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DEVELOPMENT THREATENS NJ WATER SUPPLIES
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DEVELOPMENT THREATENS NJ WATER SUPPLIES
By Alex Nussbaum, Bergen Record, June 29, 2004
In the fall, Governor McGreevey posed by Woodcliff Lake and promised to safeguard dozens of water supplies around New Jersey.
"Before protections were put in place, developers and industry could literally build right on top of our state's reservoirs and streams," declared McGreevey, who was flanked by Bergen County's top environmentalists. "We changed that."
Nine months later, McGreevey still hasn't put those protections in place. And the developers keep coming.
The governor has yet to sign off on papers that officially put safeguards around Woodcliff Lake, Lake Tappan, and 33 other drinking-water sources around the state, despite a promise to finish the job by Earth Day in April.
The delay means developers may be able to build more homes next to the Lake Tappan reservoir in River Vale, more roads and shops on wetlands next to the Metedeconk River in South Jersey, and a golf course that activists say will pollute the Delaware River. Those and other projects could be downsized or killed if the water protections were in place, critics say.
"With all due respect to the governor, it's time to take care of unfinished business," River Vale Mayor George Paschalis said.
The McGreevey administration says it's been swamped with other important work, like the bill passed this month to preserve the Highlands. But environmentalists and residents opposed to the projects are wondering if the governor's lost some of his political nerve.
"He said last year 'on Earth Day,'" said Steve Brosky, a Jackson Township homeowner fighting a proposed commercial complex next to the Metedeconk. "Earth Day has come and gone and we still don't have the protection. If it was in writing, I think a lot of us would feel better."
Although the administration cites the Highlands workload, critics wonder whether politics are slowing the process. Some think the administration wants to save the signings until it has time for more photo-ops along the water. Others say the governor has had enough of taking on the builders' lobby in Trenton. Whether that means the water protections are sunk, or simply postponed a few months, has activists fretting.
McGreevey's spokesman said Monday that the governor plans to approve the protections "as soon as possible." He would not be more specific, saying new regulations need careful review.
"We're not going to go out there willy-nilly without knowing that were making the right decision," Micah Rasmussen said.
Still, he said, "the governor is committed" to keeping his promise.
McGreevey's moves to protect drinking supplies, and his push for the Highlands legislation, show he's not afraid of developers, Rasmussen said. "This is a governor that does not have to prove his environmental credentials. They're second to none."
The dispute centers on regulations known as Category One, or C1. The designation strictly limits what developers can build next to a lake, river, or stream. The state forbids major new developments within 300 feet of waters declared C1, and no building anywhere in a protected watershed unless developers prove it won't harm water quality.
McGreevey is the first governor to apply the protection to drinking-water supplies, and his aggressive use of the rule has been a hit with environmental groups. So far, he's proposed 8,000 acres of reservoirs and 500 miles of rivers and streams for C1 protection. McGreevey has made the most of it politically as well, holding at least six waterside news conferences to tout his efforts.
In October, during what his administration called "Environment Week," he promoted the plan on consecutive days, first with a group of middle-school students by Woodcliff Lake, then by the Brick Reservoir next to the Metedeconk.
In January, he was in Closter, by a brook that feeds the Oradell Reservoir, vowing "we will not back down."
The governor did enact protections last year for the first round of C1 candidates, including the Wanaque and Oradell reservoirs and 13 other water bodies statewide. But the latest round, including Woodcliff Lake and Lake Tappan, has languished for months, since the list was sent to the governor's office for final approval, environmentalists say.
The designations wouldn't necessarily block building projects. But they would force developers to scale back or adopt more measures to keep pollution from reaching nearby waters.
In River Vale, the delay has sparked a cat-and-mouse game, with the would-be builder, Rivervale Developers, pushing for township permits and opponents trying to slow the project until C1 status kicks in.
The company wants to build about 100 town house units and 12 single-family homes on 26 wooded acres next to the lake.
A consultant's report prepared for the township predicts a quarter of that land would be off-limits if the new protections were in place. The full plan, however, is already before the township Planning Board.
"We only have a limited timeframe here. If it happens too late, it'll be useless," said Paschalis, the mayor. He and state Assemblyman John Rooney, a Northvale Republican, have written to McGreevey, urging him to speed up the review.
Paschalis was sympathetic to the governor's need to spend time on the Highlands bill. Still, he said, "I don't believe the battle against overdevelopment can really be put on hold. Communities like mine can't really afford to take a number."
Even developers, who call C1 too restrictive, want McGreevey to act, said Stuart Liebman, an attorney for Rivervale Developers and other builders.
"The uncertainty makes it unclear as to what you can and can't do with your property," he said.
"On the one hand, we're happy to see the process slowed down so this can get the review it deserves. On the other hand, you'd like to have an idea of what the regulations are going to be in the end.
In Hunterdon County, a 300-foot buffer would leave more land to filter pesticides and other runoff from a golf course proposed along the Wickecheoke Creek, which feeds the Delaware, said Tracy Carluccio of the group Delaware Riverkeeper. "We're talking about big, big changes to this golf course and any golf course on land that drains to a C1 stream," she said.
In Jackson, a citizen's group has been fighting an $855 million project that could include a 38-building commercial complex near the headwaters of the Metedeconk, which is tapped for water by communities downstream. The C1 buffer might prevent three of those buildings and mean one less lane of traffic added to local roads, Brosky said.
"It's talk the talk, walk the walk," Brosky said. "The politicians-during the last election C1 was the best thing they'd ever heard of.
Now that the election has passed, who knows?"
* * * Email: nussbaum@northjersey.com
Copyright 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
