State OK’s Middle’s Center Designations

COURT HOUSE – The State Planning Commission recently approved Middle Township’s center designations, providing additional structure as the municipality continues a path of strategic development.
The state designates municipal centers to help ensure orderly growth of mixed-use development throughout New Jersey. Communities with designated centers are eligible for incentives, such as priority for discretionary state funding and expedited permit review.
Middle’s renewed center designations are expected to help advance projects already in the pipeline, such as the Hampton Inn planned for Cape May Court House.
The Township’s centers were originally authorized in 2011; the Township began the process for a renewed endorsement in 2021.
The Township’s regional centers, which have the most potential for development, are in Cape May Court House and Rio Grande.
Smaller areas, called hamlet and village centers, are designated in Del Haven, Green Creek, Swainton and Goshen. Other designated centers are the Burke/Kindle Commercial Node and the Hildreth Commercial Node. The state defines a node as an existing or planned concentration of facilities and activities that are not organized in a compact form.
The recertification of Middle’s centers is a key component of the Township’s broad plan to attract quality development.
“Together with our affordable housing settlement and master plan renewal, the center designations provide consistency for developers and stability as the Township grows,” said Mayor Tim Donohue.
A Plan Endorsement Recommendation Report submitted by the state’s Office for Planning Advocacy noted that Middle Township, with an estimated 20,716 residents as of 2022, has increased at a faster rate than the state or Cape May County.
Since 1990, Middle Township’s population has grown 37.9 percent. At the same time, New Jersey’s population has increased 20.1 percent while Cape May County’s population has remained virtually stable.
The center designations process promotes preservation as well as development, and occurs in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection’s mapping of Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) centers.
The Township created an environmental assessment review process to ensure that all development will appropriately consider environmental resources alongside opportunities for revitalization.