New Jersey Preservation Map Collides with Plan for Morris County Office Park.

Byline: Richard Cowen

Apr. 29--Plans to preserve the Highlands region may bump into plans to turn a section of Picatinny Arsenal into a high-tech office park.

The state's recently released Highlands preservation map identifies almost all of the military research center in Rockaway Township as part of the "core" preservation area -- land that is valuable for its water resources and would be targeted for acquisition and made off-limits to development. And that has some Morris County officials worried that plans for an office park, known as Insitec, might never get off the ground.

"I'm going to write the governor's office and ask that all of Picatinny Arsenal be removed from the core area," Morris County Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom said Wednesday. "Right now, the boundaries of the preservation area go right through Picatinny."

Michael Fishwick, a spokesman for the pending preservation bill's sponsor, state Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, tried to allay fears that the map was set in stone. He said the map will probably undergo several revisions before the bill is released from the Senate Environmental Committee on May 10.

All public comment on the bill should be directed either to Smith's office or to Governor McGreevey's office, he said.

McGreevey's spokesman, Micah Rasmussen, could not be reached for ...