Bernards Officially Adopts New Master Plan

After a year of revisions followed by several months of review, redrafts and incorporation of public comment, the Planning Board voted unanimously to officially approve the 2010 Master Plan for Bernards Township.

The board made slight technical revisions based on the testimony at the master plan public hearing on March 16, and voted to approve the finalized version of the plan.

The 2010 Master Plan is the first complete revision since 2003, and fulfills a state requirement for municipalities. The plan lays out the long-range development goals of the township, and is required to be revised every six years by state law.

The 2010 plan includes a "green element" for the first time in the township's history, specifying environmental development goals for the upcoming years.

In addition to the new goals, the final version of the plan addresses the issue most residents were concerned about at the public hearing – building limitations on undersized lots. The Planning Board incorporated the changes recommended at the public hearing to recognize the Zoning Board's recommendation that lot coverage requirements be relaxed for undersized residential zones.

The goal could prompt further review from the township to amend the ordinances regulating lot coverage requirements in the affected zones.

"I want to express my thanks to the planning board for their months and months on this master plan," Mayor Scott Spitzer said. "It has been a very long process, but a very useful process."

For more on the 2010 Master Plan, see Basking Ridge Patch's previous coverage: