Key Excerpts from the Holland Township Master Plan
with comments from Friends of Holland Highlands in red italics.
On May 14, 2001, the Holland Township Planning Board adopted several new portions of the Township's Master Plan.
Below are some excerpts from the Master Plan, organized by our group into categories relating to the proposed development.
Page Numbers below refer to the Master Plan's section titles:
- Ex.L.U. = Existing Land Use
- P.C. = Physical Characteristics
- G.O. = Goals and Objectives
- L.U.P. = Land Use Plan Element
- R.C. = Regional Consistency
Goals and Objectives
G.O.-3 Goals and Objectives:
- "1. To direct potential growth into a Village Center while maintaining the rural character of most of the Township and promoting Statewide objectives for agricultural land retention, open space preservation, and conservation of historic sites and districts.
- "2. To make certain that the level of development which is permitted to occur in Holland Township is appropriate considering environmental factors such as ground water supply, septic suitability of soils, steep slopes, infrastructure, and existing development.
- 12. ". . . to preserve scenic vistas along roadways and ensure that all future development is consistent with the guidelines in the Community Design Handbook published by the Hunterdon County Planning Board."
Back to Top
Increasing Threat to the Highlands
- Ex.L.U.-1 "Only four major subdivisions have been approved and built out since the 1987 Master Plan was adopted. These subdivisions are located in the central and eastern portions of the Township and occupy land that was previously committed to agriculture."
Note: None of the four subdivisions from 1987 to early 2001, when this was written, was in the western Highlands - a period of 14 years and no subdivisions in the Highlands. Since this chapter was adopted May 14, 2001, it appears that two subdivisions have already been approved in the Highlands area, and the Hunterdon Capital proposal would be number three.)
-
R.C.-5 From the State's Policy Objectives for Rural Planning Area 4B:
"5) Natural Resource Conservation: Protect and preserve large, contiguous tracts and corridors of recreation, forest or other open space land that protects natural systems and sensitive natural resources, including endangered species, ground and surface water resources, wetland systems, natural landscapes of exceptional value, critical slopes areas, and other significant environmentally sensitive features."
Note: The Highlands are exactly the sort of areas the state wants to protect. Yet, every year another 5000 Highland acres fall to developers, according to the recent U.S. Forest Service report. It happens development by development, town by town, not through some evil master plan. The Planning Board decision here in Holland can help turn the tide...or contribute to our loss.
Back to Top
The Planning Board's Duty to Act and Protect
-
L.U.P.-2 "This Land Use Plan Element contemplates taking these policies several steps further, to actually promote the results sought: concentration of future development within the boundaries of the Center and limiting development and its impact within the Environs."
-
Ex.L.U.-9 "Allowing development to occur as it has in the past, in response to market conditions, will undermine the Township's goals of preserving agricultural land, the rural landscape and historic sites and districts."
Back to Top
10-Acre Zoning Proposal
-
L.U.P.-11 "The Rural Residential land use category encompasses the largest land area in the Township. It contains the actively cultivated farms in Holland Township, as well as the properties containing the most significant environmental constraints to development. . . In the northern and western sections of the Township, the district contains extremely steep slopes and poor soils for development, as well as scenic vistas and historic hamlets. These areas require careful planning to preserve farmland as a viable use, protect environmentally sensitive features and ensure water quality. It is proposed that the overall gross density of development permitted in this zone be reduced to one dwelling unit per each ten (10) acres for conventional development, with slightly higher densities permitted for forms of development that help preserve open space and farmland."
Back to Top
Protect Environmentally Sensitive Areas
-
L.U.P.-8 "Another key issue in Holland Township is the preservation of environmentally sensitive areas. Holland Township, with its diverse physical characteristics, contains some extremely critical environmental areas. These constraints include severe soil limitations for septic suitability, limited depth to the seasonal high water table and steep slopes. These characteristics are important since the majority of the Township relies on individual subsurface septic systems for sewage disposal."
Back to Top
Water Availability
-
P.C.-7 "The formations found in the western and northern sections of the Township are less reliable aquifers. . . Gneiss overlaying Granite and Quartz, typical of the Precambrian formation, is found in the northern half of the Township. These two formations tend to have lower safe sustained groundwater yields per acre than the Brunswick shale."
Note: The current Township water yield tables recognize this difference by estimating only 160 gallons per day per acre in this Precambrian area vs. 350 in other parts of town. However, this is based on a 20-year-old, outdated study that in any case presents an average for an area that constitutes 43 percent of the Township. An average for an area of over 7000 acres would contain a wide range of yields in individual areas. That is why we are asking for a study of the water yields on this particular property.
Back to Top
Steep Slopes
-
P.C.-4 "To protect areas of steep slope, they should be zoned for low densities, with clustering or lot averaging permitted to encourage the construction activity to occur on the more moderately sloping portions of a tract, leaving the steeper slopes untouched."
Note: In the proposed subdivision, the largest 20-acre lot is in the flat part at the bottom, and the small 3-acre lots are all at the top of the hill, sloping downward from the flat peak occupied by the road with cul-de-sacs. This seems the reverse of the intent above.
-
P.C.-2 "Slopes of 15 percent or more are poor locations for subsurface sewage disposal (septic) systems, which require flatter locations to ensure proper functioning."
Preservation of Historic Sites
-
Ex.L.U.-9 "Therefore, attention should be given in the Master Plan to the preservation of the Township's historic settlements as well as its individual historic sites."
Note: One of the historic sites listed in Appendix A of the Master Plan (H - 50 PURSELL FARMSTEAD) lies directly below the proposed 3-acre lots and could be damaged by storm water runoff during construction.
Back to Top
Permanent Loss of Beauty
-
P.C.-17 "The aesthetic value of the landscape must also be considered as a fundamental nonrenewable resource. Once compromised, it cannot be regained."
State Plan Conformance
-
L.U.P.-1 "Holland Township lies almost entirely within Planning Area 4B, the Rural/Environmentally sensitive Planning Area, on the State Plan. The Rural/Environmentally Sensitive Area has been established to encompass areas in which the predominant land use is agriculture but which are also characterized by environmentally sensitive natural features such as steep slopes, wetlands, wooded areas and scenic vistas. Development in Planning Area 4B is intended to occur in designated Centers."
-
R.C.-8 "Holland Township's existing low density zoning is not sufficient to ensure that the objectives of the State Plan will be implemented. This is evident in the continuing pressure for suburban-type development, albeit on large lots. As a minimum, Holland Township will need to seek Center designation in an appropriate area (or areas), dramatically reduce permitted development densities outside of Centers and introduce additional development "tools" such as clustering to promote appropriate development while maintaining agricultural operations and protecting sensitive ecosystems, to be consistent with the new State Plan. All of these approaches are included in the new Land Use Plan Element that is part of this Master Plan."
-
R.C.-2 "According to the new State Plan, the Rural Planning Areas (4A and 4B):
. . .along with the Environmentally Sensitive Planning Area (PA5) serve as the greensward for the larger region, and are not currently nor are they intended to be urban or suburban in nature."
Back to Top