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Planning and Economic Development

State Development & Redevelopment Plan Update

Sussex County Division of Planning & Economic Development
One Spring Street, Newton, NJ 07860
973-579-0500 Fax: 973-579-0513
Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
scplanning@sussex.nj.us

State Development and Redevelopment Plan Update

The New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP), or State Plan, is in the process of being updated. The update is overseen by the Office of Planning Advocacy (OPA) staff and the State Planning Commission (SPC). The State Planning Commission approved the Preliminary State Development and Redevelopment Plan, or Preliminary State Plan, on December 4 and released it on December 6. The release of the Preliminary State Plan also marks the beginning of the Cross-Acceptance process.

To access the Preliminary State Plan click here.

WHAT IS CROSS ACCEPTANCE?

Cross-Acceptance is a process of comparing statewide planning policies at government levels to attain a high level of consistency among municipal, county, regional, and State plans and the State Plan.

The Cross-Acceptance process provides an opportunity to compare municipal and county master plans with the State Plan, determine where consistencies and inconsistencies lie, and recommend changes that should be made. Through this process, the various stakeholders are able to partner to create a more meaningful and viable State Plan. To accomplish this, municipal, county, and regional master plans must be coordinated regionally with each “local vision” of growth and the community taken into consideration during the process.

The Cross Acceptance Process

The Sussex County Planning Board, in partnership with the Office of Planning Advocacy, will host a public information meeting on March 28 at 2:00 PM to review the Preliminary State Plan. The OPA will provide a presentation on the draft preliminary State Plan and Cross Acceptance process. Attendees will have the opportunity to comment on and provide feedback on the draft Preliminary State Plan. This meeting will be held in the Commissioner Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Sussex County Administrative Center, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ.

After the public meeting, each municipality is expected to provide a response to the Preliminary State Development and Redevelopment Plan. The County will take these responses and create a County Cross Acceptance Response Template (CART) report summarizing the information received from the municipalities regarding their local plans and policies.

The County Planning Board and the Board of County Commissioners must then approve the County report at a public hearing before it can be submitted to the State Planning Commission (SPC). It is anticipated that the public hearing will be held during the regular County Planning Board meeting on June 2, at 4:00pm in the Commissioner Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Sussex County Administrative Center, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ.

Following the submission of the County CART to the SPC, the County will enter into the Negotiations Phase of Cross-Acceptance. During this Phase, the County and State meet to negotiate any areas of disagreement identified in the County CART. These negotiations are then compiled in a formal Statement of Agreements and Disagreements.

Over the course of Cross-Acceptance, the State Planning Commission will release various mandated documents for review by the public. Once the State Planning Commission makes a determination on any changes to be made to the State Plan, a final State Plan will be subject to public hearings and ultimately adopted. After this process, the State Planning Commission shall consider the adoption of the final State Development and Redevelopment Plan, or Final State Plan. The Final State Plan is tentatively scheduled for distribution in Late Fall 2025.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

State Agencies

State Agencies must outline the degree to which their plans, policies and regulations are consistent with the State Plan and to the degree that the same plans, policies, and regulations conflict with the provisions of the State Plan.

County

The Negotiating Entity is a vital part of the process. A Negotiating Entity is a participating county, or any entity designated by the SPC should a county decline to be the Negotiating Entity. Each Negotiating Entity is required to submit a draft work program which will outline their public participation process. Every participating municipality will submit a Cross-acceptance Response Template which will be submitted to the Negotiating Entity. The Negotiating Entity then compiles and summarizes the information received from the municipalities regarding their local plans and policies.

On February 13, 2025, the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners adopted Resolution 86-2025 accepting the role as Negotiating Entity for Cross Acceptance in Sussex County.

Municipality

The Municipality must prepare a CART (Cross Acceptance Response Template) that contains the items identified Appendix A.2 on page 24 of the 2024 Cross Acceptance Manual. Specific information related to CART preparations were sent to all Sussex County municipalities via email and regular mail.

Municipalities need to review the Preliminary State Plan and its goals, the Preliminary State Plan maps and provide comments to both. Response to the maps should be completed on the Mapping Tool and the review of the Preliminary Plan should be addressed in the CART.

In addition, OPA has developed Mapping Tools in partnership with Rowan University to help municipalities review the existing State Plan zones and planning information to assist in developing their CARTs. The State Plan Update Viewer can be found here.

The CART will be reviewed by the County to identify consistencies between the municipal plans and the State Plan during the cross-acceptance process to ensure that master plans and other planning implementation mechanisms are endorsed by the SPC.