As this story noted, the Borough of Bloomingdale may be altering permitted uses for a 150-acre portion of Federal Hill from open space to quarry. The portion of Bloomingdale adjacent to Federal Hill, known as “the flats” is flood-prone. Roads and homes in the area have suffered flooding over many years. Forested land provides the best land cover for the recharge of rainfall, and rain that is recharged into our soil does not exacerbate flooding problems. Woodland typically has twice the recharge rate of a quarry. Converting land adjacent to a flood-prone area from forest to quarry could greatly reduce recharge and increase flooding. In a letter to the New Jersey Highlands Council, the Bloomingdale Environmental Commission (BEC) confirmed this, writing “Federal Hill due to heavy forestation, dense vegetation and proximity to the Pequannock River maximizes aquifer recharge.” In addition, the majority of Federal Hill is steeply sloped. In the same letter, the BEC wrote “Greater than 69% of Federal Hill contains slopes over 20% and slopes in excess of 50% are abundant. Development would result in a large increase in runoff and erosion. The thin, acidic soils associate with areas of steep slopes are particularly sensitive to disturbances and extensive re-grading or other disruptive action could irrevocably harm the existing biota by changing both the flow of perched groundwater and the chemistry of the soil.” We agree. Promoting additional disturbance on Federal Hill through an expanded quarry is ill-advised. In fact, not only do the steep slopes present a problem environmentally, but this development as a quarry would also violate Bloomingdale’s steep slope ordinance (34-2013). Will they abandon that, too? An added concern is that Federal Hill is a documented habitat of the state-threatened wood turtle and other threatened species. Promoting additional disturbance on what was previously intended as protected open space would sacrifice these habitat values. Our concerns were echoed by the New Jersey Highlands Council, who wrote in a letter to the Bloomingdale government, “The property [Federal Hill] is indeed extensively constrained by Highlands resource features including Critical Wildlife Habitat, High Integrity Riparian Area, Highlands Open Waters (including wetlands and streams), Open Water Buffers, Forest in a Forest Resource Area, and Steep Slopes. “ For this reason, the proposed change could compromise the conformance of Bloomingdale with the Highlands Regional Master Plan, sought and received by the Borough after considerable effort and expense. Of course, we realize that Borough officials must always consider potential income gains. However, if quarrying is allowed to expand, Bloomingdale homes on the northwest side of the Hill that now look toward a wooded ridgeline, would face, instead, the degraded view, dust, and noise of a quarry. Wetlands running across the crest of Federal Hill, and protected by state law, would force new quarrying to occur beyond the central site of these restrictions on the northwest side of Federal Hill, near Van Dam Avenue, where the impact on Bloomingdale would be direct and enormous. This should drive property values in the affected area of Bloomingdale down substantially. According to recent studies citizens could see a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the equity of their homes, and as much as $15 million in total. Despite gains seen by the Borough in donation of land from the quarry, resulting tax appeals might mean an overall income drop. We hope impacted homeowners will turn out for the meetings on February 3 and 17. For decades the Borough has wisely sought to defend the environmental values of Federal Hill, beginning in 1989 when the BEC requested that the State Planning Commission change the site to Planning Area 5 (Environmentally Sensitive). This change was eventually realized after 10 years of effort. While the Borough has been required by court order to provide affordable housing on Federal Hill, they are under no obligation to expand the damage through an increase in quarry operations. This would represent a complete reversal of their policy, and undermine all they have strived for and achieved. Once all these considerations are recognized and properly weighed, there can be little rational support for the proposed change in land use. We will be participating in this discussion, should it continue to move forward. Ross Kushner, Executive Director Pequannock River Coalition P.O. Box 392 Newfoundland, NJ 07435 (973) 492-3212 pequannockriver.org
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 15:36:45 +0000
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