CRANBURY: Township rewording county stream ordinance

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — An ordinance from the Department of Environmental Protection and the Middlesex County Planning Board aims to protect waterways by creating a buffer zone around them of at least 50 feet, but Cranbury already has an ordinance in place that serves a similar purpose.
   ”Cranbury already has strong language in the books,” said Jennifer Coffey, policy director for the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed, at the township meeting Monday.
   She was referring to the township ordinance that requires a buffer of 200 feet from the center of any body of water.
   ”That’s a good, healthy buffer,” she said. “It’s an economically viable and environmentally right way to protect waterways.”
   The ordinance from the Middlesex County Planning Board states riparian zones, or protected areas around waterways, must be 300 feet around pristine, or “Category 1” waterways, and 150 feet around upstream waterways, trout waters and waters with endangered species in the area.
   A 50-foot riparian zone is required for all other waterways.
   Within the riparian zone, the construction of new structures and the clearing of vegetation would be prohibited.
   The ordinance was composed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and recommended by the Middlesex County Planning Board.
   The Cranbury ordinance simply forbids the construction of new structures within 200 feet of the center of a body of water, but allows clearing of vegetation whereas the county ordinance does not.
   When the Township Committee was informed of the county ordinance, it referred it to the Environmental Commission and Planning Board. The commission said the township ordinance already in place was sufficient, and the board said the county ordinance is not in compliance with the Master Plan.
   Structures already built, such as the houses along Brainerd Lake, are not affected by the Cranbury ordinance or the new ordinance from the county.
   If the county ordinance passes, since Cranbury has no Category 1 waterways, the riparian zone for its waterways, including the lake, would be at least 50 feet. This may prohibit property owners along the lake from building anything within 50 feet of its shores. Cranbury’s current ordinance doesn’t prohibit such new construction because the center of the lake already is 200 feet from its shores.
   Ms. Coffey said the county ordinance states the minimum requirements for riparian zones, and “the municipality retains the right to be more protective.”
   But she was concerned, as the township was rewording the ordinance to make it comply with local standards, that it did not include reference to the 200-foot buffer ordinance already enforced in Cranbury.
   ”The provisions on the book already provide some protection. The county ordinance provides different protections,” she said, adding the county ordinance isn’t any more or less strict than the township ordinance.
   ”The DEP model prohibits clearing of vegetation,” she said. “It’s important to prevent clearing from plants that are rooted along water bodies.”
   The Cranbury Township Committee has not yet finalized the wording on the riparian zone ordinance, but Ms. Coffey did give the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association’s recommendations.
   ”We would like to see a 200-foot stream buffer, preferably, from the top of the bank protected, so we would like them to amend the county ordinance,” she said. “Two hundred feet would protect water quality and make sure there’s clean water for businesses and residents in Cranbury.”
   The 200-foot buffer would limit sedimentation of water bodies, filter pollution, and help minimize flooding, she added.
   A public hearing on the ordinance will be held at the June 27 committee meeting.