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Bernards and the Highlands Plan, Explained: Planning Area, Opt-In and the 2026 Debate
What it means that Bernards is in the Highlands Planning Area, what conforming would involve, how the question came up during the 2025 housing debate, the initial-assessment grant, and what Committee members said in October 2026.
The short version
- Bernards lies in the Highlands Planning Area, where conforming to the regional plan is voluntary. It has not conformed.
- Residents raised the Highlands during the 2025 affordable-housing debate.
- A $15,000 state grant for an initial conformance assessment appears in the township’s 2025 budget and audit.
- After a Sept. 23, 2026 Highlands Council presentation, Committee members stated differing views on Oct. 13, NJ Hills reported. No resolution has been introduced.
What the Highlands plan is
The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act of 2004 created the Highlands Council and a Regional Master Plan covering parts of seven northern New Jersey counties. As NJ Hills described it, the region has a strictly regulated Preservation Area of about 300,000 acres and a Planning Area of about 500,000 acres, in which a town may voluntarily conform to the regional standards. Bernards is in the Planning Area. The township’s 2025 housing plan notes that the Westgate Village site is in the Planning Area, “but the Township is not currently a conforming Highlands municipality.”
The 2025 housing debate
| Date | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Jan. 28, 2025 | Res. #2025-0107, on the Fourth Round numbers: the township “reserves the right to adjust its position should it participate under the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act” |
| March 25, 2025 | Of the speakers on affordable housing, eight referred to the “Highlands Coalition,” as the minutes put it: six in support or in support of exploring it, one against, one commenting on it |
| March 25, 2025 | The Committee approved a mediation agreement at 198 units, 3-2 (Res. #2025-0195) |
| May 20, 2025 | At the Planning Board’s housing-plan hearing, a resident asked whether joining would have helped; planner Kendra Lelie said an assessment had not been completed, “adding that the timing would not have worked anyway,” the minutes say |
NJ Hills reported on Sept. 13, 2026 that Township Attorney John Belardo had said he believed a prior legal settlement would prevent the township from using the Highlands plan to reduce its obligation, and that Committee members were split on whether opting in would benefit the township or affect property rights.
The initial-assessment grant
| Record | Entry |
|---|---|
| 2025 introduced budget | ”NJ Highlands Council-Initial Assessment Grant,” $15,000, as revenue and appropriation |
| 2025 audit, schedule of state awards | ”2024 Plan Conformance Initial Assessment,” award $15,000, grant period Jan. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2025; $4,972.80 spent in 2025; $15,000 spent in total |
| 2025 audit, grants receivable | $15,000 still receivable at Dec. 31, 2025 |
The record LocalWhy reviewed does not say who did the assessment work or whether a report was produced.
The September 2026 presentation
Patch (Sept. 1) and NJ Hills (Sept. 13) announced a township-sponsored presentation by Ben Spinelli, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, at the Municipal Building. The township posted the recording. LocalWhy has not transcribed it; the Highlands Council’s own pages describe the conformance process.
The October 2026 Committee discussion
The topic was not on the Oct. 13, 2026 agenda. The minutes record only that “committee members reported on their appointed boards and recent activities.” NJ Hills reported on Oct. 24, 2026:
- Committeeman Andrew McNally read a statement opposing an opt-in. He said the township attorney had opined that an opt-in would have no effect on the 198-unit obligation, and that in his opinion “voluntarily joining The Highlands Act would be a terribly bad idea, and we shouldn’t spend another minute devoting any time or resources to this issue.” He also said the plan’s goal of preserving water resources is a good one.
- Committeewoman Jennifer Asay thanked Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy for arranging the forum, encouraged residents to view the slides posted on the township’s site, said she had heard that 14 towns had sought to opt in in the last two years, and cited “wonderful benefits related to grants to help with proactive planning.”
- Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy said Mr. Spinelli had said at the forum that reducing affordable-housing quotas is not a reason to opt in, and that she supports an initial assessment of the effect of conformance, reviewing land-use capability and the areas that remain developable or could be affected.
What is not known
- Whether the Committee will authorize an initial assessment, and at what cost.
- Whether the 2025 settlement would in fact bar using conformance to change the housing obligation; the statements on this are the attorney’s opinion as reported.
What residents can do
- Public comment. Any step toward conformance would come before the Township Committee at a public meeting.
- The Highlands Council explains conformance on its website.