Green Acres Survey Section

Performing Surveys for State Land Acquisitions

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Green Acres Program is responsible for acquiring lands for conservation and recreational purposes. Land surveys are conducted by New Jersey Licensed Professional Land Surveyors, and corresponding metes and bounds descriptions are prepared for each parcel of land being acquired pursuant to the program rules using the Green Acres Guidelines for Land Surveys. Other State agencies have responsibilities that require professional land surveying services or property surveys that are similar in nature to the purposes specified below:

• Mark the location of the parcel on the ground
• Locate and map any natural and man–made physical features as may vbe found on the parcel
• Measure the property lines and determine the area of the parcel
• Identify any conflicts with adjoining deeds, locate and dimension any encroachments affecting the parcel, and show findings in detail
• Provide a plan depicting the findings of the survey
• Describe the parcel in terms of New Jersey State Plane Coordinate System (NJSPCS) to facilitate mapping the parcel in the NJDEP Geographic Information System/Land Information System (GIS/LIS)
• Provide an accurate, unambiguous and modern metes and bounds description that includes the NJSPCS coordinate values of the survey's point of beginning and corresponds to the survey, written in the same bearing system as the survey. The description, with a reduced copy of the survey plan attached, will be used in the deed of conveyance.
• Locate and identify easements, locatable restrictions, and right–of–way lines affecting the parcel
• Assist in the fair market value appraisal process by providing information regarding suitability of the parcel for a particular purpose or provide notice when size, shape, area, condition, utility, marketability and insurabilty or location and extent of encroachments of the parcel are factors in the acquisition process
• Resolve or explain issues that serve to eliminate patent and latent deed ambiguities as may exist in the description found in the present deed of record

Time is of the essence when survey work is ordered. Surveys are ordered only after a contract to purchase real estate has been executed and an approximate closing date has been established. A survey's cost is determined by the amount of time that different members of a survey team have spent on a job, multiplied by the task or function hourly rates for the individuals. Pre–qualifiying and awarding contracts to the most experienced, well–equipped firms allows for the lowest cost.

The State attempts to award term contracts to not less than three contractors in each of the six regions identified below, up to a maximum of eighteen total contractors who the State determined to be the most responsive, respnsible bidders, fulfilling the requirements of its RFP. A bidder does not have to bid for all regions to be considered for an award. Bidders may recieve an award for a maximum of two regions.

The Green Acres Program has identifed six regions that best support its work, as follows:

Northeast Region

• Bergen County
• Morris County
• Passaic County (including Urban Cities within Passaic County, being Clifton, Passaic City, Paterson)
• Somerset County

Northwest Region

• Warren County
• Sussex County

Urban Acquisition Region

• Essex County
• Hudson County
• Union County

Central Region

• Hunterdon County
• Mercer County
• Middlesex County
• Monmouth County

South Central Region

• Atlantic County
• Burlington County
• Camden County
• Gloucester County
• Ocean County

Southern Region

• Cape May County
• Cumberland County
• Salem County