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Byram Township Master Plan
Heyer, Gruel & Associates
prepared the
Byram Master Plan in 2004 as the latest
chapter in the Township's continuing
Smart Growth efforts. The
intent of the Master Plan is to protect Byram's
natural resources, preserve and enhance its
natural beauty and its tight-knit neighborhoods,
and maintain reasonable limits on land use
by providing a Smart Growth approach to future
development in the Township. This plan
represents the culmination of ten years of
focused efforts and active public participation
in the 2002 Smart Growth Plan and the 2003
Lakefront Development Plan.
Byram has decided to reduce density in its Environs, which
are large areas of mostly undeveloped forestlands,
characterized by steep slopes, marginal soils, wetlands, and
surface water. By placing 5,600 acres of the Township in
5-acre and 10-acre zoning, with the application of critical
areas ordinances and clustering or lot averaging, it will be
possible to preserve large areas of forestlands.
Byram also wants to create commercial land
use opportunities. The Village Center
replaces the former Shopping Center zone
to make this the primary focal point of
new development in the form of a neo-traditional
community hub for the Township.
The intent of this district is to encourage
a reasonable amount of new commercial and
residential development, while still providing
for open space, common greens, and civic
centers that are custom-designed to accommodate
the natural characteristics of the land.
The Village Business zone replaces the existing
Highway Commercial zone is intended to complement
and be architecturally influenced by the
Village Center. The bulk and design standards
endeavor to transform a highway-strip commercial
district into a neo-traditional Main Street
mix of retail, office, and a limited number
of upper floor apartments.
The Master Plan concentrates
on several goals:
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Focusing development in appropriate
locations where infrastructure and services
are available
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Consistency with the State Development
and Redevelopment Plan
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Consistency with the Highlands Master
Plan
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Consistency with the Township's Natural
Resource Inventory
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Consistency with the Township's 2000
Recreation and Open Space Plan
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Promotion of goals of the Municipal
Land Use Law
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Preservation of wildlife habitats, contiguous
forests, water quality and rural character
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Establishing population densities consistent
with the water resources and sewage
disposal abilities of the land
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Prevention
of sprawling land uses
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Reduction in Infrastructure costs
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