Articles Process and deadlines
The 2026 Master Plan Reexamination: What It Is and When It Comes Back
Montgomery is rewriting the document that sets its land-use goals, on a grant deadline of March 2027. The listening sessions and surveys are over; a draft is due in early November. What the reexamination must cover, what residents told the planner, what the current goals say about industrial land and open space, and where residents can still weigh in.
What a reexamination is
A township’s Master Plan sets the goals its zoning has to follow. New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law requires the Planning Board to reexamine it at least once every ten years (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-89). Montgomery’s last reexamination was adopted in 2017.
The report has to say what problems and objectives existed at the last reexamination, how they have changed since, what the township should change in its plan and zoning in response, and how any redevelopment plans the township has adopted fit into the master plan. That last requirement is why this document matters for 23 Orchard Road, and for any plan that may follow the Kenvue study.
Who is writing it, and why now
The work is paid for by a one-year, $50,000 Plan4HealthNJ grant, a program of the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Montgomery was one of six towns chosen. The planner is Tara Kenyon, PP, AICP, of Kenyon Planning, working with Township Administrator and Planning Director Lori Savron. The grant also covers a later Land Use Element update and a climate-change hazard vulnerability assessment, to be done by another consultant.
The reexamination adds a section on improving public health through land-use planning. It is not a separate health element.
What residents told the planner
Public input ran through the summer: a map survey closed around August 20, a community survey ran through the end of September, and listening sessions were held online on September 22 and in person on October 8. Kenyon told the Planning Board on October 12 that “all the community engagement is done.”
She said getting around without a car was residents’ “number one concern.” Others she listed were housing affordability, aging in place, air and water quality, connecting existing homes to public water and sewer, and a shuttle or bus link to Mercer County. The survey results and the listening-session summary have not been posted.
What the current goals say
The 2017 report restates the township’s land-use goals. Two bear directly on how large non-residential sites are treated:
9. Industrial, research and office acreage should be controlled with appropriate regulations, without denying the needs of modern research and manufacturing activities and without threatening the existing balance between residential and non-residential development within the municipality and the benefits of a balanced tax base.
10. The Development Plan should safeguard and promote the preservation of farmland, open space and woodlands areas within Montgomery Township, and such areas should be set aside whenever possible for conservation and/or recreational purposes.
The 2017 report also records that 1,375 acres had been preserved since 2008, bringing the total to 7,645 acres, 37 percent of the township. Kenyon said the 2026 report will carry forward “maintaining the rural character” and “conserving natural resources,” and will track progress on the open space and farmland plans. The Planning Board adopted an updated Farmland Preservation Plan on October 12.
Redevelopment areas
On October 12 a Board member asked how the plan would “intersect with areas in need of redevelopment, where the zoning in effect is set aside.” Kenyon said the report could recommend that zoning there be amended, or find that it is fine as it is, and that she would coordinate with Savron on “where all the redevelopment activity is.” Neither presentation mentioned the Kenvue site, and nobody has said whether the report will.
What comes next
- Early November 2026: the draft is due, Kenyon said, “by the beginning of November.” It had not been posted as of October 19.
- Early December (expected): Kenyon said she believed the Board would take up the draft at the beginning of December. No date has been noticed.
- By March 2027: “Everything has to be adopted by March 2027,” she said, because of the grant.
The Planning Board meets on November 9, and every regular meeting has a public comment period. Adoption needs a public hearing, which must be noticed in advance. Questions now can go to the township Health Department through the Plan4HealthNJ page. Residents can also ask the township to post Kenyon’s slides and the survey results.
Quotations from the October 12 meeting come from the township’s uncorrected closed captions.