Unmanaged development is difficult and expensive to provide with public services. Implementing a good local growth management program increases predictability for the community and developers alike, and helps preserve the quality of life that makes a region attractive to business and industry. Urban areas will benefit from growth management, but rural areas will suffer. In addition, traditional local rural industries such as farming, forestry, tourism and recreation endangered by sprawl will be protected. Suffering urban areas can also find relief through redevelopment, and through the revitalization that naturally occurs as people rediscover towns and cities.
New Jersey can no longer afford sprawl.
COAH's approval of the controversial 3,000-unit development, on 742 agricultural acres of the township, had been challenged in a lawsuit by New Jersey Future. On January 7, the Superior Court of New Jersey's Appellate Division ordered COAH to re-examine its decision. COAH's April 1 task force decision followed presentations by New Jersey Future and other groups opposed to development of the site. New Jersey Future filed the first lawsuit of its 10-year history against COAH in 1996, after the agency failed to follow State Plan guidelines for development at the Hillsborough site. The court has retained jurisdiction in the case.