Bergen County Master Plan

Arts, culture, and history are integral to Bergen County's identity and community development. Arts and cultural facilities serve as community anchors, fostering downtown revitalization, supporting local businesses, and ensuring long-term stability. Similarly, historic resources are essential for preserving the county's heritage, serving as educational tools and tourist attractions, and offering economic benefits by attracting visitors and supporting local establishments. Bergen County is committed to attracting and maintaining these resources while preserving its historical sites and structures. Various agencies, including the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs and the Division of Economic Development, work to promote these assets. Despite the geographical challenges of scattered arts districts across 70 municipalities, ongoing initiatives, such as a county-wide re-grant program, aim to unite the arts community. Additionally, Bergen County boasts a rich history, dating from Native American times to the present, with numerous preserved homes showcasing Colonial-era architecture and lifestyle. The chapter concludes with goals and objectives and recommended action items, with the overarching goals described below.

• Goal 1: Preserve and protect our cultural & historic resources
• Goal 2: Stimulate the economy with arts, culture and history
• Goal 3: Increase the awareness of and participation in arts, culture, and history
• Goal 4: Make art, cultural, and historic resources more accessible
• Goal 5: Grow and support arts, culture, and history organizations

Additionally, this element provides summary overview of selected Arts and Culture amenities, including entertainment centers, educational facilities, and museums. The element also provides an overview of historic sites, architecture, and other resources in the county

Open space, parks, recreation, and agriculture are vital components of Bergen County's quality of life, offering numerous benefits to residents, visitors, and businesses. These protected areas provide opportunities for both passive and active recreation while offering ecosystem services such as flood mitigation, water treatment, and urban environmental health. Access to recreation promotes physical and psychological well-being, while the aesthetics of open spaces contribute to social and economic benefits. Parks and open space also generate significant revenue for the county through tourism-related activities.

Bergen County is committed to providing an attractive and healthy environment with over 22,000 acres of parks and recreation facilities, this includes municipal parks, Palisades Interstate Parks Commission, non-profit entities, and the State of New Jersey, which ends up accounting for nearly 14 percent of the county's total land area. This section of the plan outlines goals, objectives, and actionable steps for parks, open space preservation, recreation, and agriculture, including the potential expansion of preservation programs to encompass a wider range of open space initiatives, building on previous plans and studies. The goals from this chapter are summarized below.

• Goal 1: Preserve and balance open space
• Goal 2: Improve access and connectivity
• Goal 3: Steward our environmental resources
• Goal 4: Provide diverse golf and recreation
• Goal 5: Improve amenities and infrastructure
• Goal 6: Program park spaces and events
• Goal 7: Increase public access to information
• Goal 8: Operate and maintain sustainable parks
• Goal 9: Develop a sustainable business model
• Goal 10: Protect and support agriculture and agriculture areas

Bergen County boasts an extensive road network across its 246 square miles. Rail infrastructure is crucial due to the county's proximity to New York City and its location in the Northeast megalopolis. However, the distribution of transit services varies within the county. Proximity to New York City presents both opportunities and challenges, with traffic congestion being a significant issue due to the high number of daily commuters to various employment centers. Access to transit stations is limited in less densely populated areas. To enhance the quality of life and overall experience for residents, employees, and visitors, Bergen County requires an efficient, accessible, and safe transportation network.

The plan highlights existing regional transportation facilities, including bus service, commuter rail, and the potential extension of light rail, as solutions to address traffic congestion. It emphasizes the need to promote alternatives to private vehicle travel, potentially expanding bus services and exploring transit-oriented development. Additionally, the plan considers emerging trends, such as downtown revitalization and sustainable transportation options like walking, biking, car-sharing, bike sharing, micro-mobility, and "last mile" connections. The element outlines county goals and objectives related to transport, along with recommended actions to achieve them. The goals from this chapter are summarized below.

• Goal 1: Increase the provision, efficiency and use of mass transit
• Goal 2: Improve and maintain a safe, efficient and multi-modal road system
• Goal 3: Increase opportunities for and encourage safe walking and bicycling
• Goal 4: Improve and expand the use of paratransit and shuttle services
• Goal 5: Balance the role of freight transportation and its impacts
• Goal 6: Ensure transportation remains responsive to emerging technology and trends

Ensuring access to high-quality programs, services, amenities, and facilities that cater to community needs is pivotal for Bergen County to maintain its excellent quality of life and desirability as a place to live, work, and invest. While various levels of government provide services, Bergen County plays a crucial role in offering specialized services and programs that may be impractical for individual municipalities to manage due to cost constraints, often more efficiently delivered at a regional scale. These encompass public safety, health and human services, education, waste management, roadway and infrastructure maintenance, and parks and recreation. This chapter outlines the county's existing facilities and services, emphasizing those owned and operated by Bergen County. It also addresses facilities and services managed at regional or local levels where the county plays a supportive role, concluding with a set of goals and objectives. The goals from this chapter are summarized below.

• Goal 1: Protect the public through enforcement
• Goal 2: Reduce and prevent hazardous situations through effective programming and personnel development
• Goal 3: Promote employee health and safety
• Goal 4: Facilitate accessibility to quality services, programs, and living environments
• Goal 5: Foster the efficient provision of public services

Sustainability encompasses practices and principles that interconnect the environment, economy, and society, aiming to meet present needs without compromising future generations. While often associated solely with environmental concerns, it involves a broader paradigm that considers all three facets. This element evaluates existing sustainability efforts in Bergen County, recognizing that sustainability threads through all aspects of the master plan. The document acknowledges the complex interplay between environmental, economic, and social factors and outlines goals and objectives to balance these facets in a way that optimizes the county's growth and development while maintaining its quality of life and reducing negative impacts. The goals from this chapter are summarized below.

• Goal 1: Increase energy efficiency and promote clean energy alternatives
• Goal 2: Mainstream sustainable best practices
• Goal 3: Improve community resilience
• Goal 4: Promote public health and wellness
• Goal 5: Embrace sustainable economic development

The following dashboards are from the New Jersey DEP.

A master plan should serve as a “living document”, one which is as comprehensive as possible at the time of publication (which represents a present-day “slice in time”), but that is revisited periodically in order to ensure it remains as current as possible and responsive to new challenges, trends, and dynamics. Some examples of these include:

• New technology
• Demographic/economic trends
• Shifting development patterns
• New data releases (Census, etc.)
• New legislation/policy directives
• Response to emerging issues and changing behaviors
• Changes to best practices, and corrective action for outdated processes/concepts
• Revisiting to stay as current as possible in our operations as a county (county departments, agencies, administrative guidelines, etc.

Similarly, the master plan’s currency will be addressed through various degrees of modifications over time. An annual “Year in Planning” review of recent trends and developments in the field, emerging issues and best practices, and the like will be prepared for the Administration in order to keep current with the issues and be able to advise on upcoming edits and corrections to the master plan. Minor errors and corrections may be addressed through issuance of “Errata” sheets, to be compiled in an ongoing appendix to the current plan. Larger, more broad-sweeping changes should be addressed through Amendments that are addressed over time by the Planning Board.