Tuesday, July 15, 2008
BY RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER

The Highlands Council will vote Thursday on adopting the Regional Master Plan. The complex plan - already 400 pages long - is designed to preserve water resources while allowing some development in the 859,000-acre region of 88 communities in seven counties. The council will consider 10 amendments before it votes on the plan. Here's a glance at the proposed changes, with arguments for and against:

Amendment 1: Bans development where there is a water deficit, until the aquifer -a water-bearing underground formation - has been recharged and the deficit is erased.

What it means: A Highlands Council study found 114 of the region's 183 sub-watersheds run at a daily deficit, meaning more water is taken out of the ground than is recharged. As drafted, the plan would allow limited development in deficit areas, if the builder has a workable way to recharge the aquifer by 125 percent.

Pros: The Highlands Council's No. 1 responsibility is to protect water resources, and some members say allowing even small-scale building in deficit areas is irresponsible.

Cons: Many of the deficits are relatively minor, amounting to a loss of only a few thousand gallons a day, so shutting down all development might be overly cautious. In areas of severe deficits, the plan contains numerous other restrictions that wouldn't allow development anyway.

Amendment 2: Encourages landowners to preserve forests through the state's Woodland Management program.

What it means: Now, a landowner who wants the tax break afforded by the Woodland Management program must show receipts proving he's harvested trees and sold them. This amendment would help extend the tax break to owners of forested land who leave trees standing.

Pros: It leaves the trees, which is good for the environment.

Cons: The program is part of the state's Farmland Assessment program, and it would likely to take legislative action to change it. Plus, the state would be granting a farmer's tax break to someone who isn't farming.

Amendments 3 and 4: These try to maintain 300-foot buffers along waterways in a Planning Area, where development is less restricted than in the plan's Preservation Area, which covers about 45 percent of the 859,000 acres.

What it means: The draft plan allows exceptions to the 300-foot buffer if the builder demonstrates it will not harm water quality or degrade the environment.

Pros: The 300-foot buffer rule applies in the Preservation Area. Why not apply the same strict standard in the Planning Area?

Cons: Planning Area regulations are supposed to be a bit more lax to accommodate development.

Amendments 5, 6 and 7: These set standards for nitrate - a plant nutrient - in water and how they will be measured. Proposes a nitrate level of 1.17 mg per liter on most land, which is lower than the Department of Environmental Protection's current standard of 2 mg. In cluster zones, the standard rises to 10 mg per liter, but that level must be achieved without use of water-treatment systems.

What it means: Nitrate levels often indicate septic seepage and can be harmful. Allowing higher nitrate levels could allow more units to be built in a cluster zone.

Pros: Some 5.5 million New Jerseyans depend on Highlands water, so nitrate levels should be minimized everywhere.

Cons: The DEP says 2 mg is a safe standard; anything tougher is overkill.

Amendment 8: Enables the Highlands Council to monitor septic system and well water for nitrates and other pollutants on a site-specific basis.

What it means: Allows Highlands Council to develop its own monitoring unit, or contract with professionals to do testing.

Pros: Gives the Highlands Council greater oversight.

Cons: Could be expensive, and might usurp authority of other state agencies such as the DEP.

Amendment 9: Clarifies the Highlands Council's right to consult with other state agencies once it adopts the RMP.

What it means: By law, municipalities with land in the Planning Area don't have to redraw their master plans to conform with the RMP. But if a town forms a development plan not in compliance with the RMP, the Highlands Council wants the right to issue its opinion to other state agencies.

Pros: The RMP is supposed to govern development in the Highlands. It's ludicrous not to allow the Highlands Council to offer its opinion on development projects.

Cons: What about Home Rule? If the council is to have so much say over zoning issues, then what power do local officials have?

Amendment 10: Only the Highlands Council, and no other government body, can adjust the region's maps.

What it means: The RMP has many maps and zones, and only the High- lands Council has the power to change them.

Pros: What good is a regional master plan if nobody has to follow it?

Cons: If you don't like the way the boundaries are drawn, there's not much you can do about it without the council's approval.

E-mail: cowen@northjersey.com

WHAT'S NEXT

The final draft of the Highlands Regional Master Plan will be posted online sometime after 3 p.m. today at http://www.state.nj.us/njhighlands/master/.

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