BACKGROUND: Clearly, our nation is poised on the threshold of a land planning renaissance that could significantly alter the way in which Americans in general and local governments in particular conduct the business of land use planning. In our region this reformation should include a much greater emphasis on environmental and ecological protection, thanks to the efforts of the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program (BBEP). The BBEP working with NJDEP funded the development of a "build-out model" to assist municipalities in comparing and analyzing multiple layers of information about impacts of projected future development from various sources on impervious surface cover and open space. The "build-out model" was developed under the supervision of Dr. Richard G. Lathrop, Jr. by the Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis at Cook College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. At 7:00 PM on Wednesday, May 16^th, 2001, the Ocean County Board of Agriculture and the Barnegat Bay Watershed and Estuary Foundation hosted the first public demonstration of the model at the Ocean County Agriculture Center, 1623 Whitesville Road (corner of Sunset Ave, Pleasant Plains Section), Toms River. The public was invited to attend this free program which focused on the impacts of zoning build-out in the Kettle Creek Sub-Watershed as well as the entire Barnegat Bay.