Skylands CLEAN has been working with Bloomingdale residents, the Bloomingdale Environmental Commission (BEC), and the Pequannock River Coalition to prevent development of Federal Hill, an environmentally sensitive and significant Revolutionary War-era historic site. Less than one square mile in area, it is located in the southeastern-most section of Bloomingdale between Hamburg Turnpike and Van Dam and Union avenues.
During the Revolutionary War, Federal Hill was one in a long series of alarm stations. Selected due to its height and central location above the valley, a lookout located there was to raise the alarm in the event of a British advance up the Hudson River. In the winter of 1781, the Pompton Mutiny occurred on and around Federal Hill. The mutiny was put down after 7 days by a 600-man force sent by George Washington, and two of its leaders were summarily executed.
Federal Hill has been under threat of development for over fifty years. In recent years, two different companies have attempted to develop the site. The first was Baker-Residential which proposed 144 residential units. For more than nine months, concerned citizens did exhaustive research to convince the planning board that the residential development was inappropriate for Federal Hill. On August 21,1997, their efforts paid off and the Bloomingdale Planning Board voted 6 to 3 to deny the Baker-Residential application. This decision was promptly appealed by Baker-Residential and on March 16,1999 Passaic County Superior Court Judge Robert Passero upheld the Bloomingdale Planning Board's decision. Among other issues, impact upon quality of life played an important role in the decision.
Currently, the Meer development (360 condominiums, adjacent to Baker-Firestone's property) is the subject of hearings before the Planning Board. Concerned local residents, Skylands CLEAN, the BEC, and the Pequannock River Coalition have done extensive research and are presenting community concerns to the Planning Board. Bloomingdale residents opposing the Meer development object to the negative environmental and quality of life effects of this type of development. Of particular concern are existing and very problematic flooding of adjacent neighbors, impact on reported endangered species, and increased turbidity and sedimentation of the Pequannock River. Planning Board meetings concerning this application continue with the most recent being held on August 9,2001. Strong citizen attendance is effective and greatly appreciated.
ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE
Federal Hill meets all criteria as a Critical Environmental/Historic
Site on the State Plan Map. It also meets all criteria as a State
Designated Planning Area 5 (PA5), which is for
environmentally-sensitive areas, rather than its previous designation
of PA2, which is for suburban areas, and which is believed to have been
assigned in error. This is why the Bloomingdale Environmental
Commission, individual concerned citizen's and Skylands CLEAN worked to
get the Office Of State Planning to designate Federal Hill as a
Planning Are 5.
The criteria to meet State Critical Environmental/Historic Site designation are:
Critical slope areas in greater than 69% of this area contains slopes over 20%. Slopes in excess of 50% are abundantWetlands (these wetlands were determined by the Bureau of Freshwater Wetlands to be of Exceptional Value in classification). NOTE: Federal Hill contains 4 types of wetlands: open water, stream corridor forested, which are found near streams and are recognized for their value in flood control; forested wetlands; and scrub-shrub wetlands. Wetlands are important for several reasons:
1. Hundreds of species use wetlands as
habitat.
2.Wetlands moderate the effect of storms by reducing flow.
3.Wetlands have great soil-holding ability. Soil that would
otherwise be washed away is stabilized.
4.The amount of matter produced in wetlands is abundant. The
abundance of freshwater organisms, along with the presence of aquatic
plants and algae, are required for a healthy ecosystem.
5.Wetlands are involved in the complex geocycles of the earth and
contribute to water and atmospheric stability.
6.Wetlands have waste assimilation properties and may partially "treat"
waste before it finds its way into rivers and streams.
Habitats of endangered and threatened species. Five have been sighted on Federal Hill:
1.Wood turtle
2.Blue spotted salamander
3.Red-headed woodpecker
4.Little blue heron
5.Great blue heron
Habitats with wide diversity of resident species, such as chipmunks, Eastern moles, gray squirrels, groundhogs, opossum, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, and woodchucks in the small mammal family; black bear, Eastern coyote, gray fox, red fox, and white-tailed deer in the large mammal family (NOTE: White-tailed deer are facing a problem of having their habitat decrease in size every year. Destruction of their habitat will increase their spread into suburban neighborhoods and eventually lead to their population further decreasing in size.); Canadian geese and wild turkeys in the bird family; and green frogs, newts, marbled salamanders, Eastern painted turtle, and toads in the amphibian and reptile family. These criteria are in addition to the endangered species above:Historic sites and areasRidge linesTrout production waters and trout maintenance waters & their watersheds which drain into the Pequannock RiverPrime forested areas, including mature stands of native species. These species include: red oak, sugar maple, white oak, black birch, and Norway maple. Flora and fauna include violet, wood anemone, Jack-in-the-pulpit, foxglove, aster, goldenrod, snapdragon, buglewood, smooth white lettuce, Christmas fern, tree clubmoss, bead fern & field horsetail. (According to the Borough of Bloomingdale, Passaic County, New Jersey, Natural Resource Directory, 1989, the environmental factors, which qualify Federal Hill as a sensitive area, are the particularly steep slopes and wetlands)
IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT
Development of this environmentally sensitive historic site has been
contemplated for over 50 years. Countless proposals have come and
gone since World War II when the last owners were relieved of the
property under the Alien Properties Act. The most recent threat
of development is 144 residential units proposed by Baker-Firestone and
360 residential units proposed by another developer named Meer.
Some of the negative aspects to high-density development include:
Concerned citizens can let their objections to the destruction of Federal Hill be known by contacting Governor Richard Codey by:
Phone: 609-292-6000
Fax: 609-777-1292
E-mail from website: http://www.state.nj.us/officeo.html
Mail: The Honorable Donald DiFrancesco, Governor, 125 West State
Street, CN-001, Trenton, NJ 08625-0001
Or by writing or phoning the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, 401 Grand Street, Paterson, NJ 07503, 973-881-4402.
To see more details about Federal
Hill go to
http://www.graphicwitness.com/federalhill
This site contains a very comprehensive collection of data on Federal Hill, including photos, trivia, and a letter from George Washington ordering the execution of the Pompton mutineers. Cal Deal, the gentleman who created the site, has generously maintained the site and has incorporated more information on the efforts to preserve Federal Hill as events unfold.
For further information or to volunteer, please contact John Capozucca, Chairman of the Bloomingdale Environmental Commission, at his e-mail address, cappi12@optonline.net or fax him at 973-492-1048.
email:clean@skyclean.org