The Pennington Borough Planning Board on Tuesday conditionally adopted the Utility Services Plan Element of the community’s developing 2025 Master Plan, marking the eighth of twelve elements completed as the Borough targets full adoption later this year.
“This plan doesn’t just describe what we have — it prepares us for what’s coming,” said Planning Board Member and Master Plan Committee Chair Andy Jackson during his presentation. He noted that the draft reflects input from multiple Borough bodies, including Public Works, the Environmental Commission, and the Green Team, and is grounded in operational realities.
The plan, outlined in the “Utility Services Plan Draft 8a,” addresses water, wastewater, stormwater, electricity, gas, telecommunications, and recycling. According to the document, Pennington’s water system serves 1,061 customers and uses only 60 percent of its NJDEP-approved daily allocation of 0.65 million gallons per day. It identifies two potential strategies to strengthen emergency water supply: constructing a second storage tower or establishing a new interconnection with New Jersey American Water that could provide a fire hydrant inside the Borough.
The Borough currently relies on a single 500,000-gallon storage tower and lacks a redundant backup supply—leaving the system vulnerable in emergencies such as fire or contamination. The plan also notes that some residents rely on private septic systems and calls for improved coordination with regional providers like Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority.
Flooding along Lewis Brook is cited as “the most pressing utility challenge facing Pennington.” The plan recommends replacing outdated stormwater infrastructure, updating pipe sizing to handle climate-driven rainfall, and collaborating with Mercer County to assess bridges and culverts outside the Borough’s control. Aging clay and cast-iron pipes in some areas, combined with evolving state flood standards, have made improvements more urgent.
Board members also discussed the implications of new state requirements that adjust flood elevation standards. “There’s going to be a need to update the zoning code and building regulations to reflect these standards,” Jackson said. Pennington Borough is working across municipal boundaries with The Watershed Institute and all of the other Stony Brook communities to find ways to work together on the new state requirements.
The plan supports broader Borough climate goals, including achieving net-zero municipal operations by 2035. Recommendations include transitioning municipal vehicles to electric, expanding building electrification, and exploring community energy aggregation. Ordinance updates are also encouraged to regulate small cell telecommunications infrastructure while maintaining local control over aesthetic impacts.
After the vote, the board turned its focus to the larger Master Plan process and the Borough’s recent submission of its Round Four Housing Element and Fair Share Plan to the state. Planning Board member Nadine Stern credited the Master Plan Committee and Citizens Advisory Committee with enabling that submission by preparing coordinated plan elements under tight deadlines.
“It’s because of the work that this group did that we were able to get the housing element and fair share plan into the state on time,” Stern said. “That’s huge. We made the deadline, and it means we’re now in a much stronger legal position moving forward.”
Planning Board attorney Ed Schmierer affirmed that the timely submission was critical to preserving local control and avoiding “builder’s remedy” lawsuits that could otherwise allow high-density development without Borough oversight.
Jackson emphasized that the Master Plan has been carefully structured to align its housing, land use, and infrastructure elements. But Stern warned that planning alone was not enough.
“We can’t stop at the planning documents,” she said. “We have to carry this through—into ordinances, budgeting, and decisions that shape how our town grows.”
While the Borough has met the legal deadline for housing submission, follow-up work will include revising zoning ordinances, identifying infrastructure constraints, and ensuring utility and flood resilience plans can accommodate future development. Upcoming Planning Board agendas are expected to include review of the remaining Master Plan elements—Land Use, Economic Development, and Relation to Other Plans—with a public hearing and full adoption anticipated before year’s end.
