barbara McCloskey

Warren County

Jamie Gatlin

New York City Metropolitan Area

Hackettstown

New Jersey

Morris County

 Jack Slocum

Long Valley

Mendham-Chester

Randolph

Somerset County

Bernardsville-Bedminster

Sussex County

Hopatcong-Sparta

Alexis Tarrazi

Basking Ridge

Morris Township-Morris Plains

Morristown

Jefferson

Bridgewater

An Essex County home inspector has built a free website that lets anyone look up the public records behind a New Jersey property &mdash; building permits, flood zones, fire history, property taxes, and more &mdash; by typing in an address.
The site, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Permit &amp; Parcel</a>, covers all 564 New Jersey municipalities and brings together records from official sources, including state and county databases, FEMA flood maps, and the towns&rsquo; own municipal codes. No account or email is required, and there&rsquo;s no cost.
&ldquo;I kept watching buyers fall in love with a house before anyone checked the paper trail &mdash; the open permits, the flood zone, what the town actually requires when a home changes hands,&rdquo; said Leo Betancor, a Certified Master Inspector based in Cedar Grove and the founder of the site. &ldquo;All of that is public record. It just wasn&rsquo;t in one place anyone could actually use.&rdquo;
Alongside the main lookup, the site includes free single-purpose tools: a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/lead-safe/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">lead-safe inspection lookup</a> showing which of the two state-required inspection methods each town uses under New Jersey&rsquo;s lead paint law, a searchable <a href="https://oprasearch.app/lead-contractors/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">directory of DCA-certified lead evaluation and abatement contractors</a> sorted by distance, a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/fire/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">fire-incident map</a> built from more than 40 years of state fire records, and a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/radon/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">radon map</a> covering every municipality.
Homeowners can also <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/tax/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">look up property taxes and assessments</a>, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/hvac-age/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">check the age of a furnace, air conditioner or water heater</a> using its serial number, and <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/co/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">find their town&rsquo;s certificate-of-occupancy requirements</a> before selling or renting a home.
A companion site, <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>, gives instant FEMA flood-zone answers for any New Jersey address &mdash; built after the federal government shutdown left FEMA&rsquo;s own map site unreliable &mdash; running on the site&rsquo;s own servers with the complete flood map data for the state loaded locally.
As an added benefit for homebuyers, Permit &amp; Parcel users can receive $100 off a qualifying home inspection with Smart Choice Inspections, Betancor&rsquo;s North Jersey home inspection company.
The project was recently featured in <a href="https://www.tapinto.net/towns/east-hanover-slash-florham-park/columns/at-home-with-holly/articles/deep-dive-conversations-what-the-house-won-t-tell-you" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">TAPinto.</a>&nbsp;Both sites are FREE at <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">oprasearch.app</a> and <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>.

Essex County

Eric Kiefer

Montclair

Cedar Grove Home Inspector Builds Free Property...

An Essex County home inspector has built a free website that lets anyone look up the public records behind a New Jersey property — building permits...

Cedar Grove Home Inspector Builds Free Property-Records Lookup for Every NJ Town

ATTENTIONThe Board of Directors of Save Our Bridge, Inc. (SOB) has an important update about the status of the footbridge.&nbsp;
<a rel="noopener nofollow" href="" target="_blank"><img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/49d42b_64d5fbad7df949cd8b6dc25cd8af0016~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1080,h_2000,al_c,q_85/49d42b_64d5fbad7df949cd8b6dc25cd8af0016~mv2.jpg"></a>
Dear Residents of Cranberry Lake and the Surrounding Sussex County Community, On Friday, September 25, we received a communication from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).&nbsp; &nbsp;The email states:"We are&nbsp;following&nbsp;up&nbsp;after consultation with The Governor's Office (Mikie Sherrill) The Department will not be investing additional funds at this time in further study and evaluation toward repair or reconstruction of the bridge.""If the Cranberry Lake Community Club or the Save Our Bridge group identify future funds to at least match at fifty percent cost share in the final planning study and needed construction to either significantly repair or replace the pedestrian bridge, we would be happy to revisit this decision." &nbsp;You can find a full copy of the NJDEP email dated Sept 25th and the SOB's response dated Oct 7th posted below in order to be fully transparent to our supporters.&nbsp; We have underlined important sentences that need your attention.&nbsp; &nbsp;Save Our Bridge&nbsp;(SOB) is devastated by this news&nbsp;particularly since the State of New Jersey's own survey published in October&nbsp;2025 stated that the Sussex Footbridge at Cranberry Lake is repairable.&nbsp; &nbsp; Furthermore, over the last 30 months NJDEP has repeatedly advised Save Our Bridge, Inc to remain "patient" for the next steps forward. Since receiving the decision on Sept. 25, the SOB Board of Directors has been actively reviewing all available options. We are exploring potential legal remedies to challenge this outcome.&nbsp; In addition,&nbsp;we are evaluating the renewal of our application to place the Sussex Footbridge at Cranberry Lake on the New Jersey and National Historic Properties lists.&nbsp;&nbsp; Without your continued community activism, the New Jersey State Government will likely prioritize funding for high-profile&nbsp; projects while ignoring the needs of rural communities like ours. The State has the capacity and resources to fix this historic bridge, but we need to urge our elected officials to rethink their decision&nbsp;. Governor Sherrill promised during her campaign to "get stuff done." While significant funds&mdash;such as $100M in federal post-COVID rescue funds&mdash;were allocated to South Jersey boardwalk repairs, our local needs were left behind. There&nbsp;are creative funding solutions available including $44M in the 2026 NJ DOT Local Bridge Fund. Our seniors, children and vacationers are waiting for this bridge to safely reopen. Please do not let the State assume our public outcry will fade away. We urge you to contact Governor Sherrill, Commissioner Ed Potosnak, and our 24th District state representatives using the contact details below and ask them to prioritize repairing and restoring this historic landmark.&nbsp; Contact should be made not just 1 time but every month until there is a plan we agree with.&nbsp;We thank you for the excellent support thus far and we need you to continue to push this effort every month to the finish line&nbsp;&nbsp;Contact Information: Governor Mikie Sherrill&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://saveourbridge.net/so/81Q55BPic/c?w=_DEw6qfcAjLy9_pkdZ-o1S_9WXOJHVyOpeV0wThJvxA.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmouZ292L2dvdmVybm9yL2NvbnRhY3QvIiwiciI6IjMyZDgzYzA3LWRhNmMtNDMyOC04MDM3LTA0YjkwZDgxZTMzOSIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjFiMWNkYjk3LTE2MzktNGJjOC1hMTZhLThlNmIwNDdmNjJiMiJ9" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.nj.gov/governor/contact/</a> State of New Jersey PO Box 001 Trenton, NJ 08608 Commissioner Ed Potosnak New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mail Code 401-07PO Box 402 Trenton, NJ <a href="tel:08625-0402" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">08625-0402</a> Phone: <a href="tel:609-292-2885" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">609-292-2885</a>Senator Parker Space<a target="_blank" href="https://saveourbridge.net/so/81Q55BPic/c?w=j965j_YdVIf5X4LAXn80Nb-WGYVXrU62vPPrdk9SdgU.eyJ1IjoibWFpbHRvOnNlbnNwYWNlQG5qbGVnLm9yZyIsInIiOiIzMmQ4M2MwNy1kYTZjLTQzMjgtODAzNy0wNGI5MGQ4MWUzMzkiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiIxYjFjZGI5Ny0xNjM5LTRiYzgtYTE2YS04ZTZiMDQ3ZjYyYjIifQ" rel="noopener nofollow">senspace@njleg.org</a>24th Legislative District (our regional State Senator)&nbsp;One Wilson DriveSparta, NJ&nbsp; 07871&nbsp; Phone: <a href="tel:973-300-0200" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">973-300-0200</a>Please always&nbsp;be polite and respectful and ask for a response.&nbsp;&nbsp;-- &nbsp;Sincerely, Sue CanningPresident Save Our BridgeByram, New Jersey&nbsp; 07821<a target="_blank" href="https://saveourbridge.net/so/81Q55BPic/c?w=217qkaIqZoRBjAfRaaZc_1ee8woNtGP4342nPid03Qw.eyJ1IjoibWFpbHRvOnN1c2FuY2Nhbm5pbmcxQGdtYWlsLmNvbSIsInIiOiIzMmQ4M2MwNy1kYTZjLTQzMjgtODAzNy0wNGI5MGQ4MWUzMzkiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiIxYjFjZGI5Ny0xNjM5LTRiYzgtYTE2YS04ZTZiMDQ3ZjYyYjIifQ" rel="noopener nofollow">susanccanning1@gmail.com</a> &nbsp;Brian Lanci - Vice PresidentCindy Lisk - SecretaryLois McCarthy - Treasurer&nbsp;Bill CollinsMike Francois

<a rel="noopener nofollow" href="" target="_blank"><img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/49d42b_41b37d58967b46189da1f3684baf35ec~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1280,h_2000,al_c,q_85/49d42b_41b37d58967b46189da1f3684baf35ec~mv2.png"></a>

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Sussex

Andover

Cranberry Lake Footbridge does not get funding...

ATTENTIONThe Board of Directors of Save Our Bridge, Inc. (SOB) has an important update about the status of the footbridge. ...

Cranberry Lake Footbridge does not get funding for restoration 

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barbara McCloskey, Neighbor

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Cedar Grove Home Inspector Builds Free Property-Records Lookup for Every NJ Town

Cranberry Lake Footbridge does not get funding for restoration