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Morris County
Agriculture Development Board
Morris County Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Plan
Adopted: July 17, 2008

Welcome to the Morris County Agriculture Development Board’s website regarding the County’s Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Plan.

The Morris County Farmland Preservation Program began with the permanent preservation of the Cupo Farm, a 14-acre farm in Washington Township, on December 28, 1987. As of December 2007, the Morris CADB has permanently preserved 101 farms in the County totaling 6,478 acres. Interest in the program continues. With 29,998 acres of farm assessed property in Morris County (as of December 2007), there is still a lot of work to be done.

Due to the growing success of New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation Program, the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) adopted new program rules that streamline the preservation process. The new rules allow a more timely expenditure of public preservation funds and provide the ability to keep up with the increased development pressure in the State.

A major component of the new program rules is the development and adoption of a County Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Plan (Plan). This Plan allows for preservation applications to be processed more efficiently and provides a more strategic approach to preserving farmland in our County.

On July 17, 2008, the Morris CADB and the Morris County Planning Board held a joint Public Hearing regarding the Plan and the modification of the Morris County Agricultural Development Area (ADA). Following the Public Hearing, the Morris County Planning Board adopted the Plan as an element of the Morris County Master Plan. The Morris CADB adopted the Plan and approved the modification of the ADA.

{Unless you have a high-speed internet connection, due to the large size of some of the documents, it is recommended that you download them. The size of the larger documents is indicated in parenthesis. To download, right-click on the links below and save the documents onto your PC.}


Comprehensive Farmland Preservation Plan:
• Cover Page
 
• Executive Summary
 
• Table of Contents
 
• Chapter I: Morris County's Agricultural Land Base
 
• Chapter II: Morris County's Agricultural Industry
 
• Chapter III: Land Use Planning Context (PDF 2.1MB)
 
• Chapter IV: Morris County's Farmland Preservation Program
 
• Chapter V: Future Farmland Preservation Program
 
• Chapter VI: Economic Development
 
• Chapter VII: Natural Resource Conservation
 
• Chapter VIII: Agricultural Industry Sustainability, Retention and Promotion
 
Maps:
 
• Soils in Morris County (4.5 MB)
 
• Farmland in Morris County (9 MB)
 
• Agricultural Development Area (5 MB)
 
• Northeast Project Area (770 KB)
 
• Central Project Area 1 of 2 (879 KB)
 
• Central Project Area 2 of 2 (617 KB)
 
• West Project Area 1 of 2 (534 KB)
 
• West Project Area 2 of 2 (634 KB)
 
Appendices:
 
• Appendix A: Mission Statement
 
• Appendix B: Preserved Farms
 
• Appendix C: Farmland Preservation Program Statistics
 
• Appendix D: Charts: Cumulative & Annual Acres Preserved
 
• Appendix E: Pending Projects
 
• Appendix F: Morris CADB Policies (PDF 1MB)
 
• Appendix G: Ranking System
 
• Appendix H: Washington Township's Cluster Ordinance (PDF 1MB)
 
• Appendix I: SADC's Right to Farm Model Ordinance
 
• Appendix J: NJ State Development and Redevelopment Plan (PDF 1MB)
 
• Appendix K: Goals and Objectives of the Morris County Master Plan
 
• Appendix L: 8-9-07 Morris CADB Meeting Minutes (PDF 1.5MB)
 
• Appendix M: 8-Year Program Farms

Reports:
• List of Farms Eligible for Preservation

Farm Eligibility:
• To review the criteria utilized by the Morris CADB to select and rank farms, please see Policy: P-8, Easement Purchase Program Eligibility and Ranking System and Policy: P-9, Agricultural Development Area (ADA).

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