New Jersey Highlands Council

Mahwah Township in Bergen County has 9,481 acres in the Preservation Area and 7,083 acres in the Planning Area of the Highlands Region. The municipality submitted a Petition for Plan Conformance for both areas, which was approved by the Highlands Council on December 16, 2010. This page contains links to documents related to the Township’s conformance with the Highlands Regional Master Plan.

Municipal Adoptions

This section contains documents approved by Mahwah Township that implement the Highlands Regional Master Plan at the local level.

Highlands Exemption Ordinance (815 KB pdf) [Municipality is authorized to issue certain Highlands Exemptions]
Planning Area Petition Ordinance (404 KB pdf)
Environmental Resource Inventory (9.21 MB pdf)
Highlands Referral Ordinance (1.05 MB pdf)
2012 Reexamination Report and Resolution (593 KB pdf)
Sustainable Economic Development Plan (12.6 MB pdf)
2017 Master Plan Reexamination Report and Master Plan Element (1 MB pdf)
Wellhead Protection Ordinance (147 KB pdf)
- Wellhead Protection Areas map (1 MB pdf)
Stormwater Control Ordinance (pdf)

Amended Petition for Plan Conformance

In October 2014, Mahwah Township submitted the results of the municipality’s Highlands Center Designation Study, which proposed two Highlands Centers. An amended Petition for Plan Conformance including the center was approved by the Highlands Council in January 2015.

Approved Petition for Plan Conformance

Materials from Public Hearing

Council Approved Documents

All documents listed below as one compressed file: Petition Documents Approved by Highlands Council (38 MB zip)
Individual documents:
- Highlands Council Resolution 2010-14 Approval of Mahwah Township's Petition for Plan Conformance (327 KB pdf)
- Highlands Final Consistency Review and Recommendations Report (387 KB pdf)
- Highlands Implementation Plan and Schedule (171 KB pdf)
- Highlands Municipal Build-Out Report (2.03 MB pdf)
- Adopted Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (2.97 MB pdf)
- Highlands Environmental Resource Inventory (4.4 MB pdf)
- Highlands Master Plan Element (6.24 MB pdf)
- Highlands Area Land Use Ordinance (1.17 MB pdf)
- Highlands Area Land Use Ordinance Exhibits (23 MB pdf)

*** PETITION ARCHIVE ***

**PLEASE NOTE: The documents provided on this page include a complete history of the municipality’s Petition for Plan Conformance. The most current versions of Plan Conformance documents are at the top of the page, with prior drafts included below. Documents below this line are included for reference only and should be considered ARCHIVED material.

Final Posting Prior to Public Hearing

The documents below include all edits made prior to Highlands Council consideration of Mahwah Township's Petition for Plan Conformance.

All documents listed below as one compressed file: Final Posting Prior to Public Hearing (470 KB zip)
Individual documents:
- Final Consistency Review and Recommendations Report (396 KB pdf)
- Public Comments/Highlands Council Responses (121 KB pdf)

Petition for Public Comment

A public comment period was held from November 17 through December 3, 2010 and announced by public notice. Comments received and Highlands Council responses are included in the Comment/Response document in the section above. The following documents constitute the municipality's final submission to the Highlands Council and include the Final Draft Consistency Review and Recommendations Report prepared by Highlands Council staff for Highlands Council consideration of the full Petition.

All documents listed below as one compressed file: Petition Posting for Public Comment (77 MB zip)
Individual documents:
- Final Draft Consistency Review & Recommendations Report (236 KB pdf)
- Final Housing Plan Submittals:
  - Adopted Housing Element and Fair Share Plan May 2010 (3 MB pdf)
- Remaining Documents:
  - Highlands ERI DRAFT November 2010 (21.3 MB pdf
  - Master Plan Highlands Element DRAFT November 2010 (29.8 MB pdf)
  - Highlands Area Land Use Ordinance DRAFT November 2010 (1.1 MB pdf)
  - Highlands Area Land Use Ordinance Exhibits (26 MB pdf)
  - Highlands Implementation Plan & Schedule (176 KB pdf)

Administratively Complete Petition for Plan Conformance

The following documents comprise all required components of the municipal Petition for Plan Conformance, which was deemed administratively complete by the Highlands Council. (Administrative Completeness Letter).

All documents listed below as one compressed file: Municipal Petition for Plan Conformance (17 MB zip)
Individual documents:
- Petition Cover Letter (41 KB pdf)
- Petition Submittal Checklist (69 KB pdf)
- Preservation Area Resolution (80 KB pdf)
- Planning Area Resolution (135 KB pdf)
- Record of Public Involvement (1.5 MB pdf)
- Current List of Planning/Regulatory Documents (14 KB pdf)
- Modules 1 and 2: See Highlands Municipal Build-Out Report below
- Module 3:
  - Affordable Housing Summary (1 MB pdf)
- Module 4 Highlands ERI (4.3 MB pdf)
- Module 5 Master Plan Highlands Element (6.2 MB pdf)
- Module 6 Highlands Land Use Ordinance (3.4 MB pdf)
- Module 7
  - Municipal Self-Assessment Report (193 KB pdf)
  - Municipal Self-Assessment Checklist (606 KB pdf)
  - Implementation Plan and Schedule (81 KB pdf)

Supporting Documents

Municipal Resolution: Notice of Intent (pdf)
Municipal Resolution: COAH extension (pdf)
Initial Assessment Grant Report (pdf)
Highlands Municipal Build-Out Report (pdf)
- Supporting documents (33 MB zip)