By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Despite concerns from one council member that the requirements of a new stormwater management ordinance will unfairly lump homeowners with developers, Princeton Borough Council voted to adopt it Tuesday.
According to the ordinance document, its purpose is “to establish minimum stormwater management requirements for proposed Major Developments in order to manage the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff entering surface and ground waters.”
Borough Engineer Chris Budzinski said Tuesday that the ordinance applies to projects of more than 400 square feet.
For that reason, Borough Councilman David Goldfarb said he believes homeowners looking to make small additions to their properties will face “extremely onerous” requirements from the state-mandated ordinance that he said was intended to govern developers’ projects.
Though he said he doesn’t necessarily disagree with the policy behind the ordinance, Mr. Goldfarb called it “flawed” and said a separate ordinance should be drafted to govern smaller projects.
However, both Mr. Budzinski and Borough Engineer Carl Peters said the ordinance was intended to address stormwater management overall, and disagreed that it would have such an impact on homeowners.
Moreover, Borough Administrator Bob Bruschi said the ordinance, which was originally initiated by state mandate, was long overdue.
Councilwoman Barbara Trelstad noted that it was supposed to be adopted in April, and Mr. Budzinski said it was actually due even earlier — in 2006.
Both Ms. Trelstad and Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said they believed the council should enact the ordinance and then monitor its results while allowing for the possibility of amendments in the future.
But Mr. Goldfarb said such revisions would likely be forgotten.
Later, Sarah Charkes, an Environmental Planning Specialist for the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, urged the adoption of the ordinance, which she called “an important step in reducing flooding and its associated costs.”
Ultimately, the council voted 5-1 to adopt the ordinance.

