PNI committee recommends Stockton University master plan to full Pinelands Commission

The PNI committee on June 27 recommended that the full Pinelands Commission consider Stockton University’s 2020 facilities master plan for its main Galloway Township campus.

Brad, a Commission staff presenter, summarized the plan and campus mapping, saying the main Stockton campus covers roughly 1,800 acres and is split across Pinelands management areas. He told the committee the document is a conceptual state agency plan — “big concept ideas,” not specific site plans — and that future development proposals will come through the standard public development application process rather than through a new memorandum of agreement (MOA).

The presentation traced Stockton’s planning history, noting prior master plans in 1990 and 2010, township rezonings that converted roughly 500 acres and then another 450 acres into regional growth, and MOAs used previously to coordinate permitting. Staff said a 2016 review found construction inside areas previously identified as deed‑restricted conservation due to mapping inaccuracies; the university submitted a remediation plan and the Department of Environmental Protection approved a deed‑restriction amendment that was recorded in March 2024.

Brad described the current map changes as removing some infrastructure areas from the original conservation layer (shown in pink) and adding about the same acreage in undeveloped wooded land (shown in green), for a net increase of about 2 acres of protected land. He stressed that applications tied to future projects will be reviewed against Pinelands wetlands, environmental standards, and management‑area rules on a project‑by‑project basis.

Commissioners asked technical questions about build‑out estimates, water and well permitting, stormwater compliance under Pinelands rules, and the plan’s coverage of satellite campuses. Staff replied that detailed build‑out numbers are available for core campus pockets in the plan, but that water supply and new well approvals would be handled on an application basis (“if they need new wells, [the water reviewer] will be evaluating that at that point”), and that the plan’s approval would focus on the Galloway main campus within the Commission’s jurisdiction.

After discussion, Commissioner Jared moved and Commissioner Mark seconded a motion to forward a recommendation to the full commission; the committee voted in favor by voice vote.

The committee’s recommendation does not itself authorize construction. Next steps: the full Pinelands Commission will consider the state agency plan and any future public development applications for individual projects will be reviewed under Pinelands standards.