Planning and Preservation

Morris County unveiled the newest addition to its online Morris County’s Veterans Compendium: “Brother Against Brother: The Civil War,” on the 163^rd anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861 and the official start of the devastating four-year conflict.

Published by the Morris County Office of Planning & Preservation, the ninth installment of the Veterans Compendium was released at 7 a.m. on April 12, to coincide with the moment the United States Army first returned fire at Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., during a siege launched 2-1/2 hours earlier by the Confederate States Army.

Notably, Captain Abner Doubleday, who later resided in Mendham, fired the first cannon shot for the Union Army.

View the History & Stories of Morris County Civil War Soldiers

Read the full press release. 

The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has released the application form for the 2024 funding round of municipal/non-profit open space projects under the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund.  Any of the 39 municipalities in the county and qualified non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding. 

The 2024 open space application and list of other required application materials can be found online.

All application materials are due by 4:30 PM on Friday, June 14, 2024. 

Program rules now include costs for demolition and restoration of a property (up to a maximum of 10% of the eligible land cost, or $50,000 whichever is less) as allowable costs under the program.

Please contact Barbara Murray in the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation at (973) 829-8120 or [email protected] for further information on the program or application process.

Flood Mitigation Program Supports Morris County Residents
Program Offers Options for Flood Prone Homeowners

With recent storms leaving some property owners under water again, Morris County is reminding everyone that the Morris County Flood Mitigation program has helped provide a fresh start to 86 flood prone homeowners in eight municipalities since its inception in 2012. 

The Flood Mitigation Program was established by the Morris County Board of County Commissioners in response to Hurricane Irene, which devastated sections of Morris County with catastrophic flooding in August 2011.   

“This was the first county-level flood acquisition program in New Jersey, and it has allowed Morris County to work with municipalities and other funding partners to help these homeowners get out of harm’s way.  Not only does this voluntary program help to decrease the risk of life and property being lost, but it also creates open space and provides areas to redirect flood waters in the future,” said Commissioner Stephen Shaw, liaison to the Flood Mitigation Committee.

The storm events in the past few weeks led to the worst flooding since Hurricane Irene, with rainfall amounts between 4 to over 5 inches in some parts of the county, according to the National Weather Service. Numerous towns experienced road closures and power outages, as well as flooding of homes.

The Morris County Flood Mitigation Program was established to augment state and federal mitigation programs. It was the first county flood mitigation program when it was created in 2012. Since then, it has received the “Outstanding Floodplain Management Award” from the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management and the state Department of Environmental Protection’s “Environmental Excellence Award.”

Some aspects of the program include:

The “CORE” program is designed to catch houses that have fallen through other agency funding nets, with Morris County providing up to 75% of the acquisition cost.

The “MATCH” program provides a 25% county match for projects already underway with agencies such as FEMA and NJDEP Blue Acres, aiding in the completion of these acquisitions.

For more information on the Morris County Flood Mitigation Program visit https://www.morriscountynj.gov/flood  or reach out to Program Coordinator, Mike DiGiulio [email protected] in the Morris County Office of Planning & Preservation.  

The Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation has launched an online application allowing Morris County Planning Board applicants to digitally submit their documents and make required fee payments.

Hard copies of applications will still be required; however, digital submissions will provide the public a more convenient option to pay by credit card or electronic check via ACH (Automatic Clearing House) in addition to traditional paper checks.

“The pandemic prompted us to consider options to paper checks, and this electronic means also enables us to ensure the billing is done correctly in advance. Honest mistakes are made, and this can provide guidance at the start,” said Joseph Barilla, Director of the Morris County Office of Planning & Preservation.

Once an application has been submitted, planning staff will confirm the correct fee by doing a preliminary evaluation to determine the specifics of the project.  Staff will send the applicant a digital invoice and they can pay by whichever method is appropriate for them.

The new online form can be found on the Land Development Review Sections homepage:

https://www.morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Planning-and-Preservation/Divisions/Planning-Division/Land-Development-Review

A direct link to the form may be found here:

https://morriscountynj.seamlessdocs.com/f/landDevReview

Director Barilla also said that digital document submissions will enable the office to build a database on project documents that are more conveniently accessed and maintained over time.

Anyone with questions about this process or any Land Development Review submittals, you may reach out to staff at [email protected] or call (973) 829-8120.

This fall, the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts will be kicking off “Rising Together, NJ,” a social media campaign that encourages people to come together to share their experiences with flooding in New Jersey. Ultimately, the goal is to compile these experiences into an archive everyone can use to support flood risk outreach and education efforts.

Learn more and share your story!