Hillsborough Seeks Public Input On Open Space
- Town launched a new survey to gather resident input on open space priorities for its Master Plan update. - Survey focuses on identifying and protecting open space to guide future preservation and land-use decisions. - Officials encourage residents to respond to shape policy and conservation funding priorities (patch.com).
Hillsborough Township has opened a new public survey on open space as part of its Master Plan update, asking residents to help shape future land-preservation decisions. (hillsboroughnj.gov) The survey went live on April 16 and focuses on the Open Space and Recreation Plan, a section of the Master Plan that maps existing open land and identifies parcels that could be preserved later. Township officials said the questionnaire covers both public and private land now used as open space. (hillsboroughnj.gov) Residents can take the survey through the township’s Engage Hillsborough platform, where officials said all questions are optional and background graphics explain the planning terms used in the questionnaire. The township said the survey will close on May 17. (engagehillsboroughnj.org) In New Jersey planning, an open space plan is the part of a master plan that identifies land worth preserving and sets priorities for acquisition, protection, and stewardship. Hillsborough said this phase will help determine which lands should stay undeveloped and how the township should protect them over time. (engagehillsboroughnj.org) The survey is the third public-input step in a broader rewrite of Hillsborough’s Master Plan, the document the township describes as a roadmap for transportation, land use, farmland, open space, and other long-range policy choices. Officials previously released surveys on the plan’s goals and on land use. (hillsboroughnj.gov) That update process has been underway since at least 2024, when the Planning and Zoning Department held an October 30 informational session explaining the Master Plan structure and summarizing results from the first survey. Township officials said public feedback would help shape the final document. (hillsborough-nj.org) Open-space policy already carries budget consequences in Hillsborough. In May 2025, Somerset County closed on the 402-acre Hillsborough Golf & Country Club property for preservation, with Hillsborough contributing $1.45 million from its Open Space Trust Fund, about 20 percent of the total cost. (hillsborough-nj.org) The township said another survey on recreation opportunities will follow after this one closes, extending the public-comment process beyond land preservation and into how residents want preserved land and facilities to be used. For now, officials are asking people who live, work, or own property in Hillsborough to weigh in before May 17. (engagehillsboroughnj.org)
