Summer 2002

REPORT
SUMMER 2002
In This Issue:
3
5
6
8
11
13
14
15
17
Time for Tax Reform
Reducing Road Glare
The Master Plan Vision Statement
Open Space Preservation:
The Job That’s Never Done
Smart Growth Updates
Book Reviews
Good Earthkeeping
ANJEC in the City
Resource Center
Director’s Report
In carrying out their responsibilities, environmental commissions often need to focus on
protecting a specific resource.
Many of the questions that ANJEC receives start with
“How can I save a forest?” … Or a lake? A shoreline? A
stream?
Our new manual Acting Locally: Municipal Tools for
Environmental Protection, brings together the broad
spectrum of information ANJEC uses to answer these
kinds of questions. It gives background on the resource
– why it is significant, what are the threats - so that the
reader can understand why its protection is critical and
can explain this to other officials in town. Each chapter
offers specific suggestions on how to protect the
resource and a list of contacts for additional information. The measures we suggest are gleaned from the
successful actions and creative solutions of towns
across New Jersey. They include data collection,
ordinances, development standards, funding sources,
public education and more.
The title of the book comes from the familiar slogan,
“Think globally, act locally.” The central principle is
that local action is crucial in preservation of our
environmental resources. Many people believe that
federal and state laws and regulations provide all the
environmental protection we need, but this is not the
case. Too many state and federal laws don’t go far
enough to preserve vital resources that are the foundation of important ecosystems. For example, these laws
do not safeguard groundwater recharge areas, prohibit
destruction of steep slopes, or forbid indiscriminate
cutting of trees. Nor do they limit nutrient loading into
lakes or streams. And they only provide partial protection for critical resources like wetlands, floodplains and
drinking water sources.
Every town in New Jersey has the ability to preserve
the natural resources within its borders. Municipalities
can accomplish a great deal using planning and the
land use controls delegated to them under the Municipal Land Use Law. Because the zoning ordinance
outlines what is permitted in each area of the community and sets the density of development, it can protect
environmentally sensitive areas.
The governing body can also enact additional
ordinances to set standards for development, for
example, to require tree preservation during construction or restoration of disturbed lands. It can adopt a
stormwater management plan to control flooding,
reduce soil erosion and curtail non point source
pollution.
Cover Photo: A Pinelands Preservation Alliance canoe trip
on the Batsto River in Burlington County by photographer
Michael Hogan
2 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
Towns also can use their administrative powers to
make environmentally wise decisions in purchasing and
supervising the department of public works. They can
maintain town-owned properties to protect their critical
environmental features from the destructive impacts of
development.
The environmental commission has the responsibility
to make recommendations regarding the local actions of
its governing body, planning board, board of adjustment and board of health. A commission is the only
body on the local level whose mission is to defend the
natural systems – the threatened and endangered
species, the air and water supply, the animals and plants
that add richness to the community. The commission’s
job is to make sure the environment doesn’t get overlooked in the municipal decision-making process.
Each chapter of Acting Locally covers a natural resource that needs protection, such as trees, groundwater, lakes, air, estuaries and steep slopes. It will take the
concerted action of all levels of government to ensure
protection of these assets.
ANJEC continues to add to its collection of ordinances
and standards. We hope you will share with us the
actions your town takes in its efforts to safeguard the
environment so that we can continue to build our
information base for the municipalities of New Jersey.
Executive Director
Copies of Acting Locally have been sent to all member
environmental commissions. Additional copies are
available for $10 plus postage and handling.
Library Subscription $15.00
ISSN 1538-0742
REPORT
Vol. 22 / No. 3
Summer 2002
566 MUNICIPALITIES .............................. ONE ENVIRONMENT
Executive Director ............................................................. Sandy Batty
Editor ..................................................................................... Sally Dudley
The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions is a private,
non-profit educational organization serving environmental commission and
open space committee members, concerned individuals, non-profits, and
local officials. ANJEC’s programs aim to promote the public interest in
natural resource preservation, sustainable development and reclamation
and support environmental commissions and open space committees
working with citizens and other non-profit organizations.
The REPORT welcomes articles and photographs but is not responsible for
loss or damage. Opinions expressed by guest authors do not necessarily
reflect ANJEC policy. Articles may be reprinted with permission and credit.
Please address correspondence to ANJEC REPORT, PO Box 157,
Mendham, NJ 07945; tel: 973-539-7547; toll-free number for members:
888-55ANJEC (888-552-6532); fax: 973-539-7713. E-mail [email protected].
Website: www.anjec.org.
Time for Tax Reform
By Jon Shure, President, NJ Policy Perspective
A
Bergen County senior
citizen recently asked me a frustrating
question. She was upset because her
street was being overrun with traffic
from a nearby shopping mall. She
wanted to know to whom she could
complain.
My answer was as frustrating as her
question. “No one,” I told her. That’s
because she lives in Rochelle Park and
the mall is in Paramus. Showing up at
a Rochelle Park council meeting to
complain about traffic from Paramus
was going to be as useful as a screen
door on a submarine. Complaining in
Paramus, as a non-resident, wouldn’t
do any better. Because of the way we
do things in New Jersey, this woman
was pretty much powerless.
Do these forces really have to be
beyond the control of residents and
local officials? Of course not. But
saying that and changing the system
are two different things. The adage,
“easier said than done” comes to
mind.
And like so many other problems, a
primary culprit in this case is our
state’s notorious over-reliance on
local property taxes to fund such a
large share of the costs for schools
and municipal services. No state relies
more than New Jersey on this form of
taxation. Every other state funds
schools and local services to a
greater extent through some other
means. Usually it is a broad-based
state tax, like that on income or
sales.
NJ Out of Balance
New Jersey, of course, has those
taxes too. But our system is out of
balance. Picture a three-legged
stool. One leg is the local property
tax, one the state sales tax and the
third the state income tax. Experts
say an ideal system uses these
three levies in roughly equal
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proportion. Now picture a strange
stool, where one leg is twice as long
as the other two. That’s the New
Jersey stool: we take in about as much
from local property taxes as from the
state income and sales tax combined.
A stool like that will hardly support
you.
One problem, recognized over the
years by the courts in our state, is
that this over-dependence on property taxes has serious consequences
for education. All too often the
opportunity a child gets correlates
directly to the property values in his
or her town. Another problem is the
unevenness of the tax burden. When
you put together the “big three” taxes
(sales, income, property) it turns out
that in New Jersey the lower your
overall income, the higher percentage
of that income goes toward taxes.
Such a system might have made
some sense back in colonial days,
when only a relative handful of
people owned a house and some land.
Taxing property was a fairly effective
way of taxing based on the ability to
pay. Today it is far harder to defend.
Just about everyone knows someone
like my mother-in-law who gets by on
about $20,000 a year and pays $5,000
in property taxes—a whopping 25
percent of her income. Clearly such a
tax is all out of whack as it relates to
her ability to pay.
The bottom line is that the centerpiece of New Jersey’s tax structure is a
creaky, outmoded relic of the 18th
century. We keep it even though the
result is a tax burden that takes a
higher percentage of a lower- or
middle-income family’s earnings or
net worth than it takes from the
wealthiest.
Taxes and Sprawl
And as more and more people are
starting to realize, over-reliance on
local property taxes has a direct
impact on the sprawl that eats away
at open space and the increased
congestion, pollution and stress that
follow in its wake.
Mayors and council members in
New Jersey are hard-pressed to avoid
being tools of developers. Someone
comes in and wants to build an office
park or shopping mall or housing
development, and even local officials
who know better can’t help seeing
dollar signs. More ratables mean
paying for local services will be
shared with the newcomers.
But the ratable-chase is a fantasy.
The new construction doesn’t keep
taxes down because it means more
roads, police and fire protection,
schools. And so what you have is a
dog chasing its tail.
With an arms-race mentality
rivaling that of the US and USSR in
the Cold War, towns compete
against each other to turn empty
tracts into profit centers. They
even tell developers they won’t
have to pay property taxes for a
period of years in exchange for
gracing the municipality with their
presence. And they try to mitigate
the impact on local residents by
placing car-intensive new development on the edge of town: we get
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
3
the ratable, they get the traffic. Share
the tax revenue? Not in New Jersey.
It doesn’t seem like a stretch to
imagine that if local officials were less
beholden to property taxes they might
be less hospitable to development.
An Opportunity for Change
There is no shortage of people in
New Jersey who abhor sprawl. And
many are starting to realize that just
wanting it stopped can’t stop it. Using
tax dollars to buy up open space is a
good concept, but it doesn’t come
cheap. Fighting developers in court
sometimes works but it takes a long
time—and it doesn’t come cheap either.
This is one reason why more people are
determined to get at the root of the
problem. They are seeing the need to
get New Jersey off the property tax fix
and into a healthier, more sustainable
way to raise revenues.
And in this effort, the people appear
to be ahead of the politicians. They
know that solving this problem will
mean shifting the tax structure, most
likely by increasing broad-based levies
and decreasing property taxes. For
example, suppose New Jersey raised the
income tax for married households
with incomes over $150,000 and
singles over $75,000 and imposed a
one-quarter of one percent financial
assets tax on intangible holdings (for
example stocks, bonds, trusts and
business equity) exceeding $2 million.
These two steps would allow New
Jersey to reduce local property taxes
dramatically. The state would raise
more money and towns would have to
raise less.
Politicians, for the most part, want
no part of such an arrangement. They
know that even if state taxes go up for
only five percent of New Jerseyans and
property taxes come down for everyone, their next election opponent will
attack them for raising taxes. What
they don’t know—or aren’t willing to try
to find out—is that the people of New
Jersey have had enough of the current
upside-down and backwards system
and are ready to listen to someone who
will talk sense on taxes.
Grassroots groups have sprung up,
calling for some of the very changes
that the people we elect won’t talk
about. Citizens for the Public Good, a
bipartisan policy reform organization,
helped bring many of these groups
4 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
NJ Tax Receipts
Local Property
Total State
Sales
Income
Corporate Business
$0
$2
$4
together in May to express their
support for a constitutional convention
to revamp our tax structure. This has
been, in large measure, an attempt to
wrest away from politicians the
responsibility they refuse to exert. In
short, people are beginning to get it
that everything is connected to everything else. Education, garbage removal,
traffic congestion, pollution—just about
any issue that touches on the quality of
life of New Jerseyans has at its core a
solution that takes us back to New
Jersey’s way of raising money.
People who live here know that in
many ways ours is a quirky little state.
We have no network TV affiliate
station. The Governor is the only
elected state official. Workers have the
longest commute in the nation.
Though it’s ninth in overall population, New Jersey has so many govern-
$6
$8
$10
(in billions)
$12
$14
$16
mental pieces that the average municipal
population of 12,000 is the lowest in the
US. It’s one of two states where pumping
your own gas is a crime. All of these
things help to determine the culture, the
character of who we are.
But clinging to an obsolete tax structure goes beyond quirky. It’s counterproductive. It holds us back and keeps it
apart.
The flaw in our tax structure keeps
New Jersey from being the fully functioning state and, even more, the community
it can be. We’ve gone as far as we can get
by nibbling at the edge of the problem
with rebates, abatements and freezes.
It’s time to finish the job.
Jon Shure is president of New Jersey Policy
Perspective, a nonprofit organization based
in Trenton that conducts research on state
issues.
In Memoriam
Over the last few months, ANJEC lost two dedicated and loyal long-time volunteers. Bill
Metterhouse, former Board president, treasurer, and long-time trustee and chair of the Upper
Freehold (Monmouth) Environmental Commission died at the age of 78. An entomologist and
former director of plant industry at the NJ Department of Agriculture, Bill was nationally
recognized in the area of plant health and pest management, especially the use of biological
technologies to control specific diseases and pests. Bill also was a leader in local efforts to
preserve open space and farmland and to implement a regional greenway.
In Bill’s memory, ANJEC has established the William Metterhouse Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) web page in the Online Resource Center section of our web site
(www.anjec.org).
Nancy S. Foster, a long time expert environmentalist died after a long illness this spring. A
valued member of the Chatham Township (Morris) environmental commission, she was also
an active member of the League of Women Voters. ANJEC is most grateful for the donation
from the Chatham Township Environmental Commission in Nancy’s memory.
Reducing Road Glare
By John Batinsey
Eatontown (Monmouth) Environmental Commission
M
ost press coverage presents
light pollution from only one area of
concern: astronomy. The issues are
much broader. The NJ Light Pollution
Study Commission determined that
light pollution is misdirected or excessive outdoor lighting that causes glare,
nuisance light, energy waste and
unnecessary skyglow. Some blame the
problem on development and argue for
almost no night lighting at all. This is
absurd. The issue is not light versus
darkness but good lights versus bad
lights. With the right fixtures, adverse
impacts will be significantly reduced,
including skyglow. Although Texas and
a few other states are addressing light
pollution, New Jersey has done nothing.
As we drive New Jersey roads at night,
we generally see far too much glare
from light fixtures wastefully spilling
light upward and beyond the target
area. Light pollution wastes energy in a
strange kind of way. When intense glare
shines in your eyes, pupil contraction
can occur. Combined with other
mechanisms in the eye, this “veils” the
lighted roadway itself making it appear
dimmer. So we are using, energy to
produce light that we can’t fully “see”
or use.
According to the Illuminating
Engineering Society of North America
(IES), the foremost authority on safe
and effective lighting practices in this
country, lights without cutoffs “may be
considered a waste of energy” because
they contribute to glare and visual
clutter. Both the Massachusetts Medical
Society and an Indiana School of
Optometry professor agree that light
shining into motorists’ eyes is a serious
safety issue and can increase the
potential for accidents.
Some argue that non-cutoff lighting
only causes discomfort glare, not
disability glare. This may not always be
true. According to the IES, “Discomfort
glare produces a sensation of ocular
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cobra head and
post-top colonial styles. Both
must be specifically requested.
In Eatontown
our lighting
ordinance has
helped control
light pollution
in the business
A typical light-polluted NJDOT freeway interchange.
sector for over
eight years and
discomfort, which, in its milder form,
more recently for new streetlights.
often causes an increase in the blink
Cutoff cobra head street lights cost
rate of an individual and, in its extreme
about the same as the non-cutoff types.
form, tears and pain. . .Discomfort
If minimal cost and energy consumpglare may cause fatigue, which results
tion are your main concerns, the
in driver error.”
cobra heads are more efficient. On
Eatontown’s residential streets,
Specific Lighting Problems
colonial fixtures with the same wattage
on NJ’s Roads
but on shorter poles needed to be
spaced 60 feet closer than the cobra
The NJ Department of Transportaheads to meet the IES minimum
tion continues to install non-cutoff
illuminance recommendations.
lighting on all its freeways and highways, causing significant levels of
unnecessary glare and probably
What Environmental
creating the most light polluted roads
Commissions Can Do
in the nation. Although the DOT
1. Take a serious look at roadway
seemed to be heading in the right
lighting in your municipality.
direction in 1996, it has not imple2. Work with your governing body to
mented enough cutoff fixtures. The
adopt a local ordinance similar to
Garden State Parkway Authority
Eatontown’s (an Outdoor Lighting
deserves high marks for most of its new
Guide, including a copy of the
and replacement lighting, although,
ordinance is available from the
there are some exceptions, notably at
ANJEC Resource Center).
gas station facilities, some commuter
3. Inform the DOT, NJ Turnpike
parking lots, and a number of roadway
Authority and Garden State Parkway
areas. The NJ Turnpike Authority has
of your concerns about light polluprovided the public with safe, excellent
tion on their roads and request they
lighting for over 20 years. Most of its
make cutoff fixtures the standard.
roadways contain cutoff lighting except
in the Secaucus area and around
Environmental commissions have an
Newark Airport.
opportunity to become part of the
Although electric utilities have been
solution in controlling light pollution.
installing non-cutoff lights throughout
Not being part of the solution may be
most of New Jersey for many years.
part of the problem as to why light
Jersey Central Power & Light now
pollution is so bad in New Jersey.
makes standard cutoff streetlights in
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
5
The Master Plan
Vision Statement
By Hannah Thonet, ANJEC Intern
Barbara Simpson, ANJEC State Plan Project Director
A
bout 15 years ago, the
Washington Township Planning
Board (Mercer County) saw its
neighboring towns going the
way of suburbia, and worried
that its own agrarian community would follow suit.
Today, construction has
started on a 400 acre,
pedestrian and bicycle
friendly center with public
parks, sidewalk cafes, and
old style front porches,
surrounded by 6,000 acres of
land preserved for agriculture
and open space.
Creating Washington’s
vision statement was a give
and take, long-term process;
the planning board had been
practicing Smart Growth
concepts for years before they
called a consultant to help verbalize the
vision statement. Board members drew
on the good and bad images they saw
when they took field trips to numerous
towns and cities. Planning Director
Robert Melvin explains, “The more you
show people what their future could
be, the easier they can verbalize what
they want.”
A community is much more than a
collection of streets, houses and
buildings or subdivisions pieced
together by a developer. Strong
communities have a unique character
that concerned local citizens have
built over the years through responsible land use planning. Newer
communities can learn from this
experience by exploring through a
public process what their municipalities could look like over the next
several decades. Developing a vision
statement should be the first step
when amending or writing a master
plan because a well-crafted statement
will tie the rest of the plan together.
6 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
Tools for Visioning
B. PRETZ
Getting the Public Involved
Creating a vision should be a
collaborative process among citizens,
municipal officials (including environmental commission and planning
board members), developers, engineers, and professional planners. The
first challenge is to assemble everyone together to start discussing how
the municipality should develop in
the future.
The easiest way to initiate discussions is to hold a number of public
meetings at the start of the master
plan review process where citizens
can share their ideas and opinions.
Advertise for these public meetings by
placing press releases in your local
paper, advertising on the community
webpage, and handing out flyers at
the schools and community centers.
Hold the meetings in a central
location, and provide transportation
and childcare services to entice more
citizens to come.
A picture is worth a thousand
words; bring visual aids to the
meetings. Photographs from
other towns and cities that have
implemented their community
vision can help citizens decide
what characteristics they like
and what they want to avoid. In
addition, citizens can design their
own three-dimensional vision by
using computer or block models of
buildings, houses, roads and
landscape. Models make it easier
to visualize the final results of the
plan. They also make it possible
to move components around
until there is general agreement
with the results.
Other useful techniques to
gather information on the
citizens’ preferences include
focus groups, mail and telephone
surveys. Mail surveys can reach a
great number of people at a low cost.
The results can be easily reported in a
standardized format. But, the response rate is usually low (20-30
percent maximum). And participants
generally only answer the printed
questions, even when space is included for additional responses.
Focus groups resemble a more
compact and organized form of
public meetings. Responses are
generally more valuable than those
from mail surveys because they
include explanations and discussions.
However, the person compiling the
information may inadvertently bias
results because the responses are not
standardized the way mailed surveys
are. Also, the results will not be as
useful if the focus group does represent different points of view. For
example, a focus group on senior
housing options should include
people of all ages.
A telephone survey offers a middle
ground. It can reach masses of
interested citizens, and is standardized and impersonal. The interviewer
can ask follow-up questions and
receive more detailed answers. Also it
is more likely that the entire community is represented, because a large
number of people can be contacted.
The results may be biased towards the
interviewer’s preferences, but this can
be minimized with well-written
questions.
Once you agree on how to communicate with the public, you need to
focus your discussions on issues that
are relevant to your community.
Essential Elements
of the Vision
A vision statement will eventually
be incorporated into the master plan,
which is the basis for the zoning
ordinance. It is essential that the
community identify important or
unique resources, so that they are
preserved through the development
process. Such categories may include,
but are not limited to, environmental
Another consideration is to make your
community user-friendly so that people
from all walks of life and ages can enjoy it.
resources like streams, mature
woodlands, and steep slopes; agricultural resources; historic, cultural, and
scenic resources, such as parks and
recreation areas; and non-renewable
resources of economic value, such as
sand, gravel and gas deposits.
Brownfields should also be identified
for their redevelopment potential.
Another consideration is to make
your community user-friendly so that
people from all walks of life and ages
can enjoy it. Greenways should
separate and serve as walkways or bikeways between
different uses, for example
connecting commercial
and residential areas to
schools and parks. Strip malls
built in isolation without connection to the surrounding development
should be avoided.
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You should also consider the costs
and benefits of development. With little
planning, development can be
financially expensive, and cause
secondary environmental impacts like
air and water pollution and resource
depletion. On the other hand, special
attention to your community’s
environmental needs may actually
reduce long-term financial costs. For
example, river and stream corridors
provide flood control when they are
protected from development. Also,
lighter-colored materials and trees
reduce energy use. Both approaches
result in lower municipal costs over
the long-term because natural resources are allowed to perform their
special functions.
When you’ve envisioned all the
general requirements that developers
should follow, you can move on to
specific issues of character and design.
Does your community want a historic
or a modern look? Will the center of
town contain a pocket park, a high
school, or a shopping district? Topics
of discussion should include land use,
infrastructure, and open space.
You may also want to include
aesthetic planning features in your
vision statement. For example, the
characteristics you want in your
community will determine the
materials used for the buildings and
the style of the architecture. Small
and quaint is very different from big
box or 10-story buildings. Such
features may include building materials, styles of buildings, setbacks,
lighting, and landscaping, among
others.
And don’t forget traffic and parking.
Will parking be on the streets, in lots
behind stores, or in parking garages?
How much space will be offered? If
you gear your community toward
pedestrians and mass transit, and
accommodate but don’t encourage
cars, your town will become more
pedestrian-friendly. Reducing traffic
With a strong well-thought-out vision
statement, the community will have a better
chance of being pro-active rather than
reacting to individual site development
plans.
also helps protect the environment,
and improves a community’s aesthetics and acoustics.
Writing the Vision
Statement for the
Municipal Master Plan
The vision statement in the master
plan must be specific to be effective;
you can’t leave too much room for
interpretation. With a strong wellthought-out vision statement, the
community will have a better chance
of being pro-active rather than
reacting to individual site development plans. To help developers and
citizens visualize the master plan’s
vision of what the town will look like
in the future, it is a good idea to
include photographs and illustrations.
The master plan should identify the
characteristics that your community
deems desirable, thus ensuring
appropriate development of your
community.
When creating the vision for your
master plan, it is imperative that the
communication lines among community members remain open. Moreover, everyone must keep an open
mind and be willing to give and take.
Be prepared to suggest alternative
plans if your views are too extreme
for the general public.
Once there’s general agreement on the vision, you have
one step left. Work with the
Planning Board to write it
down and make it part of the
master plan.
B. PRETZ
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
7
Open Space
Preservation:
The Job is Never Done
“
E
ternal vigilance is the price
of liberty” is a familiar caution. Open
space needs the same constant watchfulness. Acquiring a specific piece of
land generally takes an enormous
amount of time and energy — to build
support, come to agreement with the
landowner, and raise the funds. All too
often, once a tract is purchased or
protected through a conservation
easement, we breathe a sigh of relief,
celebrate the accomplishment and
move on to another project. But
acquisition is only the beginning. As
noted in a study by California’s Center
for Natural Lands Management
(www.cnlm.org), “99 percent of the job
remains once the deal is done.”
One approach to stewardship is to
remember that preserved properties are
“Saved but not Safe.” This slogan has
been an effective rallying point over
the last several decades in the area
around the Great Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge in Morris and Somerset
counties. The 7,500 acre Great Swamp
is protected from development because
nature lovers, residents and politicians
united and successfully opposed the
then NY Port Authority’s 1959 proposal
to build the New York area’s fourth
jetport which would have destroyed
extensive wetlands well known for
their diverse and unique habitat. In
less than three years, citizens raised $1
million (equivalent to
$5.9 million in 2002)
and turned 3,000
acres over to the
US Fish &
Wildlife
Service.
When
President
Lyndon
B. PRETZ
Johnson
declared one-
8 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
By Sally Dudley, editor, ANJEC Report
third of the refuge a Wilderness Area in
1968, he ensured that a jetport would
never be built. Most local residents
rejoiced. The Great Swamp was finally
saved.
But... starting in the ‘70’s development in the area mushroomed, with
large housing projects, office parks, and
Interstate Route 287. In the early ‘80’s
a group of citizens and local officials
formed the Great Swamp Watershed
Association to promote better land use
policies and practices to protect the
water in the streams that are the very
lifeblood of the Refuge. While the
towns have made considerable progress
over the last 20 years, relentless
development pressures mean the job is
never done.
Today, many residents of the area
around Great Swamp have come to
recognize the value of the Refuge and
the benefits of good planning and open
space preservation. This kind of
agreement is not always the case,
especially with smaller tracts. Too
many towns decide that existing parks
are the best place for libraries, schools
and playing fields. With the escalation
in land values, many municipalities
seem to be willing to turn their backs
on their original agreements to keep
the land open and in a natural state.
They are generally able to do this
because deeds often lack the needed
specific restrictions.
Easements, deed
restrictions
Conservation
easements and
deed restrictions
are important
tools for land
preservation.
Land trusts and
government
agencies use conservation easements to
protect water quality, farmland, scenic
areas, special habitats and historic
resources.
Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements between a
landowner and a land trust or government agency. They generally set out
specific restrictions on future development to protect special resources,
describe the rights retained by the
owner (for example to farm), and name
a land trust or government agency to
hold the easement, i.e. be responsible
for insuring that the conditions of the
easement are honored.
Conservation easement language
should be very specific. Since the
conservation easement is the only legal
document governing the future use of
the preserved land, it is crucial to work
with an experienced attorney in
developing it. While deed restrictions
often address similar issues, they are
generally regarded as a weaker tool for
land preservation. They usually set up
certain limitations on what can and
cannot be done, but do not give a
specific agency the ability to enforce
them.
Elements of Stewardship
Successful land stewardship is a
never-ending process. It should start
with the initial discussions about a
specific acquisition, include an understanding of the nature of the preserved
resources and of the specific provisions
needed to protect and manage them.
At the heart of stewardship are responsibility, care and management of the
land for future generations. A stewardship plan that involves the landowner,
neighbors and citizens in developing
and implementing a management plan
for the preserved area has a better
chance of long term success than one
B. PRETZ
that depends only on monitoring and
enforcement against violators. Most
importantly such a plan sets up a
process of protecting for rather than
against.
Environmental commissions and
open space committees can take several
steps to put strong land stewardship in
place in their communities. Developing a comprehensive inventory of
existing public and private open space
is a good place to start. First, find out if
your town has a Recreation and Open
Space Inventory (ROSI) or an Open
Space Plan put together for Green Acres
applications. Then check the master
plan for an Open Space or Greenway
Element. Reviewing these documents
can help a commission get a better idea
of the state of open space in the
community. Then, use the available
information to create a comprehensive
inventory and map that includes local
and county, state, federal and private
land trust preserved open space.
Next, when the municipality is
involved in acquisition, whether
through purchase, donation or easement, it’s important to be sure that the
stated purposes for the preservation are
consistent with the resources on the
site. For example, if the municipality is
buying land or accepting an easement
to protect a stream corridor, then the
deed should clearly state that conservation is the goal, that associated wetlands and specifically defined buffer
areas cannot be disturbed. Work with
whoever is leading the acquisition
effort, whether it’s the planning board,
governing body, or a local land trust,
offering written comments if necessary.
The basic elements of a Stewardship
or Land Management Plan include a
baseline inventory, an evaluation of the
resources on the site, plans for use and
public access and plans for implementPRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Green Acres ROSIs
Any town that applies for Green
Acres funds has to prepare a
Recreation and Open Space
Inventory (ROSI), which lists by
block and lot all municipally
owned land held for conservation
and/or recreation, whether purchased with Green Acres funds or
not. The ROSI must include all
lands held by the municipality as a
result of purchase, conservation
easements, leases, subdivision
approvals, and donations. It also
must list all developed parks, lands
dedicated and condemned for
conservation and/or recreation.
Under Green Acres rules, once a
municipality lists a tract on its
ROSI, it must maintain it as open
space forever. If the municipality
wants to change the use, for
example build a new library on
parkland, it must go through a
lengthy diversion process and
obtain the approval of the NJDEP
Commissioner and the State House
Commission. The municipality
must show that the diversion will
result in significant public benefit,
that impacts to the preserved land
will be minimal, and that there are
no alternatives. It must also come
up with replacement conservation
and/or recreation land that is
equal or greater in fair market
value and reasonably equivalent in
size, location and usefulness.
ing and financing long term management. Public participation especially by
the landowner (whether private or
public) and neighbors is essential to
gain support and understanding.
Having an inventory and evaluation of
the site’s resources is a very important
tool to assess future changes in use.
To substantiate what’s being proposed
to protect a site, the baseline inventory
and evaluation of the land should cover
standard Environmental Resource
Inventory topics like soils, topography,
habitat, water resources, wetlands, trees
and vegetation. For example, when
Green Township (Sussex) purchased a
large farm the Environmental Commission put together a resource inventory
which became the basis of a plan for the
site’s use. As a result, the active recreational areas are on former cornfields,
and the sensitive environmental areas
have been reserved for hiking trails.
For publicly owned land, determining
the type and degree of public access
should be done through an open process
that involves neighbors and other
residents. This can be a challenge.
Mountain Lakes (Morris) grappled with a
proposed ordinance to designate passive
and active recreation areas on existing
parks with natural areas. The environmental commission analyzed the impacts
of proposed construction on the woodlands, habitats, water resources, topography and soil to help the governing body
identify which sites were best suited for
the construction of athletic fields. Still
the issue has generated enormous
controversy, with property owners who
fear noise, excessive lighting and litter
demanding substantial buffers, and
people involved in organized sports
pushing for conversion of substantial
acreage from woodlands to playing fields.
Long Term Strategies
Funding the long-term management
of preserved land is yet another challenge. In 1997, the NJ legislature
amended the enabling legislation for
county and municipal open space taxes
(N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.1 et seq) to allow a
portion those funds to be used for
maintenance and development as well
as for acquisition. A number of municipalities and counties have taken advantage of this provision. However longterm management is funded, for sites
left in their natural state, it is a good
idea to involve neighbors and community service groups. This can help build
awareness and commitment to the
natural values of these preserved sites.
For example, Miami-Dade County,
Florida encourages community participation in protecting county-owned
environmentally endangered lands
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
9
through an Adopt-A-Natural Area
program. The NJ Natural Lands Trust,
which accepts donations of ecologically important lands, works with a
number of citizen groups to help
manage some of its preserves throughout the state. The Harding Township
(Morris) environmental commission
has worked with the local Boy Scout
troop to develop a trail and signage
through woodlands on a 50-acre
preserved piece.
Community education is another
positive approach. Several commissions including Mendham Township
(Morris) and Wenonah (Gloucester)
have produced trail guides for their
communities. These publications
help raise local awareness of the value
and benefits of the municipalities’
natural resources. Mendham’s
brochure includes rules for trail use
(restrictions for horses, bicycles,
motorized vehicles) and a key to trail
blazes. Wenonah’s is available in print
and on the web (www.geocities.com/
woodsofwenonah/html/trails.html) and
has helped build support for a “Ring of
Green” campaign to surround the
borough with walking trails.
Include Stewardship
in Acquisition
Because long-term stewardship is so
important, it’s a good idea to include
funding for stewardship in the initial
acquisition if at all possible. Many
land trusts establish endowments for
land management funds.
Every piece of land has its own
ecological resources, like wetlands,
forests, meadows, streams and ponds,
steep slopes, unique geological
formations, and special habitats for
threatened and endangered species.
When a site is left in its natural state,
these features change over time. Trees
and bushes grow and produce seedlings. Some die, fall down and rot.
And if people are managing the land,
whether to preserve specific natural
values or to provide active or passive
recreation, then the changes can be
quite considerable. As a result of both
natural and human processes, the
character of a specific piece of land
can change dramatically over time,
sometimes in a way that is contrary to
the purposes for which the land was
originally preserved.
10 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
Many municipalities require
developers to give them conservation
easements on wetlands and buffers as
part of a Planning Board approval.
Too often no one monitors these
areas, which are generally relatively
small. Over time, adjoining property
owners may infringe on the easement,
using the transition area buffer as a
convenient place to dump yard waste,
or converting the meadow into a
lawn. The NJ Freshwater Wetlands
Protection Act prohibits these kinds of
changes in transition areas for good
reason. They need to maintain their
vegetative character to filter and
absorb runoff and protect the integrity
of the wetlands.
Preserved sites are rarely subject to the
scale of destruction and change that
threatens private lands. Still development on and off the site can threaten
the ecological integrity of any piece of
preserved open space at any time. A
plan with short term and long term
goals can help deal with issues as they
arise.
Opportunities abound for open space
stewardship. Like almost every other
environmental activity, land stewardship needs to include a strong and
accurate database, ongoing participation
by local officials, and citizens, a comprehensive plan and eternal vigilance by
the environmental commission and
interested citizens.
ANJEC Annual Meeting and
Election of Board Members
The ANJEC Board of Trustees’ Nominating Committee has proposed the
following slate for 2002.
Officers
Two-year terms
President ............................................ Robert Dobbs, Camden County Soil Conservation District
Vice-President for Operations ........... Chris Allyn, Harding (Morris) Environmental Commission
Secretary ........................................... Jeff Gollin, Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce
Immediate Past President ................. Gary Szelc, P.E., advisor to Old Bridge (Middlesex)
Environmental Commission
Unexpired one year terms
Vice-President for Development ....... Nelson Dittmar, Cranford (Union) Environmental
Commission, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (retired)
Treasurer ........................................... Nancy Tindall, Mercer County Open Space Committee,
Washington Township (Mercer) Planning Board
Trustees (three year terms)
Atlantic Coastal Region ..................... G. Wayne Winner, NJ American Water Co.
Lower Delaware Region .................... Cyndy Berchtold, Camden County Environmental
Commission
Upper Delaware Region .................... Tina Bologna, Byram (Sussex) Environmental Commission, Garden State Environet
Mimi Upmeyer, Delaware (Hunterdon) Environmental
Commission, Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance
Passaic Region .................................. Merwin Kinkade, Montclair (Essex) Environmental
Commission, environmental consultant
Retiring Trustees ............................. Alan Esenlohr, Peter Kroll, Jan Larson, and Jonathan
Maslow are nominated to the Advisory Committee.
ANJEC members will vote on the slate of nominees at ANJEC’s annual
meeting held at the Environmental Congress on Friday October 18, 2002 at
the Busch Campus Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway. At that time
additional nominations may be made from the floor.
For additional information, contact the ANJEC offices at 973-539-7547 or
[email protected]
ANJEC Announces Grants for
Smart Growth Planning
Pinelands
●
by Kerry Miller, ANJEC Assistant Director
Over the coming year, eleven New
Jersey municipalities in the Highlands,
Pinelands and Delaware Bayshore
regions will utilize ANJEC Smart
Growth Assistance Grants for land use
planning projects that will protect
natural resources in concert with
“smart growth” methods and the State
Plan. The grants range from $1,000 to
$25,000. Funding for this exciting
program comes from the Geraldine R.
Dodge Foundation, which concentrates
its environmental efforts in those three
special areas of our state.
A committee of ANJEC staff, a
professional planner, and representatives of several other statewide environmental organizations selected the
recipient towns from a field of 16
applicants. “We were looking for
municipalities that expressed a strong
desire to make real changes in their
land use regulation, to avoid overdevelopment and channel growth away
from sensitive environmental lands.
We also looked for strong support and
involvement on the part of the local
environmental commission or open
space committee,” said Executive
Director Sandy Batty.
The grant program will enable towns
to research and implement changes in
their master plans, zoning and other
ordinances, to focus growth into
appropriate areas that have infrastructure in place, and discourage growth in
areas that provide critical natural
resource functions. The changes would
protect steep slopes, land around water
bodies, wellhead and aquifer recharge
areas, and areas that are habitat for
threatened and endangered wildlife,
where development would degrade the
resource function of the land.
Some towns will produce a Natural
Resource Inventory or an Open Space
Plan that can provide a sound basis for
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future planning changes. Other towns
will develop master plan and ordinance
changes including design standards,
downzoning, and redevelopment plans
that will prevent sprawl-type development and protect open space. The
governing body in each municipality
has expressed support for the project
through a resolution and commitment
to provide matching funds.
●
●
The towns receiving grants are:
Highlands
●
●
●
●
●
●
Byram Twp. (SU) - $20,000 for a plan
to prevent over-development and the
accompanying environmental
impacts in a lake community.
West Milford (PA) - $20,000 to
determine dependable groundwater
yields and groundwater susceptibility
to contamination, on which to base
development limits.
Pohatcong Twp. (WA) - $2,125 for an
open space and recreation plan.
Hamburg Borough (SU) - $7,000 for
an open space and greenway plan.
Lebanon Twp. (HU) - $3,000 for a
natural resource inventory.
Greenwich Twp. (WA) - $1,000 for a
natural resource inventory.
Franklin Twp. (GL)- $25,000 for
community visioning, a buildout
analysis, and master plan revisions and
ordinances that will preserve the rural
character of the town.
Plumsted Twp. (OC) - $13,000 to work
with Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to create a critical
areas master plan element and companion zoning ordinances.
Winslow Twp. (CA) - $25,000 to
develop design standards for a walkable
town center, ordinances to require
open space, tree retention and improved stormwater management during
development, and an incentive program to preserve open space.
Delaware Bayshore
City of Bridgeton (CU) - $25,000 for a
waterfront plan that includes redevelopment with greenway and regional
open space and recreation linkages.
● East Greenwich (GL) - $4,100 to
develop an open space and recreation
plan that includes the identification of
large parcels that should be cluster
developed, to create blocks of contiguous preserved open space.
The master plan elements and ordinances
that come out of this program will
undoubtedly provide models for other
communities. Look for follow-up articles
in the ANJEC Report as the year
progresses.
●
The Best Mitigation: Avoid Wetlands Losses
by Abigail Fair, ANJEC Water Resources Specialist
In March, the NJ Department of
Environmental Protection released a
study that assessed the state’s goal for
no net loss of wetlands through mitigation projects that create wetlands. The
results reflected disastrously low
success. Of the sites studied, the state
actually lost an average of .22 acres
instead of creating 1.8 acres for every
acre filled. The report recommended
that NJDEP’s should focus on avoiding
wetlands losses as well as minimizing
impacts to wetlands because of the
problems with mitigation. The study
also found that the wetland types
created through mitigation were not
what the plans intended to accomplish,
particularly for forested wetlands.
Conducted by Amy S. Greene
Environmental Consultants, Inc.
working with NJDEP’s Division of
Science, Research and Technology and
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
11
wetlands
regulatory
program, the
study reviewed 90
creation
mitigation
B. PRETZ
sites based on
the availability
of enough information regarding the
size and type of mitigation to allow
for a thorough and consistent evaluation.
The overall results showed a
consistent lack of success, whether the
wetlands creation was for forested,
shrub/scrub, emergent and open water
wetlands. Most dramatic was the
failure to create forested wetlands.
NJDEP approved more than 100 acres
of creation mitigation and only 1.99
acres were achieved. The study
concluded that a major difficulty was
the lack of clearly defined mitigation
plans that could actually lead to
measurement of success. For example, a plan should have a goal for
the amount of vegetation successfully
established in a
defined time
period.
The
study also
found that:
projects were
not always
conducted in
suitable locations;
inadequate hydrology was a major
contributing factor; less than half of
the projects followed NJDEP requirements; and NJDEP needs to follow-up
and monitor mitigation projects more
closely.
Given the study’s results, it is clear
that environmental commissions,
local officials and citizens should
continue to do everything possible to
preserve New Jersey’s remaining
wetlands. Their important water
resource functions, including absorbing pollutants and floodwaters, as well
as habitat for endangered and threatened species are irreplaceable.
The full report can be found at
www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/wetlands
Highlands Protection Takes a Step Forward
by Tom Gilbert, Executive Director, Highlands Coalition
In July, Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman
(R-NY) and Sen. John Corzine (D-NJ),
introduced the Highlands Stewardship
Act, a new, partnership approach to
addressing urban sprawl, promoting
smart growth, providing for a balance
between the environmental and
economic needs and defining the
federal government’s role. Co-sponsors of the legislation included
Representatives Rodney Frelinghuysen
(R-NJ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Marge
Roukema (R-NJ) and Sen. Robert
Torricelli (D-NJ). The bill would
establish the Highlands Stewardship
Area in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, the first
such area of its kind and bring $25
million a year for 10 years to protect
the 2-million acre region.
A recently released US Forest Service
report reinforces a 1992 study that
concluded the Highlands is of national significance for the diversity
and quality of its natural resources
and as a recreational area within reach
of 20 million Americans. The High-
12 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
lands provide drinking water for 94 NJ
municipalities and parts of NYC,
recreation for 14 million visitors
annually, and wildlife habitat for 247
threatened and endangered species.
From 1985 to 1990, more than
5,000 acres in the NY-NJ Highlands
were developed annually, and, from
1995-2000, 3,400 acres of forests and
wetlands were destroyed annually,
quadruple the rate of the prior decade.
A 48 percent increase in population is
projected under current zoning and
land use laws. If trends continue,
ground water withdrawals are expected to exceed supply in Highlands
watersheds including the Ramapo,
Whippany, Pequest, Upper Delaware,
and Lopatcong and possibly the
Rockaways and Upper Musconetcong
basins.
To see the full US Forest Service
report, go to www.fs.fed.us/na/
highlands/draft_report.
Earth Share of New Jersey
New Jersey’s leading environmental
groups founded Earth Share of New
Jersey (ESNJ) to raise funds economically
through collaborative fundraising in
workplace giving campaigns. Earth Share
of New Jersey is a coalition of 18 statewide and 42 national and international
organizations and part of a national
alliance of more than 450 environmental
and conservation groups. Ninety percent
of the funds raised go to member groups.
All contributions are tax deductible to the
fullest extent provided by law.
Through Earth Share of New Jersey you
can set up an automatic deduction from
your paycheck. Your contribution will be
divided among ESNJ members or, you can
direct your entire donation to one or more
specific organizations.
If you would like more information about
setting up Earth Share of New Jersey at
your place of employment, contact Kim
Kaiser at ANJEC (973-539-7547) or Ken
Medd, Executive Director of Earth Share of
New Jersey (908-872-3400). Earth Share
of New Jersey can also help promote and
manage workplace campaigns.
New Jersey Organizations who are
members of Earth Share
American Littoral Society
ANJEC
Clean Ocean Action
Environmental Education Fund
Great Swamp Watershed Association
Greater Newark Conservancy
Isles
Monmouth Conservation Foundation
Morris Land Conservancy
NJ Audubon Society
NJ Conservation Foundation
Passaic River Coalition
Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic
South Branch Watershed Association
Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association
Wetlands Institute
For a complete list of Earth Share members, go to
www.earthsharenj.org.
Thought Provoking Essays on the Importance of Conservation
In the Presence of Fear: Three Essays
for a Changed World, by Wendell
Berry, The Orion Society, Great
Barrington, MA, 42 pages, $8.00.
Wendell Berry is a conservationist,
farmer, essayist, poet and author of
32 books. He lives on a farm in
Kentucky where he was born in 1934.
This collection of three essays, two
of which were written in the wake of
September 11, is thought provoking.
“Thoughts in the Presence of Fear”
consists of 27 statements that link his
concerns with our over-reliance on
technology and innovation and the
need for a peaceable economy. He
defines that economy as one in which
we acknowledge that “we cannot
spend and consume endlessly.” The
second essay gives greater detail
about an ideal local economy, one
that is self-sufficient, exporting only
the surplus of the goods and services
it creates. In the final essay, “In
Distrust of Movements,” he asserts
his dissatisfaction because movements “are too specialized, they are
not comprehensive enough, they are
not radical enough...and ultimately
are insincere.” He believes that it is
not enough to simply support a
movement, but one must act on a
local level in harmony with nature
using cheap, accessible solutions to
respect our earth and its resources.
This book can be read in an hour,
but will leave you pondering its
message for much longer.
Pam Kuhn,
ANJEC Resource Center Volunteer
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The Great Remembering, Further
thoughts on Land, Soul and Society,
by Peter Forbes, The Trust for Public
Land, San Francisco, CA. 2001, 95
pages, $14.95.
“Let us consider the way in which
we live our lives” — the question
Thoreau often asked of his audience,
this book poses to its readers. In our
determination to protect the places
we love, can we make the necessary
sacrifices, express dissent in ways we
have not done before?
In the face of accelerating land
development, TPL is searching for
new ways, even a new paradigm of
land conservation. Forbes explores
the problems faced by the forces of
land conservation and states the
obvious - that we cannot win this war
with our current weapons. There is
not enough money, not enough
people, not enough will within the
movement to set aside even the
treasures - much less the lands that
contribute daily to our quality of life.
TPL President Will Rogers asks “How
can we…better harness people’s
powerful connection with the
land...change how our society approaches not just land use, but our
relationship to each other, our sense
of community and our responsibilities as citizens in a shrinking world?
Heavy stuff, this.
Forbes speaks of us being diminished by the changes in the landscape
upon which we live. His childhood
state fairgrounds are now a mall —
and his (and my) childhood woods
are now a sub-division. He says we
have traded an idiosyncratic story for
a financial transaction. This transaction “one that we make every day in
almost every place” is said to lead us
from a “recorded, quirky human
history” to what others have called
the extinction of human experience.
Speaking of childhood experiences,
Forbes quotes Dr. Suess’ Lorax to
point up the consumerism running
rampant in this country:
“I meant no harm,
I most truly did not.
But I had to grow bigger.
So bigger I got.
I biggered my factory.
I biggered my roads.
I biggered my wagons.
I biggered the loads.
I went right on biggering,
selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money,
which everyone needs.”
Our need of Thneeds (and other
things) uses up land and quiets the
stories we need to hear. It may also
make us lose our connections to the
land and to ways we might better live
on the planet.
Forbes believes the struggle to
preserve land is a life-altering experience, enabling people to tackle other
struggles, bringing a sense of meaning and self-determination. He sees
land conservation as civil disobedience opposing prevailing cultural
forces and as an act of self-liberation
leading to meaning, purpose and joy.
The need to connect on a personal
level - not “abdicate our personal
responsibility to live with care” seems
crucial to saving our lands. Without
sacrifice or effort we have not engendered the changes needed to preserve
our heritage, our “wholeness” embodied in the places, the land we love.
And Forbes’ definition is simple “Land is Love.” Saving land is all
about saving relationships, communities and self-determination. In the
end, Forbes says, it is about being a
little wild.
Lisa Voyce, ANJEC Project Director
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
13
Information commissions can pass on to their communities
Environmentally-friendly Lawns
By Joe Reynolds, Atlantic Highlands Environmental Commission
[email protected]
reprinted from the Atlantic Highlands Herald (www.ahhherald. com)
Last year, a second edition of the
popular Redesigning the American
Lawn: A Search for Environmental
Harmony, by F. Herbert Bormann,
Diana Balmori, and Gordon T.
Geballe (Yale University Press 2001)
was released. I highly recommend
this book for anyone who wants to
get more enjoyment out of the home
landscape and help improve the local
environment. First published in 1993,
the book has inspired people in the
last nine years to transition their
communities towards a more sustainable environment via better lawn
management. What does your green
lawn have to do with creating a more
fit physical environment for all
species to enjoy? Plenty!
According to the authors, one of
the best ways we can improve our
local environment is for landowners
to move away from their monoculture
of a frequently mowed all-grass and
continuously green industrial lawn to a
more diverse meadow or grove. The
new landscape would be natural, would
use organic fertilizers derived from
decomposing leaves and plant debris,
and be primarily made up of native
plants, grasses, and shrubs.
For example, the authors pointed
out that in Milford, CT, local residents got together on Earth Day 1996
to increase local ecological awareness
and anti-pollution activities. In
response, the town adopted a “Freedom Lawn” concept. Each year the
town holds a competition to identify
and honor five homeowners with
natural and native landscapes. The
authors state that “the judges look for
chemical free lawns that contain a
diversity of plants species, patches of
14 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
forest or meadow, bird feeders and
birdbaths, and the presence of gravel
driveways (gravel driveways allow
rainwater to sink into the soil rather
than run off into the street.”
Why should you care about redesigning your lawn and home landscape? For starters, it will make your
landscape more earthy, more alive,
more dynamic, and fun to maintain,
as there will be increased opportunities to view wildlife and to enjoy
various beautiful native plant species.
Sadly, up to a third of our flora
species in New Jersey are non-native
and this percentage is growing rapidly
every year.
There are many ecological and
economical benefits. First, natural
meadows and forest edges help to
increase biological diversity, as they
provide important meadow-shrub
habitat for a variety of insects, birds,
butterflies, and mammals for a
healthy food web. This will help to
lessen the negative effects of habitat
fragmentation and degradation from
sprawl, and the invasion of nonnative and aggressive species.
Secondly, a natural habitat in your
front lawn also helps to lessen nonpoint pollution from fertilizers and
pesticides. Whatever amount (and in
some case it could be up to 90
percent) of these toxic chemicals do
not get directly absorbed by your
lawn will either end up in our
groundwater, surface water, or
drinking water. Thirdly, a native
plant meadow is nontoxic, requires
little watering or maintenance, and is
energy effective.
Economically, a natural lawn saves
time and money. The authors indicate
that sod is an expensive substance. A
nine square foot section of sod costs
approximately $4.00. This means that
for a landowner to cover 5,000 square
feet of new lawn would cost over
$2,200, and this does not even
include the delivery, the site preparation, and the maintenance. In some
cases, landowners with a monoculture
of green grass on just 0.6 acres of
land can spend over $400 per year on
its maintenance and the purchase of
equipment, pesticides, and fertilizers
to artificially make it look green.
Most alarming in this time of serious
drought conditions is that in 1990,
according to the authors, up to 30
percent of drinking water sources on
the East Coast were used for watering
lawns. The authors also indicate that
a natural lawn should be incorporated
in initial roadway designs and on all
public landscapes to help control the
cost to government from ground
maintenance activities.
My advice to you is to be bold, be
different, and stop being like all the
people who have helped to contribute
to 31 million acres of lawn in the
United States. Seek out a new design
for your home landscape that incorporates native plants, biological
diversity, and will help to contribute
to long-term sustainability in your
community. Birds, butterflies, native
plants, and our local waterways will
thank you!
For more information on New Jersey’s
native plants, check out the Native
Plant Society of New Jersey’s website at:
http://www.npsnj.org.
By Valorie Caffee, Director of Organizing,
New Jersey Work Environment Council
Environmental
Justice:
A New Movement
Seeking Allies
“Waterfront South” evokes images
of a vacation destination, but this
South Camden neighborhood of
predominantly Black and Latino
residents is home to triple the
amount of environmental pollution
of any other New Jersey community.
It is also the state’s Jersey’s poorest
community. A county incinerator,
trash-to-steam plant, co-generation
plant, two Superfund sites, 15 other
known contaminated sites, an industrial medical laundry, industrial
parks, and a regional sewage treatment plant are located here.
The New Brunswick-RahwayLinden-Elizabeth-Newark areas of the
state represent the vision most
outsiders have of New Jersey—
densely-populated cities enveloped by
miles of a heavily-congested turnpike
that’s a backdrop to smelly oil
refineries and tank farms, lingering,
toxic plumes from incinerators and
industrial smokestacks, and numerous Superfund sites still awaiting
clean-up.
This is what environmental racism
and injustice look like, but it doesn’t
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tell the whole story. Ever since a
group of courageous residents in
Warren County, North Carolina
succeeded in preventing the state
from storing 6,000 truckloads of PCBcontaminated soil in a landfill near
their community, more people began
to suspect that many communities
with large populations of Black,
Latino and low-income residents of
all races bear more environmental
degradation and pollution than
majority white, middle-class communities.
Landmark studies by the Racial
Justice Commission of the United
Church of Christ and Clarke
University’s Dr. Robert Bullard
confirmed these suspicions. Coordinated efforts in the late ’80s helped
spawn a true mass movement when
the 1,000 attendees at the 1991 first
People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit crafted the working
document, “Principles of Environmental Justice.”
These events broadened and
redefined “environment” to include
places where people live, work, pray,
play, and go to school. The trend to
turn urban areas into toxic wastelands and dumping grounds was now
being opposed for the first time in an
organized way. (Suburban neighborhoods with significant numbers of
Blacks, Latinos, Native American
“Indian” tribal lands also fall under
the scope of the movement.)
The role of government
Another significant response to
ongoing advocacy and organizing
efforts was a 1994 Executive Order by
President Clinton that aimed to
prevent environmental racism under
Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
This document recognized that that
communities with large populations
of people of color are the ones most
impacted by disproportionate environmental problems.
By the late 1990’s both the US
Environmental Protection Agency and
the NJ Department of Environmental
Protection were starting to deal with
environmental justice issues. USEPA
issued guidance to “provide a framework for processing Title VI complaints from communities alleging
discrimination.” NJDEP created a
broad-based Environmental Equity
Task Force to develop an environmental justice policy and revise its
pollution permit regulations.1 In
2000, DEP Commissioner Robert
Shinn established the state’s first
environmental equity policy and
made the Environmental Equity Task
Force a permanent advisory council.
In early 2002, the Advisory Council
and NJDEP staff proposed precedentsetting regulations for pollution
permits. The “Expanded Community
Participation Process for Environmental Equity, EE Process,” proposal was
intended to set up a mechanism for
extensive community participation in
permit decision-making. It also
mandates that NJDEP comply with
Title VI by using various new assessment and compliance procedures to
determine if pollution permits for
toxic facilities would have an adverse,
disparate impact on the communities
in which they’re located and/or
violate the civil rights of the residents.
The rule proposal helped raise the
level of awareness about environmental justice. For the first time hundreds
of New Jersey residents participated
in a statewide dialogue on this serious
issue. While the rule received wideNJDEP, unlike most involved in the Environmental Justice
Movement, uses the term “equity” rather than the word “justice.”
One of the goals of the Environmental Justice Movement is not to
require “equity,” which implies the browning of green areas, but to
advocate for cleaner industries, among other goals.
1
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
15
spread general support, many people
saw a need for amendments to give
NJDEP the authority to deny permits
if the facilities would increase the
environmental burden and/or violate
the civil rights of community members. The rule’s screening tool to
determine if the permit would further
harm already-burdened communities
was also problematic, with most
people noting that it was difficult to
understand and wouldn’t prove
useful.
New DEP Commissioner Brad
Campbell agreed that the screening
tool needs to be overhauled and
proposed an alternative approach in
May. He announced that the department was working on a proposal that
would allow people to petition the
NJDEP to hold public hearings to
address their environmental justice
concerns about a polluting facility. If
the department concurred that the
complaint was warranted, then it
would develop an action plan to help
alleviate the problem. The department would examine the facility in
question and evaluate the other
environmental burdens affecting the
community.
Safety Not Secrecy
“This ‘petition program’ is similar
to WEC’s Safety, not Secrecy (SNS)
campaign,” notes WEC Director Rick
Engler. “There are some differences,
though. Where the NJDEP’s approach
focuses on environmental injustice
complaints, our campaign asks the
state to hold public hearings if 50 or
more residents and/or workers sign a
petition concerning the potential
safety, security or environmental risk
from a specific facility in any community.”
Engler explains that New Jersey has
hundreds of hazardous and toxic
industries, and that the tragedy of
September 11 reminded us that our
workplaces and communities are
neither safe nor secure. These factors
motivated WEC to organize the SNS
Campaign. ANJEC is one of more than
70 organizations that has endorsed it.
“It will also benefit people living in
environmentally overburdened
communities,” Engler added, “because they are the ones living near
the most hazardous industries.”
New studies show the detrimental
16 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
health effects from environmental
exposures. One, by Greater Boston
Physicians for Social Responsibility in
conjunction with the Clean Water
Fund, examines the intersection
between child development problems
and chemical exposures. The report
concludes that a variety of chemical
exposures have contributed to an
“epidemic of developmental, learning,
and behavioral disabilities” among
children.” The second report, issued
by WEC, found that the majority of
public schools in Clifton and Paterson
are located less than a mile from
facilities that store more than 10,000
pounds of toxic chemicals. Repeated
accidental releases from such facilities
in Paterson jeopardize the health and
welfare of area school children,
personnel and residents.
“People of color and low-income
residents bear the onus of adverse
health affects from environmental
pollution,” says Engler. “Asthma and
other respiratory illnesses are at
epidemic proportions in many of these
communities, and poor air quality
from toxic facilities is one of the
triggers for these health problems.”
USEPA states that environmental
justice means “fair treatment.” As
defined by the EPA, “Fair treatment
means that no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic groups should bear a
disproportionate share of negative
environmental consequences from
industrial, municipal, and commercial
operations, or the execution of federal,
state, local and tribal programs and
policies.”
The Environmental Justice Movement needs other environmental allies
to help it achieve the goal of “fair
treatment” and state and federal
policies and programs that mandate
“green” economic investment and
development, the clean-up of our
urban areas, and government commitments to non-discriminatory programs
and policies. This is an open invitation
for you to become an environmental
justice ally.
Valorie Caffee is the Director of Organizing for the New Jersey Work Environment
Council and a member of the NJDEP
Environmental Equity Advisory Council.
WEC is an alliance of environmental/
environmental justice, community and
labor organizations that works for safe,
secure jobs and a healthy, sustainable
environment. For more information
about environmental justice issues,
WEC, or how to obtain copies of the
reports contact Valorie at (609) 6957100 or at [email protected], or the WEC
website at www.njwec.org
Kudos to ANJEC and
Environmental
Commissioners
Every day across the state environmental commission members are
working hard to protect natural resources and improve environmental
quality. Recent honors recognized the
work of ANJEC, several staff members,
and environmental commissioners.
NJ Planning Officials, the statewide
organization for planning and zoning
board members presented ANJEC with a
Planning Achievement Award for its
programs to protect natural resources
through good land use planning.
The Great Swamp Watershed Association (Morris) recognized long-term
contributions to open space protection
and good land use, honoring Jo Ann
Casadevall, former chair of the
Morristown commission, Penny Hinkle,
former chair of the Harding commission and executive director of the
Harding Land Trust, Sarah Dean Link,
former chair of the Mendham Township
commission, Helen Fenske, one of
ANJEC’s founders and a long-time
environmental activist, and ANJEC staff
members Sally Dudley and Abigail Fair.
The Moorestown (Burlington) Service
Club Council honored Barbara Rich as
citizen of the year for her unrelenting
persistence and dedication with many
achievements, including founder of
STEM (Save the Environment of
Moorestown), president of the Rancocas
Conservancy, a long time member of
the Moorestown Environmental
Committee and a former ANJEC staff
member.
And the Borough of Mountain Lakes
presented Executive Director Sandy
Batty with the 2002 Janice D. Hunts
Lifetime Service Award for her many
years of community service and leadership on the environmental commission,
planning board and governing body.
Bravo and congratulations to all.
Habitat Restoration
By Michele Gaynor, ANJEC Resource Center Director
Grants and Loans to Support
Environmental Protection
Commissions have a variety of
sources they can look to for funding
environmental activities in their
communities. Grants and loans are
available for projects from stream
restoration and open space planning to
historic restoration and community
education. Most grants go directly to
the municipality.
Environmental Commission Projects
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (NJDEP)
Environmental Services Program
Environmental commissions and soil conservation
districts are eligible for annual matching grants of up to
$2,500 for projects like environmental resource
inventories, environmental educational materials, trail
design, stream and water quality testing and GIS
mapping. Contact: 609-984-0828, www.state.nj.us/
dep/grantandloanprograms
Open Space Preservation
NJDEP GREEN ACRES
Municipal and county governments are eligible for
matching grants to acquire open space and develop
outdoor recreation facilities. Those with open space
taxes and open space and recreation plans can obtain
50 percent Planning Incentive grants. Green Acres
also offers 25 percent grants for specific projects.
Contact: 609-984-0500, www.state.nj.us/dep/
greenacres
NEW JERSEY ENVIRONMENTAL
INFRASTRUCTURE TRUST
Municipalities can obtain low cost loans ($200,000 or
more) for infrastructure including wastewater systems,
drinking water supplies, stormwater control and open
space acquisition that preserves water quality and
quantity. Only passive recreation is allowed on lands
acquired with this funding. Contact: 609-219-8600,
www.njeit.org
Farmland Preservation
NJ STATE AGRICULTURE
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Municipalities with a farmland preservation element in
their Master Plan and a source of funding are eligible
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for Planning Incentive Grants (PIG) to purchase
development easements for permanent protection of
large blocks of contiguous farmland. Contact your
county agriculture board for smaller projects.
Contact: 609-984-2504, www.state.nj.us/agriculture
Historic Preservation
NJ HISTORIC TRUST
Local governments, counties and qualified nonprofits can obtain matching grants to restore and
manage historic sites. Contact: 609-984-0473,
www.njht.org
NJDEP CERTIFIED
LOCAL GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Certified Local Governments (CLG) can obtain
matching grants to promote historic preservation
through resource surveys, planning and education
projects. Contact: 609-984-6017 www.state.nj.us/
dep/grantandloanprograms/nhrhpclgg.htm
MAIN STREET NEW JERSEY
NJ DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
(NJDCA)
Selected communities with populations of 4,000 to
50,000 who are willing to make a financial
commitment can receive technical assistance and
training to improve the economy, appearance and
image of their central business districts. Contact:
609-633-9769, www.state.nj.us/dca/dhcr/msnj.htm
Water Quality/Watershed Protection
NJDEP NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Municipalities and non-profits can obtain grants to
improve water quality in local rivers and streams by
controlling nonpoint source pollution. Eligible
projects include stream bank restoration, water
quality improvement actions and development of
regional stormwater management plans. Contact:
609-633-1379, www.state.nj.us/dep/watershedmgt/
programs
WETLANDS MITIGATION COUNCIL
The Council reviews mitigation proposals when an
applicant cannot meet NJDEP mitigation requirements under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection
Act. It can accept cash contributions in lieu of actual
on-site mitigation and disburse funds for mitigation
projects that will help to compensate the public for
wetlands losses. Contact: 609-633-6563
FUNDING FOR HABITAT RESTORATION
PROJECTS: A CITIZENS’ GUIDE
A guide to federal funding and/or technical assistance
programs for habitat restoration, including the Wetland
Reserve Program, Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention, and the National Estuary Program.
Contact: Restore American ‘s Estuaries, 703-5240248, www.estuaries.org
Tree Protection
NJDEP GREEN ACRES
Municipalities and non-profits can obtain U.S.
Department of Agriculture funds through NJDEP
Green Acres to purchase large tracts of forested lands
with priority to forest lands with important scenic,
cultural, and recreation resources, fish and wildlife
habitats, water resources and other ecological values.
Contact: 609-984-0500, www.state.nj.us/dep/
greenacres
NJDEP FOREST SERVICE
COMMUNITY FORESTRY
Matching grant programs for municipalities can help
finance planting trees on public land and develop
Community Forestry Management Plans. The
Community Stewardship Incentive Program offers
grants to help municipalities implement management
goals and practices in their Community Forestry
Management Plans.
Contact: 609-292-2532
Transportation/Trails
NJ DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ENHANCEMENT GRANTS (TEA-21)
Grants for local and county projects that improve the
aesthetic and cultural qualities of transportation.
Projects may include the creation of bicycle and
pedestrian trails, restoration and rehabilitation of
historic canals, train stations and improvements of
downtown streetscapes. Contact: 609-530-3640,
www.state.nj.us/transportation/lgs
National Recreational Trails
Program
NJDEP OFFICE OF NATURAL LANDS
MANAGEMENT
Financial assistance is available to municipalities,
counties and non-profits for developing and
maintaining trails and facilities for non-motorized,
multi-use and motorized purposes with public access.
Contact: 609-984-1173
Smart Growth
NJDCA SMART GROWTH PLANNING GRANTS
County and local governments can obtain grants to
help design and build livable communities to revitalize
urban centers, protect environmental quality and
provide adequate housing and public services. May
require a local match.
Contact: 609-292-7156, www.state.nj.us/osp
For more information please contact
the ANJEC Resource Center at 975-5397547, or [email protected].
ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
17
ANJEC depends on advertisers to help pay for the cost of printing the ANJEC Report.
Please let them know that you saw their ad here. Remember, however, that ANJEC does not necessarily endorse any of these firms.
BIOLOGISTS • SCIENTISTS
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS • PLANNERS
(732) 818-8699
Fax (732) 797-3223
1658 Route 9
Toms River, NJ 08755
WHAT’S AILING US?
The Sprawl-Health
Connection
29th Environmental Congress
Friday October 18th
See Back Cover for more information.
760 ROUTE 10 WEST
WHIPPANY, NJ 07981-1159
voice 973-560-0090
fax 973-560-1270
e-mail: [email protected]
www.lsga.com
AIR • WATER • SOIL • SOLID WASTE
CONSULTANTS
239 US Hwy 22 East
Green Brook,
New Jersey 08812
Donald F. Elias
A. Roger Greenway
Sunil P. Hangal
18 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
So you think advertising here doesn't work...
then why are you reading this?
(732) 968-9600
Fax: (732) 968-5279
www.rtpenv.com
ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS
Call 973-539-7547 to reserve your ad space in the
ANJEC Report today. Think what you've been missing!
ANJEC depends on advertisers to help pay for the cost of printing the ANJEC Report.
Please let them know that you saw their ad here. Remember, however, that ANJEC does not necessarily endorse any of these firms.
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONET
EnviroNews
Free NJ News Delivered Daily to Your E-Mailbox
To subscribe, send a blank e-mail message to:
[email protected].
Free E-Mail List Hosting
Specializing in Real Estate
Assessment and Site Investigation
Testing of Air • Soil • Water
Norton Conservation Company, Inc.
#223 Johnsonburg Rd., PO Box 185, Allamuchy, NJ 07820
Joe Norton, Environmental Specialist
email: [email protected]
voice: (888) 852-6046
fax: (908) 852-9775
For NJ Environmental Groups
Write [email protected] or call
(973) 394-1313 for details.
www.gsenet.org
“News You can Use
to Keep the Garden State Green”
Lewis Goldshore, Esq.
REPRESENTING GOVERNMENT BODIES IN
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS SINCE 1980
www.environews.com
SZAFERMAN, LAKIND, BLUMSTEIN,
BLADER, LEHMANN & GOLDSHORE, P.C.
101 GROVERS MILL ROAD
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ 08648
(609) 275-0400 PHONE
(609) 275-4511 FAX
Environmental Consultants
Thomas D’Angelo
17 Indian Terrace
Lafayette, NJ 07848
973-875-8585
Fax: 973-875-8080
Environmental Impacts • Resource Inventories • Grants • Wetlands
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ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
19
What’s Ailing Us?
The Sprawl-Health Connection
Environmental Congress 2002
Friday, October 18 • 8:30am – 4:00pm
Rutgers University
Busch Campus Center, Piscataway
Featured Speaker:
Bradley Campbell, Commissioner
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
“Plans for the Department”
Keynote Speaker:
Andrew Dannenberg, MD, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
“The Health Effects of Sprawl”
Workshop Sessions
❏ Green building, community design and public health
❏ Addressing environmental health issues – childhood
asthma and lead poisoning
❏ Managing home environment issues - indoor air quality,
mold and common pests
❏ Protecting critical resources on preserved open space
❏ Using ERIs and carrying capacity analysis to strengthen
local land use planning
❏ Improving local storm water management
❏ Integrating water supply and growth management
❏ Redeveloping brownfields while protecting community
health
Smart Growth Roundtables
Bring your questions and issues. ANJEC staff and other
experts will offer advice and guidance on assuring that
master plans, zoning, site plan review, mixed use proposals, affordable housing plans, build out analysis, carrying
ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS
P.O. Box 157
Mendham, NJ 07945
20 ANJEC REPORT - SUMMER 2002
capacity modeling, the State Plan and other state land use
policies support protection of natural resources, environmental quality and public health.
Plus exhibits and opportunities to meet and talk to other
environmental commissioners and activists, environmental
and planning organizations, NJDEP and Environmental
Achievement Award winners.
For further information, contact ANJEC at 973-539-7547,
or [email protected], or check out www.anjec.org/html/
workshops.htm
Thanks to ANJEC’s
Business Supporters
CORPORATE DONORS
ANJEC Gold Members - $7,500 and Up
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
PSEG
Business Donors
Amy S.Greene Environmental Consultants
Biostar Associates, Inc.
Clarke-Caton-Hintz
Conectiv
ECO Systems
Environmental Compliance, Inc.
Lewis Goldshore, Esq.
Lewis S Goodfriend &
Associates
Leggette, Brashears &
Graham, Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc.
New Jersey-American
Water Co.
Norton Conservation Co.,
Inc.
RTP Environmental
Associates
Thonet Associates
Trident Environmental
Consultants
Van Note-Harvey Association
Wakefern Food Corp.
Jerome Wyckoff
Non Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
P A I D
East Hanover, NJ
Permit No. 5