By David Kilby, Staff Writer
NEW BRUNSWICK – The Middlesex County Planning Board is attempting to pass an ordinance in Cranbury that aims to protect streams, lakes and other water bodies by limiting building projects and construction activities within at least 50 feet of any body of water.
The ordinance is currently under the review of Cranbury’s Environmental Commission to see if and how the ordinance would apply to the township.
The “riparian zone”, or area around the water bodies to be protected, would be 150 feet wide along any trout production water, trout maintenance water, segments of water flowing through an area that contains documented habitat for a threatened or endangered species of plant or animal, and all upstream waters within one linear mile of such waters, according to the proposed ordinance.
Water bodies designated as “C1”, or documented as pristine, would have a riparian zone of 300 feet, and for all other water bodies it would be 50 feet.
Anyone who wishes to build a structure within a riparian zone would have to receive a variance from the zoning board.
Other exceptions may be granted if allowed by Stormwater Management Rules and the Flood Hazard Area Control Act. Most exceptions would involve redevelopment or restoration of the riparian zone in question.
Any party who contests the location of a riparian zone boundary would have the burden of proof in any appeal regarding the boundary, reads the ordinance.
At the public hearing on the ordinance April 11, a handful of residents voiced their concerns.
Fran McGovern of Washington Drive said the ordinance wouldn’t be fair to residents who bought a property by a body of water while expecting to have the right to build by the water.
”It’s strange when you see a state or county trying to dictate how things are done in a small town,” he said.
Connie Bauder of Petty Road said she remembered when the county began working on wording the stream water ordinance about four years ago.
”It appears they’re going ahead with this without any input,” she said.
She added that the eroding curbs in the township may contribute to the original problem the county is trying to address, since an eroded curb can cause soil to fall into the street and eventually end up in nearby streams.
Dietrich Wahlers, member of the Environmental Commission, said the township already has an ordinance in place that simply says you can’t build a permanent structure within 200 feet of the center of a stream or any body of water.
He said this new ordinance proposed by the county just complicates things.
A final vote on the ordinance will not take place until the Environmental Commission can issue a report.

