Highlands

The Borough of Highlands is 1.3 square miles and located just to the south and west of Sandy Hook. It is one of the highest points of land along the Eastern Seaboard. Low lying lands at the base of the bluff is where a majority of the borough’s commercial development and marina is located. The Borough has a longstanding fishing, clamming, and boating industry, and breathtaking views of New York City.

The Highlands bluff is home to the historic Twin Lights, the first lighthouse to use kerosene, electricity, and the French Fresnel lens, built in 1862. This gave the lighthouse the ability to illuminate 22 miles into the ocean. In 1962, the State of New Jersey acquired the lighthouse, and converted it into a museum facility, which it remains to this day.

Highlands has a ferry terminal (currently operated by SeaStreak) which passengers can use to commute to New York City. Commuters can utilize the 834 NJ TRANSIT route to get to Red Bank via Atlantic Highlands and Middletown, and the Academy Bus to several NYC bus terminals. NJ Route 36 is the main highway through the borough.

Sources:  www.highlandsborough.org ;  Bayshore Regional Strategic Plan (2006) 

Master Plan:

• 2016  Master Plan Reexamination Report and Master Plan Amendments 

• The Borough purchased a property on Navesink Avenue from the Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish to serve as the future site of the Highlands Municipal Complex, replacing municipal structures that were damaged or destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Funding for the construction project was secured through a $5 million FEMA reimbursement, the sale of bonds, and borough funds. Construction was completed in July of 2023.

• In 2018, the Monmouth County Parks System purchased 14 acres of property adjacent to Hartshorne Woods from the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education. A trail was built on the land connecting Battery Lewis to the Twin Lights.

• The Borough adopted a Central Business District Redevelopment Plan in May of 2022. The Plan outlines the borough’s ongoing efforts to improve its Bay Avenue corridor and adjacent areas in order to attract additional public and private investment in the redevelopment area. The plan considered public input from community meetings and a survey, as well as input from Borough staff and officials. As of 2024, redevelopment is still underway, with Bay Avenue and connecting roads being paved April through August.

• Since Superstorm Sandy hit the coast in 2012, Highlands has focused its planning strategies on rebuilding as a resilient community. FEMA prepared the  Highlands Community Recovery Plan (2013) , which highlights key recovery issues, summarizes recovery projects, and outlines a community strategy for moving forward post-Sandy. In 2013, the Borough adopted an ordinance amending zoning and land use regulations to assist residents in their efforts to rebuild homes damaged by Sandy.

• The Borough was granted funding from the  NJDEP Green Acres  program and Monmouth County to improve the skate park adjacent to Snug Harbor Park. Construction began early 2023, and a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in July of 2023 to welcome the community to their new and improved skate park.

• In 2020, Highlands was awarded a $179,605 Community Development Block Grant for its Marine Place Walkway project, which involves constructing an elevated pedestrian walkway with amenities at Marine Place West's bulkhead, one of the last unimproved public waterfront locations in the Borough. The surveying and base mapping were completed in May of 2023. The borough will be receiving another grant in order to complete the next phase of the project.

• In 2023, the borough was awarded a Safe Streets for All Action Planning Grant as part of a consolidated application with the County Division of Planning. The Action Plan will develop a prioritized list of safety projects and a plan to move them towards implementation and make the borough eligible for infrastructure funding under the Safe Streets for All Program.

• In 2018, Highlands comprehensively updated its floodplain ordinance and adopted FEMA’s updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps  (FIRM ).

• The Borough was included in the study areas for two regional flood resilience projects;  NJ FRAMES  (Fostering Regional Adaptation through Municipal Economic Scenarios) and the NWSE JLUS (Naval Weapons Station Earle Joint Land Use Study).
  • The NJ FRAMES study identifies some of the main challenges of Highlands Borough as eroding beaches, constant flooding, unprotected ferry terminals, and vulnerable sewer and sanitary pump stations. The study suggests retrofitting the marinas with hardened infrastructure for storm-surge protection as well as raising vulnerable homes and roads.
  • The NWSE JLUS study suggests that Highlands, along with other nearby municipalities, should recognize the 3,000 ft. buffer from NWS Earle boundaries in planning documents and encourage compatible land development within this buffer. Incompatible uses include new medium to high density residential development, which would be inappropriate within the buffer.

• In 2015, a streetscape project was completed along Bay Avenue and in 2017 the Bayshore Trail, a popular waterfront section of the Henry Hudson Trail, was repaired and upgraded with a new drainage system making it more resilient for future storms.

• Highlands submitted an application to FEMA’s BRIC program requesting funding for the Highlands and Monmouth Hills Flood Mitigation Project, which seeks to convert Kavookjian Field into a stormwater retention center and construct a pump station at the corner of Snug Harbor and Bay avenues to the mitigate  the high frequency of flooding in the area.

• Sustainable Jersey Participation Status: Bronze

Source:  Sustainable Jersey 

• Average Residential Taxes: $7,393
• Median Home Value: $343,454
• Net Valuation: $889,700,212

Source:  New Jersey Department of Community Affairs - Property Tax Tables 

• Residential: 186.2 acres (49%)
• Commercial: 46.8 acres (12.3%)
• Industrial: 0.0 acres (0.0%)
• Farmland: 0.0 acres (0.0%)
• Vacant / Undeveloped: 21.7 acres (5.7%)
• Other*: 125.0 acres (32.9%)

*Other contains the following property classes: Unknown, Public Schools, Other School Property, Public Property, Church & Charity, Cemeteries, Other Exempt, Railroad Class I, Railroad Class II

Residential contains the following property classes: Residential, Apartments

Source:  Monmouth County Tax Board ; Compiled by the  Monmouth County Division of Planning