Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act Questions & Answers

Q. Why do we need this legislation?

A. The Highlands are important to all New Jerseyans. Over half of New Jersey’s residents receive their drinking water from the Highlands. New Jersey’s three largest industries – food processing, eco-tourism and pharmaceuticals – and the jobs they support are water-dependent, and in many instances dependent upon water from the Highlands. Unfortunately, the Highlands are losing upwards of 5,000 acres each year to development, meaning that the quality and quantity of the water available to New Jersey homes and businesses are increasingly threatened.

Q. Are we moving too fast?

A. The only people who think this is moving too fast are the people who don’t want it to move at all. Over the past 15 years, the Highlands have been studied by the U. S. Forest Service twice, the State Planning Commission, Skylands Task Force, Highlands Working Group and private entities. Three governors – Kean, Florio and McGreevey – appointed panels on the issue. Governor McGreevey’s Highlands Task Force deliberated for six months, held 3 public hearings, heard from hundreds of NJ citizens, local officials, and experts. The bill has bipartisan legislative, county and municipal support. The Senate and Assembly Environment Committees are holding an unprecedented 5 public hearings on the bill.

Q. Aren’t there other ways of protecting water supplies? Why aren’t they in this bill?

A. No bill, including this one, is ever intended to address every possible means of supporting its end goal. This bill addresses the most critical land preservation and planning mechanisms needed to protect drinking water. Other mechanisms, such as 300-foot buffers around important waterways, are already permitted by other statutes and have been upgraded recently.

Q. What does this mean for my property? Will I need state approval to build a deck?

A. First, no existing property uses will be affected by the act. Second, nearly all of the regulations apply to “major developments,” not minor modifications like decks. Moreover, the bill specifically protects current property owners seeking to build a single family home on their land after the bill becomes law.

Q. Some elected officials and builders are saying the bill threatens home rule. Does it?

A. No. The Act specifically orders the Highlands regional council to work with Highlands’ municipalities as it develops the regional master plan. A majority of the council members will be local officials from Highlands municipalities and counties, so it will not be possible to adopt a plan without support from local Highlands officials. In many respects, the Act will actually give Highlands’s municipalities more tools and power to manage growth and preserve open space and the rural character of their communities. Indeed, the NJ Builders’ Association said that the Act “expands local discretion” and enhances home rule.

Q. Does the bill impose a moratorium on building?

A. No. Nowhere in the Act does it call for a moratorium on development or a permit or planning freeze. In fact, it specifies an interim permitting process to be used while final rules are developed, and grandfathers those projects that have all their permits and approvals in place when the bill passes.

Q. But the bill doesn’t provide for growth, does it?

A. Actually, the bill simply channels growth into areas in and out of the NJ Highlands where it would be less environmentally damaging. While the Act is clearly intended to increase the amount of preservation and protection of critical lands in the Highlands, it also requires the regional council to identify appropriate development and redevelopment areas. Moreover, if we do not protect the Highlands, we will stop growing in New Jersey because we cannot grow without a clean and adequate water supply.

Q. Does the bill threaten jobs?

A. Actually, it does just the opposite. New Jersey’s three largest industries – food processing, tourism, and pharmaceuticals – are all clean water-dependent, and in many cases, dependent on clean water from the Highlands. Among the products produced with Highlands water are M&Ms, Valium, Progresso Soups and Budweiser, all of which would become more expensive to produce if water purification costs rise. Not passing the Act threatens jobs. Moreover, the experience in the Pinelands has been exactly the opposite, as the unemployment rate in the Pinelands in 2002 was lower than both surrounding non-Pinelands land and the state as a whole. Finally, as the Act permits targeted, sustainable and environmentally compatible growth in the Highlands, jobs will continue to be created in the Highlands.

Q. Will the bill have a negative impact on farmers’ ability to borrow or plow?

A. No. The bill does not supercede New Jersey’s Right to Farm Act, nor does it change existing law under which the USDA and the State of New Jersey can only loan money to farmers based on the agricultural value of their land and crops, not the speculative value. As for plowing, the limitations on impervious surfaces do not apply to plowing, so farmers will not be affected by that provision.

Q. What will this bill mean for property values and tax rates?

A. Historically, areas of the country with strong environmental protections have seen an increase in property values and economic investment because they are desirable places to live and work. In addition, this bill contains the strongest landowner equity protections of any land preservation initiatives to date. When acquiring land, the state’s purchase price must be based on the higher of 2 appraisals – one based on the zoning and regulations in effect prior to the enactment of this legislation and the other based on zoning and regulations in effect at the time of purchase. Elsewhere in New Jersey, preservation efforts in the Pinelands have had the effect of stabilizing property tax rates. In fact, property tax rates within the preservation area of the Pinelands are approximately 15 percent lower than outside the preservation area and approximately 37 percent lower than the state as a whole.

Q. Will the bill have a negative impact on affordable housing?

A. No region in the state has complied more with the obligation to provide affordable housing opportunities than the Highlands. Of the 90 municipalities cited in the bill, 78 are in the COAH process or, in a few isolated instances, under court supervision. In fact, over 70% of the units called for by COAH have been built in those municipalities, compared to less than 40% in the rest of New Jersey. In addition, the bill is completely consistent with existing COAH rules as well as with the rules proposed last year.

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