Introduction

Madison’s land is divided into zones. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment both work to make changes to Madison that both benefit the town and remain within Zoning Ordinances, with the ZBA preparing reports to present to the Planning Board. Development of Madison must be approved under the Board’s supervision and planning. The Boards must look at the general Land Use of Madison, but it also must look at specifically how the properties are being used and what types of buildings make up the entirety of Madison.

Data

Seeing the property classes of these buildings laid out visually and spatially allows us to understand how much of an area is used for what purpose, and can compare and predict spatial uses over time. The map below presents the most recent property classifications, generated by the New Jersey Office of GIS.

Results

In Downtown Madison, there is a range of properties classified by use. The classes are as follows: light green is 1, Vacant Land; red is 2, Residential; orange is 3B, Farm (Qualified); dark purple is 4A, Commercial; pink is 4C, Apartment; teal is 5A, Class 1 Railroad Property; dark blue is 15A, Public School Property; light blue is 15C, Public Property; light brown is 15D, Church and Charitable Property; yellow is 15F, Other Exempt Properties not included in above classifications; and grey is Other. For more information on property classifications, click here.

Conclusion

Understanding the zones and available buildings makes it easier to plan for including affordable housing, of which a certain amount Madison (and every municipality in New Jersey) is required to have, and avoiding zoning decisions that exclude low-income citizens. More information on Madison Affordable Housing can be found here. It also allows planners to view how the town has evolved over time and predict how it may change in the future.

About the Data Source

Parcels and MOD-IV Composite of New Jersey was created in 2016 and most recently updated in December 2022. It was created and is maintained by the New Jersey Office of GIS to allow users access to general basic information about property location, ID, and taxation characteristics for planning and other purposes. The dataset can be found online here.

To download a one-page slide for this summary on property classifications, click here.