September 2, 2011
Not all celebrate Highlands Council’s milestone (Forrest, Neighbor News - Denville) Highlands
“Things are happening at a lightning pace for the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council. On Aug. 10, Council members observed the seventh anniversary of the Highlands Act, pioneering legislation designed to protect the land, natural resources and drinking water for 5.4 million residents.”
Chesterfield eyed for medical marijuana facility (O’Sullivan, phillyburbs.com) Chesterfield Burlington County
“The township may become home to South Jersey’s first medical marijuana growing facility.”
Friday, August 19, 2011
Gov. Christie, N.Y. Gov. Cuomo say OK to scaled-back toll hike (Strunsky, The Star Ledger) North Jersey
“Softening a proposal for unprecedented increases on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, the governors of New Jersey and New York have signed off on an agreement to raise tolls $1.50 next month, followed by additional hikes of 75 cents per year through 2015.
Shopping center proposal causes controversy in Bedminster (MacKenzie, mycentraljersey.com) Bedminster, Somerset County
“A narrow 10-acre strip of land between Interstate 287 and Route 202/206 in Pluckemin section of the township has for years housed a State Police barracks, along with a storage dome for road salt and a garage for New Jersey Department of Transportation vehicles.”
Morristown council introduces revised Speedwell plan (Coughlin, Morristown Green) Morristown, Morris County
“The vote was unanimous, but there were some bumps getting there.”
Zoning Board and Developer Clash Over Colors (Van Embden, Red Bank-Shrewsbury Patch) Red Bank, Monmouth County
“In Red Bank’s designated Antiques District, an area of town that may as well be renamed the ‘Hey, don’t forget about us,’ district, a developer wants to build a colorful, multi-use complex, complete with apartments promising modern living and a first-floor brew pub.”
COURTS
TSI Marlboro, Inc. v. Township of Marlboro Zoning Board of Adjustment (Appellate Division)
United Water of New Jersey v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Borough of Montvale et al (Appellate Division)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
NEWS
N.J. appellate court upholds Highlands Plan to prevent housing development in environmentally-sensitive area (Spoto, The Star-Ledger) Highlands
“New Jersey’s plan to curb development in the environmentally sensitive Highlands can move forward despite claims it will hurt efforts to add affordable housing, a state appeals court panel ruled today.”
Pinelands report says Stafford Township solar project a bad deal for protecting forest (Weaver, The Press of Atlantic City) Stafford, Ocean County
“An annual report on the state of New Jersey pinelands gives Stafford Township a poor mark for its decision to support a solar panel project atop a landfill in the Stafford Business Park.”
Pipeline hearing will focus on plan for High Point State Park (Reilly, NJ Herald) Sussex County
“The public will have a chance to voice their opinion Wednesday about the natural gas pipeline expansion planned to slice through High Point State Park.”
OPINION
Christie’s beach tours / More walk, less talk (Staff Editorial, The Press of Atlantic City) Jersey Shore
“Gov. Chris Christie is not the first politician to take an oceanside walk as a demonstration of his environmental credentials.”
COURTS
In Re Highlands Master Plan (Appellate Division)
Monday, December 6, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Marlboro to take affordable housing issue to N.J. Supreme Court (Boyd, The Asbury Park Press) Marlboro, Monmouth County
“The township is taking the fight over its affordable housing obligation to the state Supreme Court.”
NJ Transit moves forward in effort to privatize parking lots (Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“In a state where three-quarters of its residents live within five miles of a transit station and 10 percent of the work force travels by public transit — the highest statewide rate in America — the NJ Transit station parking lots could be paved with gold.”
OPINION
Keep “wolves” off the Highlands Council (Byers, for The Daily Record) Highlands
“In stark contrast to the natural beauty of New Jersey’s Highlands region is the needless tension between conservation of its critical water supply and natural resources, and plans for local economic development. Recent successes of municipalities that have chosen to conform to the Highlands Regional Master Plan prove this to be a false paradox indeed.”
Friday, October 22, 2010 (Morning)
Officials: NJ-NY tunnel cost estimate is $9.77B (Delli Santi, The Associated Press) Trenton, Mercer County
“The cost of building a rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York City is estimated at $9.77 billion, some $4 billion less than the worst-case estimate the governor of New Jersey cited when he canceled the project two weeks ago, three government officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.”
ARC tunnel was on budget through August, documents show (Rouse, The Record) Statewide
“Public documents say a Hudson River tunnel project that Governor Christie terminated on the basis of cost overruns was on budget as of Aug. 31.”
New Jersey Rail Tunnel Needs Tighter Oversight, Federal Document Says (Dopp/Keane, Bloomberg) Statewide
“New Jersey began its stalled $8.7 billion rail tunnel without proper oversight and faces ‘significant risk’ of overruns, according to a document from the Transportation Department inspector general’s office.”
Highlands Act: Chester Township, N.J., is first Morris town to get Highlands OK (O’Dea, The Daily Record) Chester, Morris County
“The township that hosts the office of the New Jersey Highlands Council today became the first Morris County municipality to adopt the master plan written by that body for the region.”
Hawthorne aims to spruce up rail neighborhood, end parking woes with ‘transit village’ concept (Shrestha, The Record) Hawthrone, Passaic County
“The goal is to end a parking nightmare brought on by the local rail station, and in doing so improve pedestrian access to the business district around the station.”
Monday, October 4, 2010 (Afternoon)
Chester Township, NJ, could become first Morris County municipality to follow Highlands plan (O’Dea, The Daily Record) Chester, Morris County
“Chester Township is seeking to become the first Morris County to follow the Highlands regional master plan.”
Mount Olive, NJ, postpones vote on Marveland Farms development (Roman, The Daily Record) Mount Olive, Morris County
“Public outcry at a meeting Monday night has caused the Mount Olive planning board, once again, to postpone a vote on whether to grant a preliminary application for a proposed 284-unit age-restricted development at the Marveland Farms horse training facility off Pleasant Hill Road.”
Thursday, September 30, 2010 (Evening)
N.J Assembly approves extension of town master plan requirement to 10 years (Murray, The Star-Ledger) Trenton, Mercer County
“New Jersey municipalities would be allowed 10 years between reviews of their master plans under a bill approved by the Assembly today.”
Highlands compliance a ‘milestone’ for Byram (Bouchal, NJ Herald) Byram, Sussex County
“Byram Township has become the first municipality to have its petition for basic conformance to the Highlands Regional Master Plan approved by the Highways Water Protection and Planning Council.”
Russo makes presentation before Meadowlands for suitability of Meadow Crossing (Anderson, South Bergenite) Lyndhurst, Hudson County/Meadowlands
“Land use and planning officials from the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) heard testimony from Russo Development about the suitability of their proposed apartment complex in Lyndhurst, called Meadow Crossing, on Sept. 22, but no formal determinations were made and it could be months before the project is ultimately approved or denied.”
Thursday, September 9, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Oakes Pond development dogged by environmental questions (Frankel, Bloomfield Life) Bloomfield, Essex County
“There may be more than meets the eye at the site of a dilapidated industrial complex alongside the Garden State Parkway.”
Byram close to winning Highlands plan OK (O’Dea, The Daily Record) Byram, Sussex County
“Byram is set to become the first municipality to conform to the state’s Highlands regional master plan.”
New Brunswick becomes model for Atlantic City (Barna, The Daily Targum) New Brunswick, Middlesex County
“After finding the state in another economic slump, Atlantic City officials, Gov. Chris Christie and the state legislature are seeking solutions to help spur the economy and redevelop the struggling city — and a large portion of their inspiration is coming from New Brunswick.”
Housing developers want Vineland council to OK grant application (Staff, The Daily Journal) Vineland, Gloucester County
“The owners of a stalled East Vineland residential development are seeking the city’s support to pursue a state affordable housing grant.”
Zoning Board Carries Hearing on River Road Shell Station (Sullivan, Summit Patch) Summit, Union County
“The Zoning Board of Adjustment heard testimony pertaining to the Shell station at the corner of River Road and Passaic Avenue Tuesday night.”
Talley to become new planning director (McDonald, The Montclair Times) Montclair, Essex County
“A current member of Montclair’s Planning Board has been tapped to become the municipal planning and community development director.”
OPINION
Company turning a sealed toxic dump into a solar-energy development (Riordan, The Philadelphia Inquirer) Gloucester County
“Atop a sealed mound of industrial waste on a historically toxic swath of Gloucester County, Bill Geary sees a sunny future.”
Suburbs suffering from Christie’s short attention span (Mulshine, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“If they were going to build a Seaside on the farm next door to his place in Mount Olive, I suspect Bret Wien would like it a lot more than the project that’s planned for the spot.”
