
Activities essential to national security are exempt from the Commission
review.
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Protection Area
The Commission's task in the Preservation Area was comparatively easy.
The legislative mandate was clear and there was little opposition to the
premise that significant new development there would be unwise. In the
Protection Area, though, it was a different story. The Commission's assignment
here was a juggling act from the start. Environmental and economic interests
had to be considered. According to the 1979 Pinelands Protection Act, the
Plan was to encourage development "in or adjacent to areas already utilized
for such purposes" so growth pressures could be accommodated with a minimum
of environmental damage. "Piecemeal and scattered" development was to be
discouraged, and the "essential character of the existing Pinelands environment"
was to be preserved and maintained.
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Forest Areas
One of the first major conclusions resulting from the Commission's survey
of Pinelands resources was that all the region's important natural resources
were not safely tucked away in the Preservation Area. There was plenty
of land in the Protection Area which experienced little or no development.
Many of the same critical environmental features which characterized the
Preservation Area were found here in abundance -- unpolluted streams, rare
plants and animals, and pristine environments such as cedar swamps. It
became evident that much of the Protection Area could be classified as
possessing the essential character of the Pinelands. Land that met the
Commission's criteria for essential character was placed in Forest Area.
These areas generally adjoin the Preservation Area, but also extend far
to the south, linked to the northern forest by a narrow undeveloped stretch
between Hammonton and Egg Harbor City. Forest Areas within the National
Reserve contain about 400,000 acres. About one-fourth of the total is already
in public ownership as state forests, parks and wildlife management areas.
About one-third, while in the National Reserve along the coast, is outside
the Pinelands Commission's permitting jurisdiction. (Development there
is subject to the state's Coastal Management Program which is required
to carry out the purposes of the state and federal Pinelands acts.)
The same land uses that are permitted in the Preservation Area District
are permitted in Forest Areas. Municipalities are also given the option
of including certain other new uses, such as limited commercial establishments.
Each municipality is also assigned a number of new housing units which
may be built in its Forest Area. The Plan allows one new house for each
15.8 acres of privately owned, undeveloped upland. Municipalities are also
allowed to cluster development on 3.2 acre lots in Forest Areas to minimize
environmental damage.
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Agricultural Production Areas
The Plan provides another major land use area in the Protection Area which
is designed to accommodate and encourage farming. Large concentrations
of active farmland lie within the Pinelands' western boundary. Blocks of
more than 1,000 acres of active farmland and adjacent farm soil are grouped
into Agricultural Production Areas where farming and related activities
will remain the dominant land use. The Plan classifies about 66,200 acres
of the National Reserve this way, including 2,100 acres on the western
fringe of the Preservation Area. Municipalities may designate additional
Agricultural Production Areas subject to Commission approval. Local ordinances
are required to protect farm operations by exempting them from rules pertaining
to dust, noise, odors, and hours of operation. Housing for farm owners
and employees is permitted at a density of one home for every 10 acres.
New, non-farm related housing is limited to one home for every 40 acres.
Persons with family links to the Pinelands will also be allowed to build
homes.
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Regional Growth Areas
To determine where development should be allowed and encouraged, the Commission
had to analyze present and anticipated growth patterns. It found that new
development was advancing into the Pines primarily on three fronts. One
source of new development was the extension of the Philadelphia-Camden
metropolitan area; another was the continuation of rapid development in
Ocean County, largely comprising retirement communities; and the third
was a building boom set off by Atlantic City's casinos. The Commission
estimated the number of new housing units that could be accommodated. These
units were then distributed among Regional Growth Areas that were designated
in municipalities found to be experiencing development pressure and to
be capable of accommodating growth. The Plan stipulates base densities
ranging from 1 to 3.5 housing units per acre of developable land when sewers
are available. In Atlantic County, for example, where the greatest level
of development is anticipated, the Plan provides for the construction of
up to 56,904 new housing units within 25,581 acres in growth areas. Any
other land use may be permitted at a municipality's option as long as the
Plan's environmental conditions are met. Regional Growth Areas within the
state Pinelands Area total 80,000 acres; approximately half of this is
considered developable. At the overall base densities called for in the
Plan, 80,800 new housing units could be built in these areas. An additional
22,500 units could be built in these growth areas with the use of "Pinelands
Development Credits." This innovative development transfer program is explained
in the succeeding pages.
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Rural Development Areas
The Plan's remaining land use classification takes in areas which meet
neither the stringent environmental criteria for Forest Areas nor lie squarely
in the path of development like Regional Growth Areas. These transition
zones are classified as Rural Development Areas and account for 132,000
acres within the National Reserve. The Plan attempts to protect the characteristic
Pinelands features that can be found there while allowing modest development
to proceed and giving municipalities as much leeway as possible to determine
land uses. New housing is allowed at an overall density of 200 units per
square mile of privately owned, undeveloped upland. In essence, the Rural
Development Areas will function as safety valves, siphoning off development
pressures which Regional Growth Areas can't absorb. Local governments may
plan for that spillover in advance by designating "municipal reserve areas"
in their Rural Development Areas. These municipal reserves can be developed
at the same densities as Regional Growth Areas once the adjacent growth
areas are saturated and a need for additional housing still exists.
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Pinelands Development Credits
As development is channeled into growth areas, land values there are expected
to rise. On the other hand, the Commission has found it necessary to limit
residential development in environmentally sensitive parts of the Pinelands,
restricting development opportunities which landowners there may have had
before. The Plan includes an innovative program known as Pinelands Development
Credits which is designed to reconcile these situations while enhancing
the overall Pinelands protection effort. The program works by allocating
development credits to landowners in the Preservation Area District, Agricultural
Production Areas, and Special Agricultural Production Areas. The credits
can be purchased by developers owning land in Regional Growth Areas and
used to increase the densities at which they can build. A landowner selling
credits retains title to the land and is allowed to continue using it for
any non-residential use authorized by the Plan. This landowner is required
to enter into a deed restriction that would bind future owners to those
same uses. The Pinelands Development Credit program is designed to transfer
some of the benefits of increased land values in growth areas back into
areas where growth is limited. It will also help guarantee that appropriate
land uses are observed and encourage more concentrated development where
it can be accommodated. To date, over 12,000 acres have been permanently
deed restricted under the program.
Sales of credits take place on the open market like any real estate
transaction. In 1985, the state created a Pinelands Development Credit
Bank which can buy and sell credits, guarantee loans using credits for
collateral, and maintain a registry of credit owners and purchasers. Burlington
County also established a county-wide Pinelands Development Credit exchange
in 1981.
When credits are transferred to a Regional Growth Area, each credit
entitles the owner to build four additional housing units. Municipalities
are required to allow for the use of credits in their land use regulations.
To distribute the bonus housing units evenly and maintain consistent housing
types in various neighborhoods, municipalities designate zoning districts
in which residential development will be permitted at densities ranging
from less than 0.5 dwelling units per acre to 12 or more dwelling units
per acre with credits. Using credits, development can take place at the
high end of the density ranges. This could theoretically increase the number
of units built in the growth areas by about 50 percent, or roughly 46,000
units. However, the number of credits that will be available for sale will
generate only about 24,400 units, according to Commission estimates. The
gap between supply and demand is expected to create a stronger market for
the credits.
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Special Exemptions
The Comprehensive Management Plan designated two principal exemptions from
its standards regulating the construction of new homes. In both cases,
the Plan's environmental standards have to be met. People who owned at
least one acre of land in the Forest, Agricultural Production, and Rural
Development Areas as of February 7, 1979 are exempted from the Plan's density
limitations if they wish to construct a home for themselves or members
of their immediate family. Although that "grandfather" exemption expired
one year after the Plan's effective date, municipalities that revise their
master plans and zoning ordinances to incorporate Plan standards can extend
that period. The second type of exemption was for landowners who had obtained
final local approval for their projects as of February 7, 1979. That exemption
expired on January 14, 1983.
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Growth Opportunities
The Commission estimates that approximately 175,000 new housing units can
be built in the Pinelands Area under the Plan. That total includes 80,800
units as the base density in Regional Growth Areas; another 22,500 units
that could be built in growth areas through the use of development credits;
and 71,900 units in other areas. In 1986, a bond act was approved that
provides infrastructure grants and loans to Pinelands Regional Growth Area
communities for sewer lines and water supply. It has enabled these communities
to develop the infrastructure necessary to accommodate future assigned
growth.
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Environmental Standards
The creation of different land use growth areas based on an assessment
of environmental resources and pressures was a cornerstone of the Plan.
But to make that system work the Commission had to develop standards ensuring
that permitted land uses cause the least possible environmental damage.
The Plan includes 13 management programs to regulate the impact of development
on Pinelands resources. It also contains administrative and legislative
recommendations within the program areas. Municipalities need not incorporate
all Plan standards verbatim into their local land use regulations as long
as the Plan's intent is met. Some are presented merely as guidelines. However,
until a municipality brings its master plan and zoning code into conformance
with the Plan, the literal standards of the Plan's management programs
are administered by the Commission when it reviews proposed development.
The regulatory elements of the programs are summarized below:
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Wetlands - Different types of wetlands in the Pinelands such as
cedar swamps and pitch pine lowlands help reduce pollution, prevent flooding,
and serve as the home for many of the region's rare plants and animals.
These valuable wetlands are easily spoiled by development. For these reasons,
the Pinelands Plan discourages building in wetlands. Regulations in Subchapter
6 of the Pinelands Plan are intended to protect wetlands and prevent the
health problems that would occur if septic systems were installed there.
Most types of commercial and residential development are prohibited in
wetlands. Exceptions are non-intensive land uses such as forestry (lumbering),
agricultural operations compatible with wetlands (such as blueberry and
cranberry farming), and certain other low intensity activities. Public
improvements, such as roads and utility distribution lines, are permitted
to cross wetlands in limited instances.
To prevent environmental degradation, a protective zone around wetlands
must be established. Generally, no development is allowed within 300 feet
of a wetland. (This distance can be reduced if it can be shown that the
proposed development will not significantly harm the wetland area.)
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Vegetation - The vegetation of the Pinelands is both fragile and
unique. The Pinelands contains an extraordinary mixture of plants, many
of which reach their northern or southern range limits here. There are
also 54 plant species in the Pinelands which are in danger of disappearing
entirely from New Jersey.
In order to protect populations of these rare plants, development must
be designed to avoid irreversible harm to their survival. The Pinelands
Plan lists the 54 plants species in the Pinelands which are threatened
or endangered.
In addition, the clearing of land is regulated so that the essential
character of the Pinelands can be preserved. When more than 1,500 square
feet of land is cleared, it must be for an agricultural purpose or necessary
to carry out an approved development project. In order to preserve native
vegetation, areas cleared for development must be landscaped largely with
indigenous plants. The use of native vegetation is also important because
many non-native plants require extensive fertilization and chemical application
to grow in the Pinelands and their use would contribute substantially to
water pollution. Some municipalities which have brought their land use
ordinances into conformance with the Pinelands Plan have been allowed to
designate certain zones where non-native vegetation is allowed.
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Wildlife -The Pinelands National Reserve is home to 299 species
of birds, 39 species of mammals, including 4 bats found only during migration,
91 species of fish, 33 species of reptiles, and 26 species of amphibians.
Thirty-nine species (30 birds, 5 reptiles, and 4 amphibians) are currently
listed as threatened or endangered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection's Office of endangered and Nongame Species. Development must
be carried out in a manner which does not disturb habitats for significant
wildlife populations.
Of the approximately 50 fish and wildlife species in the Pinelands, 34
are in danger of becoming extinct in New Jersey. These threatened and endangered
animals are listed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's
Office of Endangered and Nongame Species. Included in this list of endangered
species are the majestic bald eagle and the elusive Pine Barrens treefrog.
Particular attention must be devoted to the design of projects so that
habitats critical to these species are protected.
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Water Resources - The Pinelands is famous for its vast underground
water supply. The Cohansey aquifer in the Pinelands contains over 17 trillion
gallons of pure water, enough to cover the entire State of New Jersey with
ten feet of water. This underground reservoir feeds most the area's streams,
supports its agricultural industry, maintains the ecological balance of
our coastal estuaries, and provides drinking water for hundreds of thousands
of people. The high water table and porous, sandy soil of the Pinelands
make this aquifer particularly vulnerable to pollution. Pollutants move
quickly through this sandy soil into the ground water.
To ensure that this water is not substantially degraded, new sewer plants
and on-site septic systems must be designed so that discharges do not raise
pollution levels on the property to more than two parts per million nitrate-nitrogen.
Nitrate-nitrogen, a primary pollutant in the Pinelands, can cause serious
health problems and environmental damage.
In some cases, large lots are required to dilute pollutants from septic
systems. In other cases, innovative septic systems must be used to reduce
the level of pollutants entering the ground water. Septic systems must
be installed above the water table (the point below ground where water
begins) to function properly and prevent pathogens from entering the ground
water. Construction is generally prohibited in areas where the ground water
is within five feet of the surface during the wettest part of the year.
Another major feature of the Pinelands Plan relates to the retention
of storm water. Because of the porous soils here, most rainwater percolates
through the soil and replenishes the ground water system. However, development
normally reduces the amount of water drained into the aquifer unless special
measures such as swales or retention basins are used. Unfortunately, storm
sewers normally only carry water away and discharge it into a stream. This
results in a lowering of the ground water level and introduces pollutants
directly into streams. The Pinelands Plan, therefore, requires that increased
storm water run off caused by development be retained on site.
There are a number of other standards which are designed to protect
the region's water resources (e.g., minimum well depths), prohibitions
on the disposal of toxic chemicals, and limits on the exportation of water
outside of the Pinelands.
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Air Quality - In addition to meeting relevant state and federal
air quality standards, large development projects must also be designed
to limit carbon monoxide emissions. These additional standards generally
apply to residential development projects involving 50 or more homes and
other projects which involve 100 or more parking spaces.
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Scenic Resources - The scenic beauty of the Pinelands is highly
prized by both residents and visitors.
In order to protect the area's scenic attractiveness, stringent limitations
have been placed on the size and type of signs allowed in the Preservation
Area District and Special Agricultural Production Areas. New warning and
safety signs, on-site commercial signs, and off-site signs advertising
agricultural roadside stands are permitted in the Pinelands. The erection
of new off-site billboards is prohibited in all areas of the Pinelands.
Within the Preservation Area, Forest Areas, and Rural Development Areas,
there is a general requirement that buildings be set back 200 feet from
major public roads. This distance may be reduced if the set back is constrained
by environmental or other physical considerations, or if an applicant can
demonstrate that surrounding development is set back less than 200 feet.
There are also nineteen scenic rivers in the Pinelands along which proposed
development must be screened.
Most new utility lines must be placed underground, and areas where more
than 10 motor vehicles are stored (e.g., junkyards, car dealerships) must
be screened from nearby homes and public roads in the Preservation Area,
Forest Areas, and Rural Development Areas.
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Fire - The Pinelands is one of the most fire prone areas in the
United States. Every year portions of the Pines are swept up in wildfires.
While these fires are important for the area's ecology, they also pose
a significant threat to life and property.
The Pinelands Plan requires certain preventive measures to minimize the
danger posed by these wildfires. These measures include maintaining "fuel
breaks" around homes and other buildings and road access requirements.
The type of vegetation in the area determines whether a site is a low,
moderate, high, or extreme fire hazard area.
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Historic Resources - The Pinelands has a rich cultural and historic
heritage. The area was populated by Indians long before European colonization
took place. The physical remains of the historic and prehistoric past need
to be protected.
There are two general procedures contained in the Pinelands Plan to accomplish
this. For known sites which are widely recognized for their historic import
(e.g., those sites listed in the National or State Register of Historic
Places), proposed changes in the character of those sites must be carefully
reviewed. A "Certificate of Appropriateness" is issued by the Commission
if the proposed changes are found to be warranted. In towns which have
already had their plans and ordinances certified by the Commission, the
town conducts this review.
There is also a general requirement applicable to all "major" development
applications (generally five or more dwelling units and commercial establishments)
and other, smaller projects located in a historic settlement (village or
town) in the Pinelands. To find out if any significant historic or prehistoric
resources are present on a development site, a cultural resource survey
must be completed by a qualified professional prior to the start of construction.
The requirement may be waived if there is little or no likelihood of any
historic or prehistoric remains on the site. When this survey discloses
the presence of important historic resources, a "Certificate of Appropriateness"
must be issued before the development project can proceed.
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Standards Which Apply To Specific Types Of Activities
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Forestry - The growing and harvesting of timber is an economically
valuable industry in the Pinelands. If done properly, timber harvesting
can avoid substantial environmental harm while promoting the regeneration
of commercially valuable trees.
Anyone who wishes to cut timber for commercial purposes in the Pinelands
Area must obtain a forestry permit. This forestry permit must be obtained
directly from the Pinelands Commission if the municipality has not yet
received Commission approval of its revised land use ordinances. In municipalities
which have already been "certified" by the Pinelands Commission, forestry
approvals are issued by the township. Adjacent property owners must be
notified of the forestry operation before harvesting begins.
Proper cutting and reforestation practices must be used, and a forestry
management plan must be prepared. This plan must also be reviewed by the
New Jersey Bureau of Forest Management. To ensure that the area is properly
restored, a performance guarantee in the form of a financial surety must
be posted by the property owner.
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Agriculture - Agriculture is not only a valuable industry in the
Pinelands -- it contributes significantly to the unique character of the
region. The blueberry and cranberry industry's dependence on large quantities
of pure water has greatly contributed to the ecological stability of the
region. Agricultural-related development is generally exempt from Pinelands
Commission review.
However, farming operations must be carried out in an environmentally
sensitive manner. The recommended agricultural management practices prepared
by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, the Soil Conservation Service,
and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station must be followed where
appropriate. In designated Agricultural Production Areas of the Pinelands,
farming operations are exempted from "nuisance" ordinances which inhibit
efficient crop production.
So that agricultural operations do not increase water quality problems
in identified trouble spots, resource conservation plans must be prepared
(normally by the Soil Conservation District if the farmer wishes) for farms
in these areas.
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Resource Extraction - The commercial mining of sand, gravel, clay,
and ilmenite is permitted in the Pinelands. However, since resource extraction
significantly alters the landscape and can lower water quality and disrupt
drainage patterns, mining operations must be carefully conducted.
The Pinelands Plan prohibits new mining operations in the Preservation
Area District , Forest Area and Special Agricultural Production Areas.
Existing operations in these areas are permitted to continue, subject to
strict limitations. New mining operations may be located in other parts
of the Pinelands. The Pinelands Plan requires that these mining areas be
buffered from adjacent properties. Mining must be conducted in a logical
sequence, harm to water resources off the site must be minimized and the
site must be restored once mining is complete.
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Recreation - Certain controls have been placed on recreation activities
to ensure that the environment is not severely harmed.
Motor boats in excess of 10 horsepower are not permitted in state waters
in the Pinelands except in certain downstream areas of the Mullica and
Wading Rivers. Limitations also exist on the use of motor vehicles on state
lands. The Pinelands Commission must also review route maps for organized
off-road vehicle events.
Recreation areas must be accessible to handicapped persons and bicycling
facilities must be provided in conjunction with public roads.
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Local Implementation
The 1979 Pinelands Protection Act envisioned that local governments will
be primarily responsible for implementing the Plan. To attain that degree
of local involvement and responsibility, the Act set forth a procedure
under which county and municipal master plans and land use ordinances are
made consistent with the Plan. While some of the Plan's provisions are
mandatory, such as the density limitations and the requirement that growth
areas accept development credits, many other aspects are intended to give
municipalities resource management goals to work toward as they revise
their land use regulations. The specific means chosen to meet those goals
are open to negotiation between the Commission and the local government.
If a municipality does not revise its plan and ordinances as required by
the Pinelands Protection Act, the Commission is required by law to enforce
the Plan's minimum standards verbatim. A municipality is able to exercise
more flexibility in applying the Plan to local conditions by participating
in the conformance process. At this time, all but 2 of the 53 Pinelands
Area municipalities have completed this plan and ordinance revision process.
Once a county or municipality revises its plans and ordinances, the
Commission's executive director holds a public hearing and submits a recommendation
to the full Pinelands Commission. The Commission may either certify the
plans and ordinances as being in conformance with the Plan, certify them
with conditions, or disapprove them and indicate the necessary changes.
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Development Review
Probably the most significant authority granted to the Commission under
the Pinelands Protection Act is the power to review proposed development
and to disapprove projects which fail to meet its standards. During the
development of the Plan, the Commission exercised that power alone. The
legislation provides that local governments that bring their regulations
into conformance with the Plan regain primary responsibility for approving
or denying development applications. The Commission is given the power
to review local actions to make sure the Plan's intent is carried out.
Anyone who wants to undertake any form of development as defined by
the Plan must file an application with both the Commission and municipality.
Applications are first reviewed by Commission staff to determine whether
they are complete. Once the Commission has reviewed a project, the normal
municipal review process begins. Municipal authorities are required to
notify the Commission when they are scheduled to consider an application
and when it receives preliminary or final local approval. These local approvals
are then subject to Commission review to ensure that they are consistent
with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan.
The Commission also has the authority to grant waivers from strict compliance
with the Plan for reasons of extraordinary hardship or compelling public
need. The Commission also issues binding letters interpreting any of the
Plan's provisions.
If you desire further information regarding the Pinelands Comprehensive
Management Plan, or desire a copy of land use regulations currently in
effect, please feel free to contact the Pinelands Commission by writing
our public programs office at the address below.
Pinelands
Preservation Alliance
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