Editor’s Note: The Swamp Watch is being expanded, from its former single page format to four pages to allow more space to cover important development issues in each of the ten towns of the watershed. Each winter issue of Across the Watershed will provide a review of significant development issues that have been introduced, denied or approved in the ten towns of the watershed over the previous year. If you do not see your town listed it’s because we do not have someone to cover that town, not because there are no development issues occurring! If you are interested in covering your town for Swamp Watch please contact Julia Somers at 973.966.1900.

Bernardsville Borough

A proposal in the fall of 1999 by Spring Hill for an assisted living facility in Bernardsville brought to six the number of built or proposed senior care facilities within a 5-mile radius of the center of Basking Ridge. In the spring of 1999, Spring Hill Manor's application for a use variance in order to establish an 83-bed nursing home on Old Army Rd was rejected due to steep slopes, narrow roads and lack of sidewalks or shoulders.

On October 18, 1999, the Bernardsville Borough Council adopted a so-called "monster house" ordinance which limited the square footage of houses built in 3 and 5 acres zones. The Council was urged by members of the Environmental Commission and Open Space Committee to enact the ordinance.

-Ann Parsekian

Ridge Oak proposed to build an assisted living facility on 9.3 acres in a residentially zoned neighborhood in the center of Basking Ridge. The proposal was rejected and Ridge Oak filed a still-pending lawsuit against the Township, alleging discrimination against the handicapped. At the same time, Ridge Oak proposed building the facility on nearby Somerset County parkland, which would require an expansion of the Township's sewer district and county consent. In June, the Township Committee introduced an ordinance that would make assisted living facilities a permitted use in an R-6 3/4-acre residential zone off of King George Road. Sunrise Development contracted to buy a 43-acre tract in that zone.

In response to a resident's request to have curbs added to his street, the Bernards Township Engineer calculated that it would cost about $7.4 million over about 15 years to add curbs to every Township road in areas zoned for one acre or less. Township Committee members suggested the possibility of a "cost-sharing" approach and urged a survey of affected residents. Eighteen of the 22 responding to the survey did not want the curbs while 4 did want them.

-Ann Parsekian

Chatham Township

Much of the land use news in Chatham Township in 1999 has been molded by the township's Master Plan, which, after three years of preparation, was adopted in October. The new Plan recognizes, to a much greater extent than ever, the constraints on development posed by wetlands, steep slopes and floodplains. The Plan specifically acknowledges the municipality's responsibility for the water quality of the adjacent Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. This awareness of the need to safeguard the local ecology evolved during the 21 years since the last revision of the Master Plan in 1978.

The Plan calls preserving undeveloped land a primary tool for maintaining environmental integrity and enhancing the quality of life for Chatham residents. Public support for open space acquisition was demonstrated in November 1999 by a public vote to raise the open space tax from one cent to two cents per $100 of assessed value.

Chatham Township proposed to or did acquire three new open space properties in 1999. Two were purchases, one a 10.9-acre tract on the south side of the Passaic River; the other a 10-acre property adjacent to the Green Village Post Office. Lien Tran and Nils Klarlund donated a third 4.6-acre parcel along River Road. All three tracts will provide needed links in the planned Heritage Greenway hiking/biking path, slated to extend from the county-owned Loantaka Reservation in the north to the county-owned Passaic River Park on the Township's southern border

The Township Committee in June played a large role in preserving open space by deciding not to sewer Green Village. Some residents of Green Village, where most of the remaining open space in Chatham is located, had made it known they did not what the development pressure that inevitably follows a new sewer line.

A private agent for the preservation of open space in Chatham in 1999 was Oak Knoll School, which announced in June that it would buy 11.4 acres of property along Green Village Road for use as athletic fields. The property is zoned for commercial buildings and single-family houses.

Prominent among development projects in 1999 was the final site plan approval in July for Kessler Corporation's 95-apartment assisted living facility, to be located on Southern Boulevard. The project is the first to be built under the township's new "no net increase" storm water ordinance.

Another major project in the spotlight in 1999 was the negotiation over the 133 undeveloped acres that form the Chatham portion of the Giralda Farms office park. In early December, the township finalized an agreement with Reckson Associates Realty Corp. to reserve sewer capacity for construction of up to 750,000 square feet of office space. Besides setting up sewer-related payments, the agreement clarifies the donation to the township of a 24-acre tract known as the Loantaka Moraine, a wooded parcel sought since 1981 by the Chatham Township Environmental Commission and Planning Board.

-Kathy Abbott

Harding Township

In the last year of the 20th century, Harding worked to protect the environment by proposing new township ordinances for clearing and grading in areas of steep slopes, the cutting of trees, and the construction of cellular towers and related facilities.

Good news for the Swamp included the preservation of more than 50 acres of the Frelinghuysen property on James Street through a combination of efforts of the Harding Land Trust, Harding Township, and Morris County.

Another achievement in 1999 was the completed restoration of the former Dietzman Dump in the Harding portion of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The GSWA reviewed federally funded work plans, monitored the progress of the work, and recommended sites for wetland creation to offset the inevitable loss of wetlands and associated habitat from the site work. A Technical Assistance Grant from EPA funded our work.

Providing mixed news for the Swamp were a continuing stream of applications for development, including: a proposed subdivision on Post House Road, where the issues of stormwater runoff and erosion control were significant environmental concerns; an application for a subdivision, or for approval of a non-conforming lot site plan with two dwellings, where the issue of lot sizes and historic property preservation were important; and a proposed expansion of the Morris Animal Inn, where wetlands, stream encroachment, and traffic were important issues.

The dredging of Silver Lake, Bayne Park Pond, and the pond at Christ the King Church highlighted water body concerns. These dredging projects will restore these water bodies to a much more functional basis to buffer stormwater surges and stop sediment flow downstream.

-Roger Greenway

Madison

A troubling trend is taking hold in the Borough of Madison’s residential zones, that of a "Two for One" bonanza for developers. In this scenario a developer purchases one piece of property and then, through the variance application process, ends up with two (or more) properties. The result is smaller and smaller lots with larger homes sitting on them, higher impervious coverage, increased stormwater run-off, and less open space. Two particularly disturbing examples in 1999 involve properties at 300 Madison Avenue and 144 Loantaka Way.

Having removed its own pro-environmental conditions placed in 1985 on the 5.6 acre property at 300 Madison Avenue, the Zoning Board of Adjustment paved the way for developer Samuel Masucci to buy fewer than three acres of the existing building’s "sideyard" to further sub-divide and construct 5 single-family homes. The application requires multiple variances for lot size and/or width in order to subdivide and develop around this stone mansion, which is now used as a medical office building. The site is within Madison’s prime aquifer re-charge area and would result in 30% impervious coverage on the largest lot (20% is allowed in the R-1 zone.) Removal of many large trees will be required.

The Madison Planning Board is considering a similar scheme proposed by developer Joseph DeMarzo at 144 Loantaka Way. The existing house on this 50,000-sq. ft. lot is a 100+-year-old mansion with some historic attributes. DeMarzo proposes tearing it down and building two houses in its place. Variances sought include minimum lot width and minimum area requirements.

-Judy Kroll

Morristown

In 1999 Morristown formed its first Environmental Commission, spurred on by public enthusiasm for restoring Foote's Pond and the 14-acre municipal park that surrounds it on James Street. The park is comprised of wetlands, woodlands, and a one-acre pond that is a headwater of Great Brook. The adjacent Thomas Jefferson School will conduct environmental education programs on the site that will also incorporate an area for spiritual reflection.

JoAnne Casadevall, chairwoman of the Environmental Commission, drummed up support for the Foote's Park restoration project from the Morris School District, the Unity Charter School and the NJ Audubon Society. Funds will come from the Geraldine R. Dodge and Nathan Cummings foundations.

-Terry Hudzina

Morris Township

In Morris Township, the passage of a steep slopes and tree ordinance in late 1998 set the scene for a 1999 pre-millenium victory for advocates of the Great Swamp and residents of the Moore Estate. Partly due to the new environmental regulations, a planned development by SAJ Associates on nine acres of steep wooded slopes (known as the Ecke property) on Kitchell Road was scaled back from seven to three new single-family homes.

The township prepared an amendment to its Wastewater Management Plan that will help protect environmentally sensitive land. The amendment excludes sewer access for the proposed Jockey Hollow Top Six development (which would teeter above Mt. Kemble Road), though single septic systems for building lots may still be an option. Even without sewers, developer Harvey Caplan would need a steep slope variance for almost every building lot. Other controversies are the extent of blasting that would be required to build, and the amount of stormwater run-off from the site.

The Morris Township Committee is considering whether to save a 48-acre tract from development by including it on its open space acquisition list. Southgate Four, a development company based in Morris Plains, proposes a 100,400 square foot, four-story office complex, along with a 15,000 square foot day care center and parking lot on land that currently provides travelers heading north on I-287 a scenic view sans sound barriers. Located just before the Madison Avenue-South Street northbound exit, a large portion of the property is wetlands and lies within the Great Swamp watershed.

-Terry Hudzina

1999 Legislative and Regulatory Review: The Vindication of Chicken Little

Consider the following question: If the sky had actually fallen down on Chicken Little, would he still be remembered as a paranoid alarmist? Perhaps the answer can be found by examining the politics of land use (and land abuse) in New Jersey. In the waning months of the twentieth century, New Jersey lawmakers at the state, county and local levels wrestled with an overabundance of legislative proposals, schemes, and scams tied to a wide range of hot-button issues, most of which have been reduced to succinct two-word catch phrases, presumably to ease the burden on our attention spans. Just use Smart Growth, Open Space, Anti-Sprawl, Home Rule, or Wise Use in polite conversation and you might easily be mistaken for a politician or a lobbyist.* To avoid that embarrassment, we think it's worth looking at a few key issues in greater depth, say six or seven words, especially where the outcome could be vital to the well-being of the Great Swamp watershed.

To see what's been happening at the state level, a review of The New Jersey Builder's Association Legislative Program and Policy Statement as found on the NJBA web site (www.njba.org) is a good place to start. To the bitter disappointment of conspiracy theorists everywhere, the NJBA has come out of the cedar closet wearing its heartwood on its organizational sleeve. The NJBA's goals and objectives are presented in clear, unambiguous and unapologetic black and white prose for all the world to see, and paranoid outside observers must forego the pleasures of posing imaginary environmental doomsday scenarios involving the NJBA, statewide gridlock, black helicopters, and the wanton destruction of grassy knolls. With the NJBA's own words now exposed to public scrutiny, it's apparent that the imagined scenarios are in fact real (except for the helicopters), and it's almost impossible to overstate the worst case. Let's look at a few examples of the NJBA's views on current issues of interest to GSWA:

Builder's Impact Fees – A bill which would allow municipalities to assess off-site "impact fees" to finance the construction of schools and other infrastructure made necessary as a consequence of new development was passed by the NJ Senate in 1999, but failed to move through the Assembly before the end of the last legislative session. (A similar bill (A1712) was introduced at the start of the current session.) According to their policy statement, the NJBA would in fact endorse a "rational" system for financing off-tract infrastructure, but to us there is some question as to what they mean when they say "rational". In commenting on the bill's passage in the Senate, NJBA Executive Vice President and CEO Patrick J. O'Keefe noted that the median price of a new home in New Jersey is already about $230,000, which exceeds the limit of affordability of many buyers to the extent that it constitutes a form of economic discrimination. Mr. O'Keefe estimated that the Senate's bill would increase the cost of a new house by as much as $40,000. (This figure was disputed by the bill's sponsor, Senator William Schluter, who said the fee would be more like $6,500 on a $350,000 home.)

Mr. O'Keefe's opinions on the high cost of housing are very curious in view of the recent experiences of two of NJBA's larger corporate members, Toll Brothers (who promise "Equal Housing Opportunity" on their web site, www.tollbrothers.com) and K. Hovnanian (www.khov.com). Both of these companies posted record profits for FY 1999. Moreover, Mr. O'Keefe has attributed the proliferation of expensive housing in New Jersey to the pursuit of "rational self-interest" on the part of builders, who are naturally more inclined to build large numbers of high-margin homes than any number of low-margin homes as long as market conditions favor the former over the latter. Mr. O'Keefe appears to be embracing the narrow constructionist's view of rationality, in which rational behavior is maximized when maximum profits are realized. We wonder if Mr. O'Keefe chanced to read the recent article in the Economist (December 18, 1999) which reported that the economist's long-held reliance on rational behavior as a fundamental assumption in modern economic theory is being challenged by some who argue that economists should really pay more attention to irrational behavior if they want to get a true picture of the economics of the New Age. Under the new paradigm, irrational behaviors such as "cognitive dissonance" (holding a belief which does not square with the evidence) and "quasi-magical thinking" (believing one's thoughts can influence events, even when one knows they can't) are gaining recognition as legitimate predictors and determinants of economic activities, including even those of home builders, and especially those of watershed advocates.

Residential Site Improvement Standards – According to NJBA, the social benefits of diversity do not extend into the realm of slash and burn development. NJBA continues to defend, with obvious pride of authorship, legal challenges to the RSIS, otherwise known as the NJ Hometown Homogenization Handbook. Bills to exempt the Great Swamp Watershed from RSIS were introduced in 1998, but did not pass either house. GSWA will continue to support this legislation in the new session.

Land Use Regulatory Reform (Act) – Another NJBA initiative, LURRA was originally drafted by them as a comprehensive overhaul of the NJ Municipal Land Use Law for the express purpose of "streamlining the development process." It has appeared in various iterations through the last legislative session, but did not get very far and has not shown up in its usual omnibus format so far this year. Be warned, however, that many of LURRA's components will survive as independent entities, including a Time of Decision rule requiring towns to act one way or the other on zoning permit applications with a specified number of days, and a Regulatory Freeze exemption which would allow developers to ignore zoning changes for up to five years after an initial permit application is filed. More LURRA spin-offs are sure to follow, so, stay tuned.

But, to get back to our original question: The sky may indeed be falling, but, as Chicken Little himself found out, it's not necessarily going to be fatal. He was last seen recuperating at the Sunrise Home for Unemployed Paranoids, reading a novel about high finance entitled "Hovnanians at the Gate", by B.B. Wolf.