NJ Highlands Act/Wetlands ?'s (buying a house, buying, exemptions)

[LCMT]

Anyone have any info on this topic. If part of your property is on protected land are you able to build on it, put in a pool, knock down trees etc.
Seems like alot of land is now under this act in Northern NJ. This map shows all the areas that are protected.
Has anyone had an experience dealing with this issue?


NJ Highlands Council - Interactive Map

[ghuber]

Originally Posted by LCMT

Anyone have any info on this topic. If part of your property is on protected land are you able to build on it, put in a pool, knock down trees etc.
Seems like alot of land is now under this act in Northern NJ. This map shows all the areas that are protected.
Has anyone had an experience dealing with this issue?


NJ Highlands Council - Interactive Map

I was interested in buying a house a while back. It was on an acre that was a part of the highlands protected. I asked my realtor if I could do exactly those two things -- build an inground pool and cut down a bunch of trees to extend the size of the backyard. After a few days of research he came back and said no on the pool (unless its above ground), but yes on the cutting of the trees.

[johnfrisco]

Why can't you people leave the protected land alone? You want to build ad expand move to Bergen County!

[LCMT]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

Why can't you people leave the protected land alone? You want to build ad expand move to Bergen County!

First of all we are all for the protected land....we don't want over development...We just want to know if there are certain restrictions for adding a pool, moving a septic tank or removing some trees and shrubbery to make the yard more useable. Relax

[Gerania]

Here is a list of exemptions.

http://www.state.nj.us/njhighlands/a...exemptions.pdf

Number 5: Improvement to a single family dwelling...

It seems that everything hinges on the amount, % of impervious surface on the property, #2, which states, if I'm reading that correctly, that they don't want you to cover more than 1/4 of the ground. If the house and other buildings, improvements, already takes up more than that, you may be required to add improvements which don't permanently cover, like an above ground pool rather than in ground or a storage shed on piers and not one with concrete floor.

There's not much detail on that page, but it seems that you should be able to do the things you've mentioned.