It would appear that local municipalities have another tool in their kit to address the plight of some individuals who want out of their flood-prone properties.
The district’s legislators, state Sen. “Kip” Bateman and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, are praising the new law, known as Assembly Bill 4267, that allows municipalities and counties to tap their open space funds to buy so-called “blue acres,” or lands prone to flooding. The properties would have to be used for recreation or allowed to revert to a flood plain.
But along with the possibility comes the problem. Doing so puts the governing body face to face with a choice. Does it buy a farm and prevent development, or does it buy someone’s home and avoid future emergencies there?
Does it buy a wooded piece of land that cleans surface water on the way to streams, or does it begin the slow process of taking man’s development out of nature’s way? Save a historic property or act proactively to stem a future disaster?
The law gives towns and counties an opportunity, of course, but it would likely come at the expense of some other worthy project.
Open space purchase plans are often long thought-out puzzles. They may painstakingly try to assemble a critical mass of arable acres to make it worthwhile to continue farming, for instance. Some properties’ value lies in location; they connect other “saved” pieces, so that hiking or wildlife and bird habitat is preserved in large enough tracts to make a difference.
Those values will be posed in stark contrast with a human being coming to the council meeting and asking for help. Could you look someone in the eye and say ‘no’?
So, yes, local governments now have one more pot of money available to tap to help address the overall flooding problem. But the choice makes local representatives the arbiters of who to help, and what to save. That’s a tough job.
It’s another example of the old phrase, “Elections have consequences.”
