• Morris Animal Inn - Harding Township, October 31, 2001
• Wildlife Preserves, Inc. - fall 2001
• Darcy School - fall 2001
• Environmental Group Monitors Truck-Stop Runoff - Harding
• Township Committee Reviews Conditional Use Ordinance - Harding
• Plans for a New School Go to Bd. of Adjustment - 
  Harding Township, October 2000
• Residents to Get Referendum To Hike Open-Space funding - 
  Harding Township, October 2000

Wildlife Preserves, Inc. - fall 2001

Harding Township is working to acquire a 62-acre piece of land on Long Hill Road from its owner, Wildlife Preserves, Inc. (WPI). This site is immediately adjacent to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds it on two sides. Woodmont Builders, LLC had a contract with WPI to purchase the property and build houses on it; Woodmont had been before the Board of Adjustment seeking a use variance; current zoning is Farmland, Recreation and Conservation and would not permit large homes.

Darcy School - fall 2001

The Darcy School has withdrawn its application to the Board of Adjustment seeking variances to build a new K-8 school on 24 acres on Sand Spring Road presently known as Hilltop Stables. In taking this action, the School has reserved the right to resurrect it in the future. Before withdrawing, Darcy representatives had also looked at another site in town located on the corner of James Street and Harter Road, but did not pursue it.

by Julia Somers

Environmental Group Monitors Truck-Stop Runoff - Harding

The Harding Township Environmental Commission (HTEC) is closely monitoring an Interstate 287 truck stop these days, studying an innovative underground system to remove oil and grit from stormwater runoff.

The system, called an oil/grit separator, was acquired with a $20,000 grant to the HTEC from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and installed by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation.

In use since September 1998, the system receives stormwater from the paved area of the truck stop, swirls it in a chamber to separate out the grit, then passes the water through a separator that allows the oil to float to the top while clearer water is discharged below. The clearer water is then purified by a sand filter.

The HTEC grant also provided for the acquisition of automated sampling equipment and for laboratory analysis of samples taken during heavy rains. The HTEC has monitored three significant storms since May 1999, with dramatic results. Samples of stormwater taken as it flows off the parking lot contain many suspended and settleable solids. After treatment in the oil/grit separator, levels of both sediment and petroleum hydrocarbons were reduced significantly - although visually, the water still appeared grayish rather than clear. After discharge from the sand filter, the water appeared to be virtually clear.

The larger significance of this project is that the two NJ agencies involved are eyeing the system for potential use at rest stops throughout the NJ interstate highway system. To that end, the DEP invited the HTEC to present the results of this project at a statewide meeting in June. The project won acclaim as an excellent example of how cooperative grants with environmental commissions can produce important results. In this case, a number of attendees expressed appreciation that they now had concrete data to help convince municipalities to require the use of sand filters for developments that include paved areas.

Township Committee Reviews Conditional Use Ordinance - Harding

In June, the Township Committee held a public hearing at which it reviewed the Planning Board's recommendation to amend the Township's Conditional Use Ordinance. This recommendation addressed which Township roads were appropriate for conditional uses such as schools, nursing homes or churches; it was made as the first part of a complete review of the Ordinance undertaken by the Board.

The Township Committee approved the Planning Board's recommendation that conditional uses were appropriate only on collectorcounty roads and state highways.

Plans for a New School Go to Bd. of Adjustment - 
Harding Township, October 2000

Plans for a new school to be built on Sand Spring Road opposite the Morris Animal Inn have been filed by representatives of the Darcy School for consideration by the Harding Township Board of Adjustment. As "Across the Watershed" went press, what is known is that the plans include removing the existing buildings, subdividing two residential lots off the rear of the property, and dedicating the remainder of the property for the school. Harding Township recently changed its conditional use ordinance to require schools be placed on county roads; Sand Spring Road is a local collector street, not a county road. There is active community opposition.

Residents to Get Referendum To Hike Open-Space funding - 
Harding Township, October 2000

This November, Harding residents will have a chance to go to the polls to add further support to Harding's highly successful Open Space Trust Fund (HOST). Harding residents first approved a 2-cents- per- hundred-dollars of valuation in late1996. After developing a set of explicit criteria for open space acquisition in 1997, Harding's Open Space Trust Committee has been actively involved in pursuing several acquisitions with significant impact on maintaining Harding's rural character. Recognizing the increasing potential for development in the area, Harding citizens requested, by popular petition, the opportunity to vote this Fall for additional funding to support an even firmer approach to preserving open space. The referendum, if enacted, would give the Township Committee discretionary power to add up to 3 cents per hundred dollars of valuation to the current 2 cents. As is currently the case, the additional Open Space Trust Funds could only be used for the direct purchase of open space in the Township. To date, HOST has spent or has committed to spend $660,000 to purchase nearly 40 acres with an estimated market value of well over $4 million. The referendum has broad support from various community groups.