Delbarton - Morris Township, June 27, 2002

The past few months have been very busy in the GSWA’s struggle over Delbarton’s proposed Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). The Morris Township Planning Board approved the revised Master Plan Review and zoning changes that would allow for the CCRC, and the Township Committee set August 14^th as the date for their much-anticipated public hearing and vote on these changes.

Related to this vote, the Watershed Association recently lost a lawsuit that we filed in preparation for this vote, asking for the recusal of Robert Nace, a Township Committee member expected to cast an "aye" on the zoning change. In the lawsuit, GSWA contends that there is a conflict of interest on the Delbarton rezoning vote because Nace is an employee of the Morris County Park Commission, which oversees Lewis Morris Park which is adjacent to the Delbarton property. John Sette, a County Park Commissioner and newly elected Republican County Committee Chair has publicly declared that he is in favor of the zoning change.

Finally, we have learned that the Township quietly forgave the Abbey the hookup fee for a sewer line to their school - a fee that all of the other private homeowners who hooked in were required to pay. The sewer line was built in 2000 with public monies to replace the Abbey’s failing package sewage plant. That sewer line was built only after a Level III Environmental Review was conducted by the State and at the time, Morris Township made a commitment not to rezone the property.

Ben Kingsley

Southgate IV - Morris Township, October 2002

An application to build a 150,000 square foot commercial office building, a separate two-story parking deck and a 15,000 square foot child care center on Southgate Parkway is before the Township Planning Board. The property’s location is across the Parkway from the existing office complex with Great Brook and I-287 at its back; residential neighborhoods lie along one side and at one end. There are extensive wetlands and floodplain on site, in addition to the Brook. Multiple variances are needed from the Planning Board if the project is to be approved. GSWA is active on this application and is working with a neighborhood group of opponents.

by Julia Somers

Morris Township Zoning Change Considered to Allow 
Continuing Care Facility at St. Mary's Abbey (March 2001)

The Township of Morris held a series of hearings this winter on its Master Plan, with specific focus on the issue of permitting construction of a continuing care retirement community (CCRC).  The township debated changing its zoning classification to allow for CCRC facilities because St. Mary's Abbey, which shares a campus with Del Barton School, is requesting that part of its property be re-zoned to permit the construction of a 31-unit retirement community on 60 of its 380 acres.  The site, though out of the watershed, is situated in a largely unbroken open space zone that extends into the watershed.  The abbey is situated off Mendham Road in the Washington Valley section of the town, adjacent to Jockey Hollow National Park and in close proximity to Lewis Morris County Park.

If permitted, the proposed community would incorporate 200 apartment-style units, 40-one story cottages, 24 assisted living units, and a nursing home with 48 beds.  As proposed, the complex would accommodate 415 residents and a staff of 130.  The plan would also dedicate 78 acres as open space and 51 acres for recreational use.

Opponents to the proposal have formed an organization known as the Jockey Hollow Organized Preservation Effort (JHOPE) to stymie development efforts.  They contend that such intense development would negatively impact an environmentally sensitive area and the proposed extension of sewers to service the site would create pressure to further develop the area.  JHOPE has been urging the Township to maintain current zoning ordinances, which would allow 38 single-family homes to be built on the site.

Jockey Hollow Top VI to Remain Open Space - Morris Township, Nov 3, 2000

by Delia Smith

On November 3, 2000, Mayor Richard A. Watson announced that the Township of Morris had agreed in principle to purchase and permanently protect as open space a steeply sloping 58.2-acre tract of land on the western side of Route 202 in the southern portion of the township. The site, known as Jockey Hollow Top VI, is the township's largest vacant tract and had been the subject of ongoing hearings in which developer Harvey Caplan requested variances from the township's steep slope and tree cutting ordinances to build 24 homes on the property.

In a letter to support the acquisition, the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee said, "The Jockey Hollow tract is one of the most environmentally sensitive parcels of land in the watershed." The Great Swamp Watershed Association had listed the property as the most critical land acquisition to be made in the Great Swamp watershed.

Protection of this steeply sloped property as open space will protect refuge water quality. The site lies immediately above headwaters for Great Brook, which is a prime feeder stream for the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Other supporters of the acquisition include the National Park Service, Harding Township, and Morris Land Conservancy.

Funding for the $1.7 million purchase of the property will come primarily from grants from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program and Morris Township's Open Space Trust. The Great Swamp Watershed Association is applying for a Green Acres Program grant to be applied towards the purchase price.

Kimmerle Associates seeks variance to build duplexes - Morris Township

Kimmerle Associates has presented a plan to the Morris Township Board of Adjustment to build four duplexes (eight homes) on a one-acre site adjacent to the Spring Brook Condominiums on Mount Kemble Road. The site, which falls within the Great Swamp watershed, is occupied by a single-family home that Kimmerle claims is deteriorating. In seeking a variance to the zoning, Kimmerle has asked for the Board's approval by reasoning that dense housing on small acreage is happening all over.

Residents of the condominium association and certain Board members are concerned about setting a precedent, whereby landowners on Mt. Kemble might seek variances in the future to develop dense, condominium-like complexes on land zoned for one/two family homes. Space for parking and stormwater runoff are also concerns at the site.

Jockey Hollow Top Six draws concerns of engineer, geologist - Morris Township

Harvey Caplan's Jockey Hollow Top Six development bid before the Morris Township Planning Board is about to come to a close. Soil destabilization pictures taken by Harding Township engineer Robert Fox unearthed evidence that soil erosion continues on the already developed Top Five section. Concerns of soil erosion on the yet undeveloped Top Six portion of the project are rooted in the fact that the slopes there are steeper than those of Top Five, and therefore less likely to be controllable.

Mr. Fox's review of the engineering study presented by Mr. Caplan's engineer, Robert Kirkpatrick, portrayed the plan as full of holes. Perhaps never before has there been such conflicting testimony between opposing engineers. Areas of conflict included the impact of development on stormwater and soil erosion; downstream effects; the efficacy of current engineering technologies for building on steep slopes; and the volume of stormwater that would leave the site after development and its potential for causing problems.

An earth-shattering historical review of the Ramapo Fault by geologist Ralph Costa of CH2M Hill, a Philadelphia firm with offices in Parsippany, also helped to shake up the possible approval of Caplan's present proposal.

According to Mr. Costa, the land that Top Six would be developed on falls near the Ramapo Fault line. As a result of previous tremors along the fault, the bedrock is fragmented. If disturbed, for example by blasting, the bedrock may exhibit stress failure, leading to seeps, landslides and subsequent soil erosion that are not presently evident.

One person can make a difference: A citizen shapes a board decision - 
Morris Township

An example of how one person can make a difference occurred at a meeting in which representatives of the AT&T building off of James Street came before the Planning Board seeking variances for work to be performed on their parking lot, entrance and delivery area.

A citizen at the meeting raised concern about approximately 600 parked cars and the petrochemical pollution that might occur from run-off into a storm drain system that emptied into Great Brook - a feeder stream of Great Swamp. The Planning Board seeing some merit in the questioning, asked the Township engineer to work with the representatives to find a financially feasible solution to retrofitting the storm drains.

The result: Oil separators will be used to help prevent contamination of Great Brook from petrochemical run-off. The message: Get involved, become a swamp watcher in your town AND remember: Just as one picture tells a thousand words, so too can one person make a world of difference!