The Heidelberg Avenue home of Monique Coleman, who helped organize Woodbridge flood zone residents after Sandy, is demolished in March after being purchased by the state. COURTESY OF WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP The face of the Woodbridge River floodplain area is changing, and the future is uncertain for the few residents who have hung onto their homes there.
“I plan to stay,” longtime Bamford Avenue resident Eileen McKenzie said at the April 21 Township Council meeting, adding that she loves Woodbridge. “But we want to know what’s going to be — what is the plan for the property that’s left?”
Many of those who lived in the storm-battered lower section of Woodbridge Proper have taken advantage of the Blue Acres buyout program overseen by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). To date, a total of 134 homes in Woodbridge — with the majority in the area of Watson, Crampton, Bamford, Pearl and Vesper avenues — have been closed on as part of the program.
Their homes are being demolished so that the properties can be kept as open space.
At the council meeting, several former residents of the area expressed gratitude to township officials for helping facilitate the sale of their flood-prone properties.
Monique Coleman, who organized the Woodbridge Flood Zone Group after superstorm Sandy in October 2012, was one of them.
“You responded in a way that we could not have imagined,” Coleman told officials. “We could not have done it had you not gotten behind us.”
Other former floodplain residents echoed her sentiments, and some presented Coleman with flowers in a show of thanks for her leadership throughout the process.
Councilman Kyle Anderson also praised Coleman, along with the group as a whole.
“From what I saw from the very beginning was an organized group with a vision for helping the problem and working together with the township,” Anderson said. “Through it all, it just shows that when the township works together with the people, we can arrive at, I believe, a consensus.”
Some who stayed in their homes were not feeling the same sense of resolution.
One Bamford Avenue resident said no information has been given to her or others who have stayed in their homes.
Councilwoman Lizbeth DeJesus sought to set the residents’ minds at ease.
“I stayed behind, too,” she said, adding that she and her family live on Claire Avenue. “So I don’t want you to feel like you’re the only ones. … Be reassured that I know your concerns and will keep you up to date.”
Another area resident who lives on Watson Avenue complained of overweight trucks tearing up the street, and inquired about who would maintain grass that has been planted on the newly vacant lots.
Township Business Administrator Robert Landolfi said he had to look into whether the township or state would be responsible for maintaining the properties, adding that it’s possible that the lots may be returned to their natural state.
He said the township has received a Post Sandy Planning Assistance Grant from the state.
“And the purpose of that grant is specifically to put together neighborhood plans for the affected areas,” Landolfi said. “We’ve started that process; we can’t complete it until the buyout is complete and we see what the lay of the land is going to be there.” Caryn Shinske, a DEP spokeswoman, said while the state now permanently owns the properties purchased through the Blue Acres program, the township is responsible for any maintenance of the land.
The township could opt to put in trails or other natural features, but no buildings can be erected there, she said.
Mayor John McCormac echoed Landolfi’s uncertainty about the maintenance of the vacant properties.
“We can’t … know until all buyouts are complete,” he said. “It’s a long-term deal.”
Still, he said the township is interested in helping the remaining floodplain residents.
“Our focus now is to try to find more funding to give them one more chance to move,” McCormac said, adding that the demolitions are driving home the reality that only a handful of houses will remain there. “That’s why we want to offer them every opportunity to leave.”