Township Committee may hear ordinance
written after presentation by Stonybrook group
By:Roger Alvarado
The Township Committee on Tuesday will consider adding penalties for builders building on environmentally sensitive areas.
In October, the committee requested an ordinance following a work session presentation by the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association (SBMWA), which endorsed the concept of increased protection of stream corridors and steep slopes that face potential erosion.
The proposed ordinance would increase deductions from developable land for critical areas in the Mountain and Agricultural zones, and push back development from stream corridors. Its provisions would apply to future subdivisions, thus affecting developers rather than individual lot owners. (Building a single house on an existing lot does not require a subdivision).
"It would reduce the credit you get for acreage for development if the acreage impacts upon environmentally sensitive areas like steep slopes and creeks," Township Administrator Kevin Davis said.
"We have discussed this issue previously," Mr. Davis said Wednesday. "At the end of last year, Mayor (Steven) Sireci said that at the beginning of this year, an ordinance in accordance with the recommendations of the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association would be introduced with regard to protecting stream corridors and steep slopes."
At the time then-Mayor Sireci said that "preserving open space and the sensitive environment in the Sourland Mountain Zone, and farmland in the Agricultural Zone, requires a combination of public land purchases and minimizing the ability to overdevelop in those zones."
"This type of ordinance is another tool in the battle against overdevelopment," he added.
If successfully introduced Tuesday, a public hearing on the ordinance would be held on Feb. 22, Mr. Davis said.
Mr. Davis also noted that an ordinance reducing the number of members on the township’s Open Space Advisory Committee from nine to seven may also be introduced Tuesday. Committee members instructed Township Attorney Albert Cruz to draft the ordinance during their Jan. 11 meeting.

