Sunday, July 20, 2008
BY RICHARD COWEN AND SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITERS

Now, the fate of North Jersey's watersheds is in the governor's hands.

In a historic vote last week, the Highlands Council adopted a Regional Master Plan to protect the water supply in the 859,000-acre region while allowing for sustainable development.

On Thursday, the Highlands Council is set to send the plan to Governor Corzine, who will have 30 days to sign it into law or veto it.

The enormously complex document was subjected to intense lobbying by environmentalists, farmers and builders.

None of the groups is happy with the plan as written and all are urging Corzine to veto it. Governor's spokesman Jim Gardner said Friday that Corzine had not made up his mind.

Highlands Council Chairman John Weingart agrees that no one is completely satisfied with the RMP.

"You have the two poles and you have everyone else in the middle," Weingart said. "There is very little we could have done to satisfy everyone's concerns."

The Highlands supply water to 5.4 million state residents each day - about half of the state's population, including much of Bergen, Passaic and Morris counties. So just about everyone has a stake in whether the RMP works in balancing growth with ensuring that the water keeps flowing.

Here's a look at the RMP from various perspectives:

Environmentalists

The many "green" groups involved, including the New Jersey Sierra Club, the Highlands Coalition, the Pequannock River Coalition, the Passaic River Coalition, and the New Jersey Environmental Federation, have all denounced the RMP as pro-development. They note a recent Highlands Council report that two-thirds of the 183 sub-watersheds already are in deficit, meaning more water is being drawn from the ground each day than is being replenished. Yet the RMP allows more development of those areas, as long as the builder provides a mitigation plan to recharge the aquifer by at least 125 percent.

Pros: Now, there's a map with clear boundaries of water-generating lands that includes 88 municipalities and seven counties, totaling 859,000 acres. More than 522,000 acres are identified as Critical Habitat for plants and wildlife. The region is divided into a 415,000-acre Preservation Area of critical watersheds, and a 444,000-acre Planning Area more favorable to development.

There are many subzones - Existing Community Zone, Conservation Zone, Protection Zone, Lake Community Zone - each with its own environmental standards. The RMP's development also collected an enormous bank of scientific information, more about the Highlands than ever before. And there is now one comprehensive regional plan, instead of 88 municipal zoning codes. Home rule has been squashed.

Cons: To the environmental groups, the loopholes "are big enough to drive a truck through," as Highlands Council member Debbie Pasquarelli said at Thursday's vote. The plan allows nitrate levels of up to 10 mg per liter in cluster zones to encourage development on farmland. Nitrates, harmful if swallowed, are a byproduct of human and other animal waste. A reading above 10 mg is considered unsafe. The plan also allows 300-foot stream buffers to be disturbed in redevelopment zones. And the map is not set in stone. Municipalities may apply to the Highlands Council to transfer land from one zone to another in order to develop them.

Local development

Fifty-one towns either entirely or partially in the Preservation Area must revise their master plans and development regulations to conform with the Highlands regulations. Some, including Ringwood and West Milford, are in areas considered so environmentally sensitive that large-scale development will be nearly impossible.

Highlands officials are trying to persuade the remaining 37 towns in the Planning Area, where regulations are not quite as strict, to voluntarily conform.

Pros: The Highlands Council is giving $20 million to towns that conform to the plan, including money to update their master plans. Towns looking to reduce development will have stronger regulations around watersheds and other environmentally sensitive areas. Municipal officials can rely on the Highlands Council's 23-member staff for help in planning, water conservation and environmental concerns.

Cons: Say goodbye to home rule. Towns conforming to the RMP surrender almost all zoning power to the Highlands Council. Development in watersheds will be heavily restricted, and the days of chasing more ratables to pay for government services appear to be over. Towns that don't conform won't be able to escape from the Highlands Council, which can advise the state Department of Environmental Protection to block local planning initiatives clashing with the RMP.

Homeowners

The 800,000 Highlands residents are among the 5.4 million New Jerseyans who rely on the water each day. Most of that water comes from wells, which have been drying up in West Milford and Ringwood during periods of drought. A common misconception is that the RMP prevents people from building on their lots. Wrong. Lot owners can apply for an exemption, and if they meet environmental rules, they can build.

Pros: Nothing kills property values faster than a well that has run dry. The combination of less building and tougher environmental standards is likely to increase home values in the future.

Cons: West Milford and Ringwood are two of five towns in the Highlands region located entirely in the Preservation Area, where development is most restricted. Kinnelon has 90 percent of its land mass in the Preservation Area. With no projected growth, these communities will have to find other ways to pay for the rising cost of government services.

Outside the Highlands

The Highlands supply water to 293 municipalities. There are an estimated 4.5 million users just in Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Hudson and Essex counties.

Pros: Farmers and big land owners looking to raise money for buyouts are calling for a "user fee" - a water tax. But the RMP doesn't call for that, at least for now.

Cons: The RMP's primary purpose is to protect water quality, but much of the document focuses on balancing that objective with development. If the RMP fails in its mission, then everyone pays in water supply and quality.

Farmers

Farms account for almost 250,000 acres, more than a quarter of the region. Most are in the Planning Area where farmers could still sell their property to large-scale developers. Those in the Preservation Area are under much greater restrictions.

Pros: Last week, the Highlands Council voted down an amendment to reduce nitrate levels. That allows some farmers to still sell large lots for cluster housing. The RMP allows such housing on up to 20 percent of a farm. The rest can remain farmland. A farmer also can sell development rights through the Transfer of Development Rights program. The buyer then takes the development "credits" to a designated receiving town, where they can be used to increase a project's density.

Cons: The Highlands Council estimates it will cost $1.3 billion to acquire all lands that should be preserved. The state doesn't have that kind of cash, and likely won't be able to adequately fund the Green Acres program to compensate all landowners willing to sell. TDR programs sound great, but not many people understand them. They, too, need a funding source.