Hunterdon County, NJ Zoning: The Highlands Region

Hunterdon is one of only seven New Jersey counties with real Highlands Region territory, and its share is substantial: 15 municipalities, and close to half the county's total land, sit inside the mapped boundary. Whether a specific parcel falls in the strict Preservation Area or the more locally governed Planning Area makes a real difference in how much local zoning still controls.

This page covers what's specific to Hunterdon County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Nearly half of Hunterdon County sits inside the Highlands Region

The 2004 Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act created a mapped Highlands Region covering roughly 860,000 acres across seven New Jersey counties: Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren. Hunterdon's share of that region is genuinely large -- 15 of the county's municipalities sit at least partly inside the mapped boundary, with roughly 64,945 acres in the strict Preservation Area and 63,989 acres in the more locally governed Planning Area, a combined total of roughly 128,900 acres. Against Hunterdon's total land area of about 427.84 square miles (roughly 273,800 acres), that combined Highlands footprint approaches half the entire county -- a far larger share, relative to county size, than the modest two-municipality sliver of neighboring Bergen County's Highlands territory.

The Highlands Council approved Hunterdon County's own Plan Conformance petition on May 20, 2021, and 12 of the county's 15 Highlands municipalities are actively working with the Council to implement its Regional Master Plan (adopted 2008) at the local level -- a genuinely active, ongoing planning relationship between county and state, not a one-time boundary designation that municipalities can simply ignore going forward.

Preservation Area vs. Planning Area: the distinction that actually matters

The Highlands Act splits the region into two zones with meaningfully different rules, and for a Hunterdon County buyer, knowing which one applies to a specific parcel matters more than simply knowing it's "in the Highlands." The Preservation Area (about 398,000 acres statewide) is subject to direct state regulatory standards -- on water availability, septic system density, and steep-slope and forest protection in particular -- that apply regardless of what the local municipality's own zoning ordinance says, similar in spirit to how the Pinelands Commission's rules can override standard township zoning in South Jersey's Pinelands counties. The Planning Area, the remainder of the region, is governed more by local zoning, with municipalities encouraged through funding and other incentives to voluntarily conform their master plans to the Highlands Council's Regional Master Plan rather than being directly overridden by the state.

Because Hunterdon's roughly 64,945 Preservation-Area acres and 63,989 Planning-Area acres are close to equal in size, a buyer can't assume which zone applies just from a parcel's general location within a Highlands-affected municipality -- the two zones can sit close together within the same township. A Preservation Area parcel may face real limits on lot yield, septic density, and clearing that a nearby Planning Area parcel in the same municipality does not, even though both fall under the same general "Highlands Region" label.

What to check before buying land in Highlands-Region Hunterdon County

Confirm directly with the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council whether a specific parcel sits inside the mapped Highlands Region at all, and if so, whether it falls in the Preservation Area or the Planning Area -- this single distinction determines whether direct state regulatory standards apply on top of, or effectively in place of, the municipality's own zoning ordinance. For a Preservation Area parcel, ask specifically about water availability and septic density limitations, since these tend to be the most binding constraints on what can actually be built.

For a Planning Area parcel, check whether the specific municipality is one of the 12 (of Hunterdon's 15 Highlands municipalities) actively working toward Highlands Council conformance, since a municipality's own conformance status and timeline can affect what incentives or funding are tied to its master plan. And remember that four out of every five other New Jersey counties have no Highlands territory at all -- this overlay is a distinctly Hunterdon (and a handful of neighboring-county) consideration, not a general statewide rule, so don't assume it applies outside the mapped boundary or outside the seven Highlands counties.

Zoning in Hunterdon County, New Jersey: The Highlands Region

Nearly half of Hunterdon County sits inside the Highlands Region

Preservation Area vs. Planning Area: the distinction that actually matters

What to check before buying land in Highlands-Region Hunterdon County

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