Recommendations for the 2024 Open Space and Historic Preservation program have been presented to the County Commissioners. There is currently a public hearing period for projects slated to be awarded over $100,000. The projects can be viewed in this notice. Questions and comments can be submitted to Open Space Coordinator Salvatore Presti at salvatorep@passaiccountynj.org. 

The next scheduled Open Space Advisory Committee meeting will be on Thursday, September 19th, at the Dey Mansion, 199 Totowa Road, Wayne. The meeting agenda can be found here. Please note there will be no option to attend the meeting virtually or call in. 

Preserving open space and conserving natural resources ensure a sustainable quality of life in Passaic County. Acknowledging the need to preserve open space, historical sites, and farmland and improve the park system/facilities in Passaic County, two referenda were added to the November 1996 Election Ballot concurrently as non-binding ballots. The citizens approved an Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund referendum and an Open Space and Parks Improvement referendum, which were ultimately consolidated as a result of legislative initiative. The County manages and provides grants to municipal and non-profit partners for open space acquisition, park development, and historic preservation projects from the Open Space, Farmland, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund on an annual basis.  

For more information on Open Space grants, please contact the Department of Planning at salvatorep@passaiccountynj.org or 973-569-4040.

Eligibility                                                                            

Any of Passaic County’s sixteen municipalities and qualified nonprofit organizations and charitable conservancies are eligible to submit applications to the Open Space Trust Fund Advisory Committee. For more information on eligibility, please refer to the Rules and Regulation

Qualified nonprofit land trusts and charitable conservancies are defined as a “corporation or trust whose purposes include the acquisition and preservation of land or water areas or of a particular land or water area, or either thereof, in a natural, scenic or open condition, no part of the net earnings of which insures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and which has received tax exemption under section 501(c) of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code.” (N.J.S.A 13:83-2).