Paramus Wetlands Under Siege

Developer trying to subvert Category One protections

meets with strong local opposition

 

By Hugh M. Carola

Less than one year ago, a gentleman named Mark Distler stopped by our office to speak with Captain Bill about a situation that was brewing in his hometown of Paramus. A developer - JDME Acquisitions/ Robertson Douglas Group - had proposed to build a high-density housing complex on thirty-five acres of wooded wetlands it has owned since 2002 near Soldier Hill Road and Gettysburg Place.

 

Like countless proposals before it, the proposal (dubbed: Enchantment at Paramus) was touted as an age-restricted tax ratable. What the developer failed to mention was that the land includes the headwaters of the Musquapsink Brook, a Category One-listed waterway. As Tidelines readers are aware, C-1 listings provide the highest levels of potable water protection anywhere in America. One protection that C-1 provides is a 300-foot buffer zone on both sides of the waterway - something that would prevent virtually any construction at the site.

 

Despite decades of intensive commercial and residential development in Paramus, including a major subdivision at Soldier Hill, the wetlands survived. However with developable land at a premium and many municipalities approaching build-out, prospective builders are employing creative means to try and secure lucrative development contracts on unsuitable lands.

 

"What should be crystal clear to all concerned is that the wetlands and streams located on the site in question are the headwaters of the Musquapsink Brook," explains Captain Bill Sheehan. "The Musquapsink flows into the Pascack Brook which in turn flows into the Oradell Reservoir which makes them all Category One waterways."

 

According to the official NJ Department of Environmental Protection list of Category One waterways: "Hackensack River (Oradell) - New York/New Jersey State line to Oradell dam, including Lake Tappan and all tributaries draining to the Hackensack River above Oradell dam" and "Oradell Reservoir (Oradell) - all named and unnamed tributaries that are not listed separately, that drain into Oradell Reservoir above the Oradell Dam." (Emphasis added)

 

In a welcome move last October, the Borough of Paramus filed a lawsuit against the property owner, saying there is a seventeen-year prohibition against building on the parcel. In 1989, the borough's Planning Board wrote in an ordinance that as part of the approval for the existing Soldier Hill subdivision, any additional construction was prohibited on the rest of the property - the same 35 acres that are in question. At a motion hearing on December 1, 2006, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Harris denied the defendant's request to dismiss the suit. The litigation is moving forward.

 

What has many of us scratching our heads here at Hackensack Riverkeeper is this: Where is the NJDEP in all of this? Protecting C-1 waterways should be a no-brainer but apparently some staffers at the department's Land Use Division don't quite see it that way. They are allowing the developer to continue its permit application process as if Category One protections did not exist. We have learned over the years that the further a permit process is allowed to go, the harder it is to stop.

 

We have also gotten word that JDME is claiming that because the wetlands and streams on the site do not appear on some maps, they cannot qualify as C-1 waterways. How an obviously intelligent person can make such a groundless claim stretches the limits of one's patience.

 

So where are we now? To begin with, Distler and his neighbors are mounting a strong campaign to support the Borough and energize Paramus residents in opposition to Enchantment at Paramus and to acquire the property as open space. They created a Website, a sign campaign (lawn signs reading: SaveParamusWetlands.com are all over the borough), and Mark and his colleague Ed Onorato have made numerous presentations before County officials. Of course all of us are awaiting the start of court proceedings; if indeed they do start. While Judge Harris is often seen as a "builder's friend", he is also known for his strict interpretation of the law. The 1989 ordinance predates and should outweigh any counterargument JDME might bring.

 

Of course a simple ruling by the DEP declaring the unnamed tributaries C-1 waterways would go a long way towards putting a stop to all this foolishness.

 

"When people like Mark and Ed step up and take a stand for clean water and for the good of their communities, good things happen," says Capt. Bill. "If they hadn't sounded the alarm, it's very possible that this ridiculous project would have slipped under the radar. No one would have known until it was too late."