View the Highlands map narrative that explains the proposed Highlands region boundaries.
Media reports on the proposed Highlands Region (April 14 - 21, 2004)
For media reports after April 21 click here
A key vote on a bill to preserve the northern Highlands has been abruptly postponed for at least two weeks to give legislators time to digest a number of amendments.The two key sponsors, Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) and Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), insisted yesterday that the bill had not been derailed. They said a joint vote by the Senate and Assembly environment committees will take place May 10.
Environmentalists said they were not concerned by the postponement -- at least not yet -- but they said it was important for the bill not to lose momentum.
The bill, which could protect 145,000 privately owned, undeveloped watershed acres, would be the most sweeping environmental legislation since the Pinelands was preserved a quarter-century ago. "We have not heard anything about people backing away from their commitment to get things done," said Tom Gilbert, chairman of the Highlands Coalition. "There are those, of course, who are talking about calling for delays in an effort to defeat the bill."
Smith said there were now 80 pages of changes and clarifications, many of them suggested during a series of raucous public hearings. He said the vote originally scheduled for tomorrow was starting to feel rushed.
"When you're talking about the water supply for more than 4 million people, there is very little room for mistakes," Smith said. "I think postponing the vote ... will give committee members from both houses more time to review the amendments and craft the best final bill."The Highlands, which cuts across seven northwestern counties and holds the water supply for half the state, has come under increasing development pressure that scientists say could threaten water quality in the future. The bill, which is being pushed by Gov. James E. McGreevey, would create a regional council with veto power over large-scale development in a core protection area. Those important watershed lands take up 395,000 acres, roughly half the Highlands. Much of the core is already preserved or developed, with about 145,000 acres privately held.
The amendments are largely supported by environmentalists, but debate continues to rage over a key provision that would allow large development proposals within the core that have already won some approvals to go forward. Builders have been the most vocal opponents of the bill, turning out in droves to argue that it makes too few provisions for new housing and the jobs the industry creates.
Eric Shuffler, counsel to McGreevey, said a brief delay in the committee vote would allow continued negotiations that are improving the bill. "We're having very fruitful discussion about achieving the proper balance," Shuffler said. "We are very optimistic that this historic legislation will reach historic consensus very shortly."
Smith said the central theme of the bill remains unchanged. Amendments are meant to reassure homeowners living in the core that the bill does not target their ability to add decks or additions. Others are designed to calm the fears of farmers, who own 35,000 of the privately held core lands, and towns worried they wouldn't be able to pave roads and build ballfields. State officials also are scrambling to identify money they could use to encourage good growth in towns outside the core and to subsidize towns within the preservation areas that may lose tax revenues.
Although the bill has begun to attract bipartisan support, there has been a fair amount of wrestling behind closed doors. The two other Democrats on the five-member Senate environment committee, which Smith chairs, have raised concerns. One of them, John Adler (D- Camden), is a strong anti-sprawl advocate who has argued the bill needed better growth incentives.
"I want to preserve certain areas in the Highlands," Adler said. "If this is the best way, let's make the best bill."
Steve Chambers covers land-use issues. He can be reached at scham bers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674.
Bergen Record:
Planners map land they hope to save
Saturday, April 17, 2004
The official lines are now drawn around lands that state planners say must be
saved to provide safe water to millions of New Jersey residents.
But the unveiling of the New Jersey Highlands Preservation Area map Friday also dramatizes the divide between those who favor preserving parts of the mountainous reservoir region and those who see it as a death knell to needed development.
There are many official steps ahead before the map is translated into actual land bought and protected by government. However, with numerous, often huge, development projects hanging in the balance, officials, builders, environmentalists, and other interested parties are already poring over the far-flung outline.
The boundary was set down by the state Department of Environmental Protection. It encompasses parts of dozens of communities in seven counties, from Mahwah, Oakland, Ringwood, and West Milford to eastern Sussex County and into Hunterdon County. The Legislature will use it in setting rules to prevent extensive development near streams that feed reservoirs serving half the state.
There will be a 30-day period for public comment on the proposal, which will be translated into a bill to create a Highlands regional council. The Senate and Assembly environmental committees plan a joint hearing on the proposal at 10 a.m. Thursday in Trenton. The bill would then be considered by other committees.
The map's 395,000 acres covers nearly half the Highlands. Some 79,000 acres are already developed.
About 171,000 are already preserved as parks and open space. At issue is the future uses of private and municipal properties totaling 145,000 acres. The governor's Highlands Task Force recommended buying, or setting restrictions, on the most environmentally sensitive lands.
One developer who stands to lose big is Tony PioCosta of Montville. He wants to build up to 75 houses on 400 acres of Waughaw Mountain in Montville, just west of Route 287. The boundaries appear to put him in the conservation area.
"I view it as communism," PioCosta said. "What else would you call it? Basically, I see it as the government taking land without adequate compensation."
PioCosta, reflecting the views of many developers, said he doesn't believe the government will fairly compensate landowners. The proposed bill calls for buyouts at market prices established by appraisals, the same way land is usually bought through the state Green Acres program.
All of West Milford, which contains the Newark reservoir system and streams feeding the Wanaque Reservoir, is in the proposed core area. That means a 280-unit project known as Eagle Ridge might be doomed. Developer K. Hovnanian is seeking a water diversion permit from the DEP.
"Eagle Ridge will be off the books," West Milford Councilman Dennis Kirwan said. "That is, if the DEP doesn't cave into pressure from the developer."
But without property tax revenue from new development, Kirwan is worried that West Milford will "basically become a welfare client of the state. The Highlands bill is municipal welfare. We're going to have to live off of state aid."
K. Hovnanian spokesman Doug Fenichel said the conservation bill should include another map of where development will be directed and that "there is a need for balance in this bill. Unless the areas where growth can occur are identified as well, there's likely to be even more sprawl, because towns will begin to down-zone to bring in more ratables."
It was unclear how the boundaries might affect two of North Jersey's major housing proposals, the Pinnacle Bi-County and Baker Firestone housing developments in Oakland. The projects, on a wooded ridge east of the Ramapo River, were opposed by neighboring Wayne, which sued to stop the developers from tapping into its sewer system. A state judge approved the sewer line, although the developers are still seeking municipal and state approvals.
Oakland Mayor John P. Szabo Jr., the township planner in Wayne, said he has received the written description, which has to be translated into a local map. He noted his government formally supports the preservation effort.
"Generally, we are supportive of this effort," he said, "because we believe it's very important to preserve the Highlands not only for its scenic and open space value but also for its resource value - most importantly water."
But the quandary posed for some communities is illustrated in Bloomingdale, under state pressure to both promote more lower-cost housing and save environmentally sensitive areas, while under local pressure to increase property tax revenues.
The Borough Council recently rezoned a former horse farm for 400 units of age-restricted units. But the 103-acre tract is state-designated as environmentally sensitive - off-bounds to the envisioned housing. So the borough was awaiting a state decision on whether it could stretch its developable "town center" designation a few miles to include the site.
The horse farm is included in the preservation map, and officials said this poses a real problem for the town.
"This administration is not going to support any legislative map that consigns Bloomingdale taxpayers to pay higher taxes," said Mayor Craig Ollenschleger.
"By the same token, I take the governor and sponsors at their word insofar as their commitment to striking the necessary balance between preservation and growth and that the map is a proposal and is subject to local input and negotiation during the ensuing months."
Bloomingdale, he promised, "is obviously going to be an active participant" in any final mapmaking.
Contributors: Rod Allee, Evonne Coutros, Rich Cowen, Rob Ratish, and Eman Varoqua
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Highlands map boosts development restrictions
Gov. James E. McGreevey's proposal to save the northern Highlands finally came out of the closet yesterday. And there was at least one big surprise.
A map of core preservation areas, where development will be sharply curtailed, increased slightly to 395,000 acres. But the amount of privately owned, undeveloped land in the core jumped dramatically from earlier estimates, to 145,000 acres.
Roughly 45 percent of the core preservation area -- the most important watershed lands in a seven-county region that supplies drinking water to half the state -- is already preserved. Another 20 percent is developed.
McGreevey and his environmental scientists have, from the beginning, stressed that the map was a work in progress. Their earliest estimates, however, talked about restrictions on as many as 110,000 acres of private land or as little as 60,000 acres.
The absence of a map had become a lightning rod for criticism, with builders, farmers and others railing about a government land grab being conducted in secrecy. Environmentalists praised the map and said the logic of saving the core had now become obvious.
"The map gives the average person an understanding of where these lands are and why they are important," said Jeff Tittel of the state Sierra Club chapter. "They see the reservoirs, the streams that feed them, the forests."
The increase in privately owned land is likely to fuel even more opposition, however, by builders and some landowners. The New Jersey Builders Association was still analyzing a 25-page description of the core's boundaries released yesterday and declined to comment. An actual map wasn't released until nearly 6 p.m.
Tittel said one key reason for the increase is that elected officials had asked that important environmental lands in their towns be added. He specifically cited Lebanon and Tewksbury townships as two places where that happened.
In a joint press release, sponsors of the bill that would enact McGreevey's proposal said it was important to unveil the core publicly. They stressed that changes could be suggested for 30 days beginning Thursday, when the Assembly and Senate environment committees are scheduled to vote. The bill would still require approval by the full Legislature.
"Now, residents can see more clearly that we're not trying to prevent development in the entire Highlands region, just steer unhealthy development away from the most sensitive areas," said Assemblyman John F. McKeon (D-Essex), a key sponsor. "I defy anyone to disagree that the core areas we have targeted for preservation are critical to the future of New Jersey's drinking water supply."
Much of the 145,000 acres of privately owned land in the core is on steep slopes, wetlands or crossed by pristine streams, making it much harder to develop even under current environmental rules.
If the pending bill (S1/A2635) passes, a regional council dominated by locally elected officials would have veto power over all residential development on more than one acre and all commercial development on more than two acres. Tough environmental regulation -- banning, for example, development on steep slopes, along streams and in forests -- would begin immediately.
Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the other key sponsor, said numerous amendments are being drafted in response to criticisms that have surfaced during a series of public hearings.
One important change, he said, would exempt towns trying to do road work or build ballfields. There also are ongoing negotiations with farmers, who are concerned that agriculture is not specifically named as a "preferred use" in the region. About 35,000 acres of farmland are in the core, only about 3,800 acres of which are already preserved.
The amendments won't likely sway the most angry builders and landowners, however. And even legislators who raised questions said the release of the map is just the beginning.
"Even mayors who thought this was a good idea are starting to say, 'Let's slow down and get this right,'" said Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-Sussex). "Can this bill be fixed so everyone agrees? I don't know."
Staff Writer Lawrence Ragonese contributed to this story.
Forces for and against a proposed Highlands protection bill mobilized last night for a final public hearing, sporting slogans on T-shirts, buttons and signs and occasionally breaking into spirited debate.
A crowd of more than 600 began gathering hours early at Voorhees High School in Hunterdon County to stake out prime territory for the hearing before the Assembly and Senate environment committees.
The committees are expected to vote on the bill Thursday, and builders and other opponents continued to accuse supporters of ramming through a complex proposal with sweeping impact.
The bill (S1) would sharply curtail development in a huge preservation area covering roughly half the northern Highlands, a seven-county area that cuts across northwestern New Jersey and holds the water supply for half the state.
It would create a regional council with veto power over all major development in the sensitive watershed lands.
Commercial real estate agent Ed Croot from Long Valley debated the merits with Ted Korth of the New Jersey Audubon Society, as they waited outside in a chill wind for a seat.
"I'm mad as hell," shouted Croot, noting he was concerned that the bill would limit his ability to develop industrial lots he owns in Hardyston in Sussex County. "You are telling me you're going to destroy jobs for Americans that I produce."
"Our natural resources are important to everyone who lives and works in this region," Korth fired back. "We must protect them for the benefit of all of us."
Environmentalists, outmaneuvered by a large contingent of builders and other real estate interests at a hearing Monday in Morris County, arrived more than two hours early last night to have their voices heard.
"I felt strongly enough to come here, because we need to take a longer-term view of the issue to protect New Jersey from development," said Jill Clougherty of Long Hill in Morris County, who arrived with her 2-year-old son on her back and another infant in a stroller.
"I know we need jobs and places to live, but we need more than that. We need our natural spaces, we need our water," she said. "Without that, we have nothing."
Stuart Kramer, a builder from Long Valley who got shut out of the hearing with hundreds of others, faulted organizers for not securing larger halls.
"They don't want to hear from the people," he said, noting that he viewed the bill as a "land grab."
Tom Gilbert, chairman of the Highlands Coalition and a member of the governor's task force, accused builders "and others seeking to maintain the status quo" of spreading misinformation about the bill.
"They are trying to play to people's fears and grossly exaggerating the impact of the legislation on the average person," he said. "What this will do really is benefit the public by ensuring we all have clean water."
But Cliff Hendrickson of Belvidere, who is concerned he might not be able to build his retirement home on seven acres he owns in White Township, didn't want to hear those arguments.
"No one has the right to tell me what I can or can't do on my property," he said. "It's despicable."
Trying to interrupt a stream of complaints about legislation to limit growth in the Highlands of northern New Jersey, municipal officials yesterday joined environmentalists to say the plan will protect the region's water supplies, property values and economic prosperity.
On the eve of another in a series of legislative hearings dominated by opponents of the plan, supporters gathered in Clinton Township on the shore of the Spruce Run Reservoir to deplore "fear mongering" about the plan's impacts.
After some initial concerns about the proposal by Gov. James E. McGreevey, Bethlehem Township Committeeman John Jimenez said he determined many provisions parallel efforts by his town to control development.
Steps such as encouraging cluster development to preserve more open space "have had no effect on property values" in Bethlehem, said Jimenez, a Republican. "If anything, we've found that properties next to open space sell faster and fetch more money."
At legislative hearings this week in Morris Township and Hackettstown, farmers, property owners and elected officials have warned of onerous regulations and a new layer of state bureaucracy over local planning to be implemented in 90 communities in seven counties.
The legislation would create a regional council that could veto major construction in watershed "core" areas, comprising roughly 350,000 of the 800,000 acres in the region. Republican legislators pointed out the McGreevey administration was waiting until today to release the core area map.
But Eileen Swan, the Republican mayor of Lebanon Township, said area mayors were able to review a draft version of the map at a meeting last week with administration officials at the New Jersey Water Supply Authority offices at the reservoir. Most mayors were happy with the proposal, she said.
"For too long, we've fought battles over development within our boundaries, but a regional approach is needed," Swan said.
The Highlands plan offers municipalities "a legal shield" if they try to limit development to protect resources, such as the streams that feed the reservoir, she said.
Hackettstown Mayor Roger Hines, the Warren County Democratic chairman, said proponents must reassure farmers and other large landowners that the plan will be good for them by protecting overall property values.
"Farming is a critical industry" in northwestern New Jersey, Hines said. "We have to assure the farmers that they are not going to be driven off the land" by encroaching sprawl or falling property values, he said.
Under current development patterns, rural areas "are dying a slow death" from development, said Ted Koven, president of the Tewksbury Land Trust. Tewksbury officials endorsed the Highlands plan this week for fear of continued losses, he said.
"If we fail to protect these lands" around Spruce Run and nearby Round Valley reservoir, "we'll pay 100 times more for pipelines and water purification plants," Koven said.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity" to protect the environment, said Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which organized yesterday's session.
Even if the Highlands bill passes, "we're not going to be able to shut down the state of New Jersey against any future growth," Byers said. "There will still be plenty of areas for development and redevelopment."
CLINTON TWP. -- Opposition to a bill that would help preserve more than 100,000 acres in New Jersey's environmentally sensitive Highlands region is steeped in misinformation, environmentalists said Wednesday.
During a rainy news conference on the banks of Spruce Run Reservoir, local leaders expressed their support for the Highlands Water Conservation and Planning Act and called on the region's legislators to support the bill.
Hackettstown Mayor Roger Hines said the bill's regional approach to planning new development and protecting sensitive land would make local governments within the Highlands stronger.
Critics, including state Assembly members from Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, say the governor's plan threatens to strip municipal planning boards of their ability to plan growth and devalue active farmland.
"There's great talk about home rule here. This legislation still allows our planning and zoning boards to make decisions. We'll be better equipped to stand up to developers with state support," Hines said.
The Highlands region is a swath of hilly land that runs from western Connecticut through New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the Maryland border.
In the Garden State, the Highlands encompass about 900,000 acres in 90 municipalities in the state's seven northern counties.
The preservation plan proposed by Gov. James E. McGreevey would use a mix of new legislation and open-space acquisition to preserve the area, which provides drinking water to half of the state's population.
The legislation is the subject of a public hearing at 7 p.m. today at Voorhees High School.
On Tuesday, Assembly members Connie Myers, R-Warren/Hunterdon; Alison Littell McHose, R-Sussex; and Guy Gregg, R-Morris, held a meeting at Centenary College in Hackettstown for the public to discuss the legislation.
The discussion was overwhelmingly against the governor's plan.
On Wednesday, Lebanon Township Mayor Eileen Swan urged those who oppose the bill to read it and reconsider.
Swan said she is aligned with most of her township committee in support of the plan and believes the governor's proposal will help local leaders achieve their goals.
"What communities are clamoring for development? They're clamoring for the ability to protect and that is what this bill affords them," she said.
Bethlehem Township Committeeman John Jimenez said he was skeptical when he first learned about McGreevey's proposal. His first instinct was to protect home rule, he said.
Then he realized that Bethlehem Township leaders have been working for 10 years or more to accomplish many of the goals of the Highlands plan.
"We're heading in that direction anyway because that is the mandate that our residents have given us," he said.
Responding to the claim that the plan would strip property owners of their rights and wealth by devaluing land, Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, said that is a misconception.
The Transfer of Development Rights law signed last month would require the state to pay top market value for any land designated off-limits to development, she said.
"It's not like the state is going to devalue land and then come in to buy it cheap," she said.
The ability to steer development away from environmentally sensitive areas to sites slated for building is crucial to the regional planning aspect of the plan, Byers said.
"Right now a town can do everything right and the next town over can completely screw up their plan," she said.
County wants Highlands proposal amended
The Morris County freeholders have concerns with the proposed Highlands legislation, saying yesterday it needs to be overhauled to deal with a myriad of issues of concern to northwest New Jersey residents.
They are especially worried about its potential effects on owners of single-family homes and relatively small parcels, and farmers, many of whom have their life savings invested in their properties. The freeholders, during their meeting in Morristown, directed county departments and agencies to assess the proposed preservation rules, with a goal of compiling a response to the state.
Freeholder John Inglesino contended Gov. James E. McGreevey's Democratic administration had not paid attention to the findings of a bipartisan Highlands Task Force in drawing up legislation.
"It's a good concept but a bad bill," said Inglesino. "The more you learn about it, the more draconian it becomes. I'm concerned this bill may be overkill."
Freeholder Director Jack Schrier, who was a task force member, agreed the legislation needs to be amended but cautioned colleagues on the all-Republican board not to be too negative in their response, urging them to offer solutions to what they perceive to be the bill's shortcomings.
"Are we going to take advantage of an opportunity to preserve the Highlands now or let it pass by?" asked Schrier. "Republicans have long gotten a bad rap when it comes to the environment. Let's make this bill better ... shape it to something we can be proud of."
"But the Democrats are in charge in Trenton," retorted Freeholder Douglas Cabana.
Last month, McGreevey announced plans to preserve critical parcels in the 800,000-acre Highlands region that covers some 90 towns in seven North Jersey counties -- Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren.
Legislation introduced last month would virtually ban development on important watershed lands and establish a regional council with veto power over major development in the core area of the Highlands.
Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom yesterday pointed out some key concerns including lack of a funding mechanism, questions about farming rights and property values, and compensation to towns that have to set huge tracts of watershed lands off limits to development. Freeholder Frank Druetzler also suggested that single-family lots should be exempt from proposed regulations.
A major concern is a provision that would regulate new development on properties with more than 3 percent impervious cover, or developed area. The freeholders stressed most homes in the county already cover much more than 3 percent of the land on which they are situated -- in fact, may average 10 percent to 20 percent -- and contend that people looking to expand homes or add driveways, decks or pools would be forced to go to the new Highlands Council for waivers.
Also, the freeholders want the legislation to clearly specify the rights of farmers, to ensure farmers will not be snared in bureaucratic red tape when trying to use their lands for legitimate agricultural purposes.
In addition to the county's planned response, Nordstrom said the five-county coalition, including Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon and Somerset counties, is working up a set of potential amendments.
Lawrence Ragonese works in the Morris County bureau. He can be reached at lragonese@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910| Highlands
dispute heats up Wednesday, April 14, 2004 MORRISTOWN - To hear builders tell it, a proposed law to protect Highlands water supplies from development would stunt needed growth and drive up housing prices and taxes across North Jersey. To hear the law's supporters tell it, without that state regulation, pavement and housing will soon replace the forest on mountainsides that feed runoff into reservoirs serving half the state. The two sides of this debate clashed at a public hearing held Monday night on a legislative bill, S-1/A-2635, that would create a regional council to oversee preservation of a core area within the 800,000-acre region. The New Jersey Highlands stretch from Bergen County's border with New York southwest to Hunterdon County and include parts of 90 towns in seven counties. In the past decade, the area has come under unrelenting development pressure, and the state is moving swiftly toward a land-acquisition and regulation program. At Monday night's affair, so many people squeezed into a meeting room at the 200-person-capacity Frelinghuysen Arboretum that a fire marshal halted the hearing and ordered the crowd to thin out and go into other rooms in the building. Several dozen builders and supporters, wearing white T-shirts emblazoned "Families Need Homes," defiantly shouted at state legislators, who are holding a series of hearings in Highlands communities. "Vote 'em out! Get a bigger hall!" protesters yelled. The confrontation was defused when New Jersey Builders Association President John Barba asked his supporters to show respect to officials holding the meeting. When the hearing resumed, Barba and a number of other builders blasted the bill as favoring woodland brooks over working people. The proposed preservation area of about 350,000 acres encompasses forest areas that supply water to reservoirs, streams, and aquifers. Nearly half of the area is already preserved as parklands and reservoir buffers. About 20 percent is developed as residential communities and businesses. That leaves about one-third - roughly 120,000 acres - that is in fierce contention. The proposed legislation is designed to implement a governor's Highlands Task Force recommendation to buy out or preserve through tighter regulations the most critical sites for protecting drinking water. "We believe that those who propose regional restrictions on where people may live have an obligation to propose regional answers to where they will live," said Barba. Other speakers said the conservation campaign would put builders out of work and force people who want new homes in the Highlands to live in urban areas. "What about affordable housing? I don't see that in the bill," said Jim Mullen, a development manager for Pulte Homes. Supporters of the bill, including leaders of the state's major environmental groups, argued that the Highlands is the last reliable source of clean water for urban counties such as Bergen, Essex, and Hudson that polluted or overburdened their streams and aquifers. Summarizing that stance, Sen. Robert Martin, R-Morris Plains, said he is co-sponsoring the bill because "it is better to have clean water and keep it clean." Martin said he is open to suggestions on improving the bill, such as an amendment he supports to ensure that affected communities get state aid to compensate for lost future property taxes because some lands could not be developed. Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, said speakers at hearings on the bill have raised a number of questions that need to be answered. "I think we have to do it, but we have to do it the right way," Manzo said. Assemblyman Alex DeCroce, R-Morris, said he felt the bill was "being rushed to judgment" by the Democratic majority. "Frankly, I think this is going to hurt people," he said. In response to several farmers worried about the preservation effort's impact on farms, Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, chairman of the Senate environment committee, said farmlands are only a small portion of the proposed core watershed area. "We are working with the secretary of agriculture to make sure we do not hurt farmers," he said. Mayor Paul Hollick of Pequannock said his municipal council supports the Highlands bill, but disagrees with some aspects. Hollick argued for more local representatives on the proposed regional council. And he questioned why the governor should have veto power over council decisions. Noting that the preservation area includes only a corner of his town on the ridge northwest of Route 287, Hollick said "Pequannock is happy where the line is. We want to make sure it doesn't move." In reply to complaints that a map of the proposed preservation area has not been made available, Smith said a draft prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection will be presented Thursday at a 7 p.m. public hearing at Voorhees High School in Lebanon Township. _________________________For media reports after April 21, click here______________________
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For a second night in a row, opponents jammed a public forum and asked legislators to put the brakes on a bill that would limit development in the Highlands.
To repeated applause in a packed gymnasium at Centenary College, farmers, homeowners and elected officials from Sussex, Warren, Morris and Hunterdon counties warned the plan would impose onerous regulations that would reduce property values while turning development decisions over to the state.
"We don't need another level of bureaucracy," Netcong Mayor Nicholas Pompilio said. "We've got county planning boards and local planning boards. That's where the control should stay."
"Forget the details, we should just scrap this and start over again," said Allamuchy Mayor Bob Rusker.
The meeting came one day after a raucous session at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township, where turnout was so heavy many could not even get in, especially after police closed the road leading to the county park.
Last night's session in Hackettstown was hosted by Republican legislators who are suspicious of what they see as Democratic Gov. James E. McGreevey's rush to see such a complicated bill enacted into law.
"They're having the hearing next week, and I still haven't seen the map," said Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Morris). "This is not an issue that has to be resolved next Thursday."
"No one's out to kill anything," said Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R- Sussex). But he said the hearings being conducted by the joint legislative committee on the bill have not adequately addressed many questions being raised about the plan.
McGreevey announced plans last month to preserve critical environmental parcels in the 800,000-acre Highlands region that covers some 90 towns in seven northern counties.
The legislation to implement the plan was introduced three weeks ago and would virtually ban development on important watershed lands. It would establish a regional council that would wield veto power over all major construction in the core Highlands area, comprising about 350,000 acres.
Last night's meeting was a GOP counter to the joint legislative committee shepherding the bill to the floor. The joint committee held Monday night's session in Morris Township and is to hold another one tomorrow in Lebanon Township. It is scheduled to recommend the bill for action by both houses after a fifth hearing in Trenton on April 21, Earth Day.
A number of speakers warned the bill's impact on homeowners has been overlooked.
Gary Gutjahr of Harding said the bill could threaten homeowners who want to build decks, swimming pools, driveways and patios.
That is because the bill would limit impervious coverage to 3 percent of a lot's area, or about 1,300 square feet per acre, other speakers said.
"There's no way they're going to be able to comply with this," said Gutjahr, citing New Jersey Board of Realtors data showing lot coverage in most Highlands towns averages 18 percent.
Devlen Mackey, president of the 697-member Warren County Board of Agriculture, said farmers and owners of timber lands were worried about losing equity on their properties over the years.
"They're setting up the entire Highlands region to lose billions of dollars in value overnight," Mackey said.
While pages are devoted to other regulations, there is no specific compensation mechanism to protect the equity farmers borrow against to finance operations, Mackey said.
Another worry, he said, is a provision that would give the Department of Environmental Protection control over water use, which he said could easily double the time it takes to process allocation permits to four or five years.
While vastly outnumbered by opponents, Reggie Regrut of Phillipsburg quietly maintained a vigil at the side of the room displaying signs, including, "You can't drink houses."
"I don't support everything," Regrut said. "The bad part is it's being fast-tracked. But I wonder why no supporters were invited if they (organizers) really wanted to educate people."
To kill Highlands bill, some say
builders spread lies
Environmentalists claim misinformation campaign under way
TRENTON -- New Jersey builders are spreading
false information regarding the proposed Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Act currently before the Legislature, Garden State environmental
activists said at a news conference Tuesday.
"(The proposal) will determine whether we will have a clean adequate
water supply for future generations," said Dave Pringle, campaign
director for the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "The builders and
their allies want to kill this legislation. They are in the middle of an
intensive campaign to distort, undermine and mislead the public and elected
officials on this critical issue."
The Highlands region includes 90 municipalities in Hunterdon, Somerset,
Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties and supplies drinking
water to more than 4 million state residents. The bill -- which is based on
the Highlands Task Force recommendations submitted during public hearings last
month -- includes protecting the environmentally sensitive lands within the
region by defining a 350,000- to 390,000-acre "preservation area"
that will have stringent water and natural resource protection, along with
development planning and regulation.
Activists said the bi-partisan bill is the most significant environmental
legislation in the state's history.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said
the builders are telling many myths, especially that the measures will cause a
decrease in property values.
"This (bill) actually helps raise property values because property
will be secure," Tittel said.
Tittel said farmers will be protected as well, dispelling another
"myth" being spread by opponents.
"This doesn't hurt farmers because it doesn't undermine the Right to
Farm Act, or their right to borrow," Tittel said.
Tom Gilbert, executive director of the Highlands Coalition and a member of
the Task Force, said the bill doesn't threaten home rule -- another
"myth."
"This bill is not going to touch individual home owners," Gilbert
said. "It limits regulations to major development."
State builders, however, said the bill is not well balanced.
"K. Hovanian 100 percent supports the concept of preserving the
Highlands," said Doug Fenichel, a spokesman for the company, one of the
largest home builders in the state. "But (the region) won't be preserved
unless we know where the growth is going to go, or we'll wind up with more
sprawl and nobody wants that."
Gilbert said he was saddened by the lack of misunderstanding at Monday
night's public hearing in Morris County -- the third of five public hearings
throughout the state to discuss the task force's recommendations -- which was
attended by several hundred people and was, reportedly, rowdy because some
people opposed growth regulation and let their opinion be known by waving
signs and wearing T-shirts advertising their opposition. Legislators asked the
crowd to quiet down several times and once threatened to end the hearing
early.
John Barba, president of the New Jersey Builders Association, said the
association is seeking a balanced approach for future planning in Highlands
that incorporates land preservation with designated development areas.
"Until the preservation area is delineated, we cannot meaningfully
comment on the proposal's provisions for that area, or its implications for
places outside of it," Barba said the hearing. "We would expect that
any regional approach to planning would define the areas that are off limits
to economic development and would define areas where housing and workplaces
will be built."
Gilbert said the builders' deliberate misinformation is meant to scare the
public.
"But we have a choice to put the public's interest first or special
interests first," Gilbert said. "The choice is clear."