Development and Creation of the County Master Plan
Inherent in the development and creation of a new Master Plan for the County of Bergen, the Department has pursued intergovernmental coordination with all 70 constituent municipalities to ensure consistency and encourage sound regional planning principles. Upon its completion and adoption, the County Master Plan will provide a guidance tool for future development, redevelopment, and preservation throughout Bergen County, as well as provide municipalities with a regional framework for their local planning processes. This plan will be fully in accordance with the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law as well as consistent with the goals and objectives of the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan. The Master Plan will be comprised of nine (9) elements or sub-plans as shown below:
- Land Use Plan
- Transportation Plan
- Environmental Plan
- Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Plan
- Housing Plan
- Utilities Plan
- Economic Redevelopment Plan
- Community Facilities Plan
Demographic and Data Profile
Along with preparing and developing a new Master Plan, the County will develop a new Official County Map, which will show and delineate all Municipal and County Boundaries, County Streets and Roads, Rights-of-Way, Viaducts, Culverts, Bridges, Waterways and Water bodies, Forest Areas, Parks and Open Space Areas, and other public ways or facilities within the County. The development of the County Master Plan and official map will include an extensive public outreach component, including public meetings and hearings, to ensure sufficient public discussion and feedback.
County Master Plan Background
Bergen County’s last Master Plan was written and formally adopted on December 10, 1962 and amended March 14, 1966 (the oldest in the State of New Jersey). In 1968, Bergen County initiated the County Comprehensive Plan program, which studied and developed recommendations on the present and future needs for basic County facilities. Each report would study and review a particular element of the Master Plan and was published in the form of a County Report. Department records show that there have been 26 reports published since 1969 (Report 1, Physical Characteristics through Report 26, Open Space and Recreation Inventory). However, since 1975 the only documents that are somewhat related to county master planning, have been several Cross Acceptance reports to the State Planning Commission (submitted in 1989, 1998, and 2005). These reports were required as part of the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP, 2000).
Maintenance of Municipal and Regional Master Plan Files
The Department has catalogued and maintained all existing Master Plans and associated amendments for the 70 municipalities and regional agencies (New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and Palisades Interstate Park Commission) within the County, in accordance with its role as repository under the auspices of the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law.
Intergovernmental Master Plan Coordination
The Department has pursued extensive intergovernmental coordination with all 70 municipalities and regional agencies to ensure that the County Master Plan is generally consistent with each other. In addition, the Department has been a key contributor to the Office of Smart Growth regarding the Cross-Acceptance and other State Plan-related processes in order to ensure that the State Plan is updated and consistent with all levels of local governmental master planning.