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Highlands Regulatory Program

HELPFUL HINTS
For Submission of Highlands Applicability and
Water Quality Management Plan
Consistency Determination Applications (HADs)

Common Errors and Omissions

It benefits both the applicant and the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) when HAD applications are complete and accurate.  If applications are missing required information, follow-up notices of Administrative Incompleteness or Technical Incompleteness are issued that notify applicants of deficiencies in the application.  Subsequently, if the requested information is not submitted, a Notice of Intent to Cancel is sent, and ultimately the application could be canceled.  So, it is important that all required information be provided and valuable time is saved if the application is complete to begin with.

Based on experience, the Department has found that certain errors and omissions occur more frequently than others.  These are listed below.  Please be sure to carefully review your application before you submit it to the Department to ensure that it is accurate and complete.  This list is not meant to be comprehensive but represents the most common errors and omissions.  To speed your review time, please carefully read the application and submit all required information.

• If your requested exemption requires a site plan, subdivision plan, or survey, make sure that it is signed and includes the appropriate licensed New Jersey professional’s seal.

• When comparing lot and block numbers on the various submitted documents, such as the deed or resolution, there must be no discrepancies in the numbering. If there is a discrepancy, such as where the municipality changed the lot numbering in the past, a letter from the municipality explaining this must be provided.

• If your requested exemption requires a site plan or subdivision plan and a resolution, be sure that the plan provided is the same as that which is referenced in the resolution.

• If a resolution is provided, be sure that it is dated and signed.

• If a resolution of approval from the municipality is a requirement for the selected exemption, provide a letter from the municipality’s governing body verifying that the use and zoning of the site have not changed since the date of that approval or, if it changed, does not require submittal of a new or amended application.  That letter must also clearly indicate that the resolution (cite the number) is current and valid.

• For exemption #1, be sure to include a notarized statement certifying that the single-family dwelling proposed for construction is intended for the applicant’s own use or the use of an immediate family member of the owner or purchaser of the property, identifying them by name and specifying their relationship to the owner or purchaser.

• For exemption # 1 and # 2, be sure to include a notarized statement from the property owner, indicating that the property subject to the review has not been subdivided, merged, or in other ways had its lot lines adjusted subsequent to the date of the submitted deed.

•  For exemption #2 and a determination of “Not Major Highlands Development”, the ultimate disturbance area line must be depicted by a metes and bounds on the site plan.  Also, a separate, sealed, narrative description of that line must be submitted or, alternatively, included on the site plan.

• For exemption #4, be sure to provide evidence, such as a letter from the municipality, attesting that the impervious surface depicted on the submitted plan (which should be cited by name and date ) was lawfully existing on August 10, 2004 (the date of enactment of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act).

• For exemption #4, the mapping should use proper “hatching” or shading to be clear regarding which portion is existing impervious surface (as of August 10, 2004) and which portion is proposed impervious surface. 

• For exemption #5, be sure to include proof that the single-family dwelling was lawfully existing as of August 10, 2004.  This may be done by providing a Certificate of Occupancy, a copy of a past water or electric bill, or a letter from the municipality stating that the single-family dwelling is lawfully existing as of August 10, 2004.)

• If agricultural use is contended, proof of farmland tax assessment status must be included.  It must state that it has such status.  (A tax bill having a low assessed amount is not sufficient to prove such status.