Coastal Planning Areas for New Jersey

Coastal Planning Areas are areas that share a common set of conditions such as population density, infrastructure systems, level of development, or environmental sensitivity. Coastal Planning Areas are one component of regulations adopted by the NJDEP, pursuant to CAFRA. The impervious cover limits and vegetative cover percentages for proposed developments requiring a CAFRA permit are determined by the location of proposed development within a Coastal Planning Area, CAFRA center, CAFRA core, CAFRA node or non-mainland coastal center, and for the Coastal Suburban Planning Area, whether the site is located in a sewer service area. N.J.A.C. 7:7 set forth the impervious cover limits and vegetative cover requirements for a site in the CAFRA area. There are five types of Coastal Planning Areas: Coastal Metropolitan Planning Area, Coastal Suburban Planning Area, Coastal Fringe Planning Area, Coastal Rural Planning Area, and Coastal Environmentally Sensitive Planning Area. Each Coastal Planning Area has associated with it a corresponding, pre-determined impervious cover limit and vegetative cover requirement.