New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 50 - PINELANDS COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN
Subchapter 5 - MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR LAND USES AND INTENSITIES
Part III - MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR LAND USE DISTRIBUTION AND INTENSITIES
Section 7:50-5.30 - Development transfer programs in Forest Areas and Rural Development Areas

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 7:50-5.30

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024

(a) Each municipality with land in either a Forest Area or a Rural Development Area shall establish within said area or areas a program which permits residential development on otherwise undersized lots if other land, equivalent to that needed to meet the assigned density, is protected through a permanent deed restriction.

(b) The density transfer programs shall adhere to the following minimum standards:

1. No lot less than one acre can be developed;

2. All parcels involved in the density transfer shall be located within the same Pinelands management area;

3. The total acreage of the parcels involved in the density transfer shall at least equal the density required for that zoning district; and

4. Any parcel whose acreage is being utilized to meet the density requirement but which will not be developed shall be permanently protected through recordation of a deed of restriction.

i. Such restriction shall be in favor of the parcel to be developed and, if provided by municipal ordinance, the municipality or another public agency or a non profit conservation organization. In all cases, such restriction shall be expressly enforceable by the Pinelands Commission;

ii. Such deed of restriction shall permit the parcel to be managed for low intensity recreation, ecological management and forestry, provided that no more than five percent of the parcel may be cleared, no more than one percent of the parcel may be covered with impervious surfaces and any such uses or activities are approved and conducted in accordance with the requirements of this Plan, including any municipal ordinance certified pursuant thereto;

iii. Where agricultural use exists on a parcel to be protected as of April 6, 2009, the deed of restriction may provide for the continuation of agricultural uses, and the expansion of the area of agricultural use by up to 50 percent;

iv. Where agricultural use was established on the parcel to be protected after April 6, 2009, the deed of restriction may provide for the continuation of agricultural uses, provided the agricultural use has been in existence for a period of at least five years prior to submission of an application for development pursuant to the development transfer program and N.J.A.C. 7:50-4;

v. Where agricultural use was established on the parcel to be protected after April 6, 2009 that does not meet the standards of (b)4iv above, the deed of restriction shall permit the land to be managed only in accordance with (b)4ii above and shall not provide for continuation of any agricultural use on the parcel; and

vi. The deed of restriction to be recorded pursuant to (b)4iii or iv above shall provided that impervious surface may not exceed that which currently exists or three percent, whichever is greater, unless a Resource Management System Plan has been prepared. Before these impervious surface may be exceeded, the Resource Management System Plan must be approved by the Pinelands Commission and, if the deed of restriction is in favor of the county or the State Agriculture Development Committee, by such agency; and

5. The municipal ordinance may set forth reasonable conditions or requirements governing ownership of the parcel to be protected.

(c) A municipality shall adapt the program to its particular circumstances and may vary the standards in (b) above provided that those standards are supported through the application of sound land use planning principles and do not undermine the overall goals and objectives of 7:50-5.30. This may include, but is not limited to:

1. Permitting the permanent protection of lands in a Forest Area pursuant to (b)4 above to meet the density requirement for the development of otherwise undersized lots in the Rural Development Area;

2. Permitting the permanent protection of lands in a Forest Area or Rural Development Area pursuant to (b)4 above as a means of transferring development to a Pinelands Village;

3. Identifying specific areas to receive the development transfers. Within such receiving areas, residential development shall be permitted on one acre lots and shall be served by individual or community on-site septic waste water treatment systems which meet the standards of 7:50-6.84(a)5 or 10.21 through 10.23. Receiving areas shall be delineated in a manner which:

i. Promotes efficient use of existing public service infrastructure;

ii. Coordinates with and is located in close proximity to areas of existing development, including residential dwellings and other principal structures;

iii. Minimizes the potential for land use conflicts with existing uses on adjacent parcels, including, but not limited to, agricultural uses;

iv. Recognizes the presence and location of areas containing numerous existing undersized lots; and

v. Excludes expansive areas that are unlikely to meet the development standards of N.J.A.C. 7:50-6; and

4. Identifying specific areas within which development will not be permitted pursuant to a development transfer program but from which density may be transferred to facilitate the development of otherwise undersized lots elsewhere in the municipality. Such sending areas may be delineated for purposes of:

i. Promoting the establishment and continuation of greenways and maximizing the contiguity of forested lands and protected open space; and

ii. Protecting the environmental and unique natural attributes of areas within a Forest or Rural Development Area, including but not limited to extensive areas that:

(1) Contain wetlands and wetlands transition areas;

(2) Support those threatened and endangered plant and animal species defined as such in 7:50-6.27 and 6.33; and

(3) Are unlikely to meet the development standards of N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.

(d) The Pinelands Commission shall not approve any transfer program which:

1. Has extremely limited applicability because of ownership and subdivision patterns or environmental constraints; or

2. Negatively impacts important natural resources including critical subbasins or publicly managed conservation lands.

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