Politics & Government

Hopatcong Considers Joining Highlands Plan

Borough to host public meeting to discuss benefits of conforming to the plan, which councilman says "affects everything."

Hopatcong will soon host a public meeting regarding how conforming to the New Jersey Highlands Regional Master Plan would affect the borough.

The mayor and council agreed Wednesday night it needed more information on how teaming up with the New Jersey Highlands Council would benefit Hopatcong. Councilman Mike Francis said the master plan "affects everything."

Francis, who joined the Highlands Council in 2009, said the plan could help Hopatcong create a designated town center, "which brings a lot of different benefits I believe this town should really pursue." Town centers often promote a mixture of residential, office, employment, retile and cultural uses.

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"I think it's important that we take our time, make a careful and informed decision and, above all, invite the people here who can answer the questions to us and the public, should they come," Francis said. "Because i think we're in a position where we're going to make decisions that are going to affect our town for decades to come."

Councilman Richard Bunce said that though an opt-out clause heighten's the plan's appeal, he cautioned that the option could evaporate if thinking changes among state leaders.

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Mayor Sylvia Petillo was also in favor of the meeting, which would involve the public, council, and planning and zoning boards. Highlands Council Director Eileen Swan would be asked to talk to the group about the Highlands' proposal.

"We really don't know what the Highlands looks like to Hopatcong because we really haven't pushed through with some of those [scenarios] to see how it would affect different areas," Petillo said.

Swan conducted a PowerPoint presentation to the borough planning board, which in a letter suggested that the borough should involve itself in the Highlands process, more than a month ago.


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