Meadowlands Partners Applaud Master Plan and Wetlands Preservation

 

By Hugh M. Carola

 

It was standing room only on Jan. 8, 2004, when the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) unanimously approved two history-making initiatives:

 

The New Jersey Meadow-lands Master Plan places all remaining wetlands within the 32-square mile Hackensack Meadowlands District off-limits to development. It calls for the preservation of the entire 8,400-acre Meadowlands wetlands ecosystem and sets the stage for the creation of the Meadowlands Estuary Preserve. The Master Plan also facilitates over $5 billion in redevelopment within the District – none of which will be on wetlands.

 

The Regulations and Zoning Map gives the Master Plan support and provides the framework by which new projects will be built in designated Redevelopment Zones. Added to other projects, the regulations will create over $73 million in additional revenues for the District’s 14 municipalities. The Zoning Map also establishes a broad green zone along the Hackensack River, placing all wetlands under conservation restrictions and providing for enhanced public access for boating and passive recreation.

 

“Today will long be remembered as the turning point for the Meadowlands because it has finally been recognized as one of our state’s special places,” said Hackensack Riverkeeper Executive Director Captain Bill Sheehan, to a crowd of more than 300 stakeholders, including Congressman Steve Rothman, Assemblyman-elect Robert Gordon, Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise.

 

“The new Master Plan is a bold effort to give the salt marshes and Hackensack River the protection and wildlife management they need and deserve,” said NJMC Executive Director Robert Ceberio. “At the same time, we are bringing people to the area to enjoy our natural treasures, we are cleaning up polluted and blighted areas, and we are pursuing ambitious redevelopment projects that compliment the urban wilderness our district offers.”

 

One of the successful processes that helped produce the plan is the new relationship between the NJMC and the Hackensack Meadowlands Partnership. The Partnership is a coalition of environmental groups that took over from the Hackensack Meadowlands Preservation Alliance (HMPA) in 2001. Whereas the HMPA was a broad-based group that acted as a mass organization, the Partnership conducts more focused preservation efforts in both the policy and legal arenas.

 

The principal partners are Hackensack Riverkeeper, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rutgers University Environmental Law Clinic and the Columbia University Environmental Law Clinic.   Leaders from each  organization spoke eloquently in support of the new Plan.

 

Congressman Rothman (D-NJ 9th) reiterated his staunch support for both the Master Plan and the creation of the Preserve and pledged to redouble his efforts to bring the necessary federal funds to make it all happen.

 

Also speaking before the NJMC was Mada Leibman from Senator Jon S. Corzine’s (D-NJ) office who read a statement from the Senator that singled out Capt. Bill by name for his work in making the groundbreaking day a reality.

 

At the same meeting, the NJMC held the first reading of Meadowlands Mobility 2030, a proposed transportation plan for the Meadowlands District.  While enthusiastic about the preservation and rezoning initiatives, the Hackensack Meadowlands Partnership has some reservations about the transportation plan and will review the document thoroughly to ensure that its final version is one that best serves the needs of the community.

 

“Without question, we have won our greatest victory to date,” said Captain Bill. “It’s a victory for wetlands preservation, for economic growth and for habitat restoration; but most importantly, it’s a victory for all the people of New Jersey.”

 

 

INSET:

 

On Dec. 29, 2003 – just nine days before the Master Plan and Zoning Map were approved – former US Congressman Frank Guarini, in an eleventh-hour attempt to undermine the authority of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC), announced in a letter to the Commission that he intends to fill in nearly 100 acres of wetlands that he owns in North Bergen. The property is listed by the USEPA Harbor Estuary Program as a priority acquisition site and is being rezoned by the Commission for preservation.  But Mr. Guarini would like to see it turned into a truck and railroad yard.

 

We are dismayed that this former public servant has chosen to pursue a course of action that is in direct opposition to the wishes of the people and the administration of New Jersey.  Rather than accept a generous offer from the NJMC to acquire the property for conservation (which would net the ex-public servant from Hudson County a sizable profit), Mr. Guarini seems to be holding out for “one last Meadowlands score.”

 

Even more insidious is the suggestion made by some that he and his attorney, Kevin Coakley, have no realistic expectation of developing the property and are instead using the application process to drive up the price the Commission will ultimately have to pay for the wetlands.

 

Either way, Hackensack Riverkeeper urges the NJMC and the NJ Department of Transportation to deny the application of these last “robber barons” of the Meadowlands. The people have spoken and the government concurs – the days of filling wetlands in the Meadowlands are over.