GREAT SWAMP WATERSHED ASSOCIATION Fall 2000 |
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The Swamp Watch: Local Hot Spots Editor's note: "Swamp Watch" covers important land-development issues in each of the ten towns of the watershed: Bernards Township, Bernardsville, Chatham Township, Harding, Long Hill, Madison, Mendham Borough and Township, Morris Township and Morristown. If you do not see your town listed here, 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 Across the Watershed, please call Julia Somers at 973.966.1900. "Swamp Watch" is edited by Kathy Abbott. Bernards Township Twp. Seeks to Double Its Open Space Tax On August 15, the Bernards Township Committee voted to authorize a referendum seeking voter approval in November to double the municipal open space tax. If approved, the open space tax would increase from its current level of 2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 4 cents. The current tax was approved in 1997 and is effective for 10 years, through 2007. The new referendum also will ask voters if they want to extend the open space tax by 10 years, through 2017. Committee members Al LiCata, Gailanne Barth and Bill Holmes favor the referendum. LiCata stated there is a pressing need to buy land to provide enough ball fields for the youth population. However, the referendum is opposed by Bill Allen and Diana Boquist. Boquist argued that people may not favor a tax increase to provide more ball fields. Allen stated that there is a need for clarity of open space priorities: "I can't say if it's the right amount of money. We need another year to determine ourselves what we need and what the public is willing to support, and then define a referendum that will nail that down." - Ann Parsekian Committee Changes Policy On Providing New Curbs In July, the Bernards Township Committee voted to cease its policy of surveying neighborhoods and providing curbs where they are wanted. The ruling came in response to a report by Bernards Township Engineer and Planner Peter Messina, who calculated that there are still 45 roads in the township without curbs in areas zoned for one acre or less. He said that if all were curbed as part of the township's 15-year road plan, the cost of the plan would increase by $6.6 million. Committeeman Bill Allen argued that residents in each neighborhood should be consulted and should be given the option to have curbs added. The plan was opposed by committee members Bill Holmes, Al LiCata and Diana Boquist. - Ann Parsekian Bernardsville New Master Plan Proposed At Planning Board Meeting A new master plan that recommends doubling the minimum lot size in environmentally sensitive areas of the R-1 5-acre zone was to be presented on September 28 at the Planning Board meeting. This document, prepared by planning consultant David Zimmerman, would be the first new master plan for Bernardsville since 1978. If the Planning Board approves the new master plan, the Borough Council must adopt the plan to make it law.The plan recommends increasing the minimum lot size to 10 acres in undeveloped sections of the R-1 zone, mainly northern and western sections of the borough. Some portions of the zone are on steep slopes, drain into trout production waters and are served by narrow roads, according to the planner. The new plan also recommends eliminating conditional uses such as conference or management centers, religious retreats or private schools from estates of 20 acres or more. Zimmerman wrote, "Several of these conditional uses, if developed as permitted, may have detrimental impacts upon their neighborhood." Currently Bernardsville has more than 700 acres of open space, including municipal, county, federal and privately held lands. The plan suggests encouraging open space easements and dedications from private holdings. It also urges using the Bernardsville open space tax to obtain easements to create a pedestrian path linking major open space areas. As of 1998, Bernardsville contained 2,779 housing units and had a full build-out potential of 3,322 homes under the current zoning. Zimmerman rates the potential for more residential development in Bernardsville as modest. Most of the potential for development lies on Somerset Hills Country Club property and neighboring land. - Ann Parsekian Tree-Cutting Ordinance Challenged in Court In July, Bernardsville resident Alfred Eckert III filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in Somerville challenging the borough's tree-protection ordinance on constitutional grounds. Bernardsville's tree protection ordinance regulates the cutting of trees outside existing homes. Last February a contractor hired by Eckert didn't obtain a permit for removing at least 36 trees with a diameter of four inches or more. Charges were filed against Eckert by the borough, and in June borough officials denied Eckert a permit to remove 27 more trees to install a driveway. - Ann Parsekian Chatham Township Planning Board OKs Water Drainage Plan On July 17, the Chatham Township Planning Board gave conditional approval to the Board of Education's drainage plan for its new addition to Southern Boulevard School. The roof drainage and groundwater plan is an infiltration-retention design, composed of dry wells and a retention basin. Conditions still to be met were additional borings for soil permeability and a maintenance plan for the retention basin. The retention basin will be built behind a new parking lot, which will replace an existing playground to the right of the school. - Kathy Abbott Harding Township Plans for a New School Go to Board of Adjustment 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. - Julia Somers Residents to Get Referendum To Hike Open-Space Funding 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 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. Long Hill Township Proposed Development Warrants Close Scrutiny The Long Hill Township Planning Board in August was reviewing a project that requires our close attention. The applicant is proposing to merge three parcels, extend a roadway from the Autumn Crest development (aka Einsiedler Estate), and add several houses to an area that contains steep slopes, upland wetlands, and mature woods. This is a parcel that ought to remain undeveloped, but if that proves to be impossible, local residents and Watershed Association members need to monitor the project closely to ensure that the project meets all of the no-net stormwater requirements of Long Hill's ordinance. - Len Hamilton Long Hill Sewer Ban Points Up System Stresses The Long Hill Township Committee voted to impose a voluntary sewer ban effective August 14. They expect this ban to be temporary, perhaps for a year, while attempts are made to resolve the problems with the sewage treatment plant. The plant has been routinely exceeding its daily flow rating during rain events, leading to the suspicion that stormwater is entering into the system. No fines have been levied for either volume or untreated sewage, but NJDEP officials warn that the excess loadings will stress the system and cause early failure. An engineering firm is studying the situation. While it is tempting to view a sewer ban as something positive, many residents fear that this attention to the limited capacity might trigger an application for expansion of the plant's capacity. There is tremendous pressure for commercial development and redevelopment along Long Hill's Valley Road corridor. The plant's effluent enters the Passaic River below the Great Swamp watershed, but there are still many properties, private and commercial, within the watershed that lie within the plant's service area. Long Hill should certainly not be singled out in this regard, but this is yet another case of the failure to have a master plan in place that holds development within the boundaries of the infrastructure. This issue should be watched closely, because any future expansion would surely trigger the "need" for yet another round of development. It could, as the saying goes, be déjà vu all over again. - Len Hamilton Madison Council Moves to Reduce Shade Tree Authority Power A move by the Borough Council to substantially reduce the power of the Shade Tree Authority has come under significant public scrutiny. A meeting in June of the Council at which the proposal was discussed was attended by nearly 100 Madison residents, all of whom were surprised and extremely concerned about the Council's proposed actions, as well as the lack of communication between the Mayor's office, the Shade Tree Authority and the public. - Judy Kroll "Madison Matters" Update…. A group of concerned citizens from all over Madison has formed an organization called "Madison Matters." The organization came into existence earlier this year "to provide a counterweight to development pressures," according to its mission statement. "We are concerned about the special character of Madison-how it looks and feels - and about the average homeowner whose quality of life is threatened. And although change is inevitable, we believe we must not bequeath to future generations a Madison with significantly fewer open spaces, trees, and historic buildings." The organization will monitor zoning variance applications, planning board cases and other land-use issues. Although not focused exclusively on the watershed, this group will be beneficial to GSWA in its tracking of Madison's zoning and planning. To join Madison Matters, or for further information, call either Chris Hepburn at 973.966.0931 or Alice Wade at 973.966.1673. - Judy Kroll |
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