Highlands still open to building, analysis finds

Panel to consider impact of exemptions as it drafts regional master plan

Friday, September 21, 2007
BY PAULA SAHA
Star-Ledger Staff

The Highlands Act was meant to restrict development on some of New Jersey's most environmentally sensitive lands, but exemptions in the law mean some 27 percent of the region is still open to development, according to an analysis released yesterday.

The data, discussed during the Highland Council meeting in Chester Township, comes as the panel moves forward with drafting a regional master plan, or guide to development, for a nearly 860,000-acre area that provides drinking water for much of the state.

"We have to take (the exemptions) into account in understanding what the future may hold," said John Weingart, the council chair.

The cumulative effect, Weingart said, is "significant" and points to a need to provide property owners with options aside from development. There should be more incentives for landowners to preserve their land as open space acquisition or farmland preservation, he said.

When the Legislature passed the Highlands Act in 2004, lawmakers included 17 exemptions to balance individual property rights with preservation interests. Requests for waivers are granted by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The Highlands staff found there were 22,554 vacant parcels of land in the Highlands zoned for residential development. Some 9,828 of those parcels are in the preservation area, where the strictest development restrictions exist.

"That's a huge amount of the Highlands that's still up for grabs," said Robin O'Hearn, director of Skylands CLEAN, an environmental group based in Ringwood. "They can build a whole lot of single-family homes, that's for sure."

The council staff's analysis found that just two of the 17 possible exemptions the Highlands Act allows could permit construction on some 228,293 acres in the Highlands. Both allow single-family homes on vacant lots.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the analysis was overdue.

"This was something they needed to do from the beginning for the foundation for the plan," Tittel said. "It's important because it becomes a major part of the foundation ... since there's only a limited amount of development the Highlands can absorb before it impacts water quality."

Yet some landowners say granting exemptions is not the problem. Instead, they say the exemption process is too complicated, and complained to the board about the bureaucracy and fees involved.

Jack Schrier, the council's vice chair, said people would no doubt disagree on whether there are too few or too many exemptions. "I think they are probably about right, partially because both sides seem to find some fault in it."

In other business yesterday, the council approved a $2.8 million budget for the fiscal year 2008, which represents about a 7 percent increase over last year, officials said. Most of the increases are due to replacing part-time personnel with full-time ones, said Bill Cogger, chairman of the budget and finance committee.

The council also reviewed a "vision statement" for the regional master plan. The idea, said consultant Charlie Siemon, was to produce a document that would summarize what the council was trying to achieve, without using a lot of technical jargon.

The council is scheduled to introduce its regional master plan by mid-November. Its next meeting is at 10 a.m. on Oct. 4, where the plan's section on goals, policies and objectives will be reviewed.

© 2007 The Star Ledger