Activity Report
August 2002

• PENNS NECK AREA EIS PARTNERS' ROUNDTABLE

  The NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club is participating in the Penns Neck Area EIS Partners Roundtable, which is an advisory committee working with the NJDOT and the Voorhees Transportation Policy Institute of Rutgers University. The Sierra Club is working to ensure that the EIS is prepared fairly and correctly, with minimal impact to the environment. While the Sierra Club strongly objects to the original preferred alignment of the Millstone Bypass, the Club is not opposed to any road per se. The Club does, however, object to any alignment that comes close to or significantly impacts the Millstone River, the Little Bear Brook, or the Delaware and Raritan Canal.

  There are 8 groups of alternative alignments (including no-build) that will be analyzed. For a list of alignments, see http://policy.rutgers.edu/tpi/pennsneckareaeis/docs/altorgmatrix071902.pdf.

  Our next meeting will cover the no-build scenario and its consequences. The DOT has given the Penns Neck Area EIS priority; the projected date for the DEIS is September 2002, and the FEIS should be complete in April 2003.

  For more information on the Roundtable, go to www.pennsneckareaeis.org.

  For a list of documents we've produced, go to www.sierraactivist.org/eis.

• ELM COURT

  The Central Jersey Group participated in a lawsuit against the Princeton Regional Planning Board because the Planning Board approved expansion of Elm Court (high-density senior housing) in an environmentally sensitive, deed-restricted, Green Acres parcel. Central has decided not to appeal the decision by the Superior Court to uphold a settlement agreed upon by some, but not all, members of the Mountain Brook Association, a group of neighbors originally opposed to the expansion of Elm Court.

  Instead, we are pursuing the issue of illegal diversion of Green Acres land. Green Acres has yet to decide if Princeton is within its rights to have claimed that listing the parcel on their Reserved Open Space Inventory was a mistake. We are hoping that the recent court decision in Plainfield, in which the court ruled that Green Acres land was illegally diverted, will help our case. We have attempted to negotiate with Princeton to no avail.

• PRINCETON RIDGE

  Princeton Township has approved zoning overlays in State Planning Area 5. These overlays will allow high-density housing on the environmentally-sensitive Princeton Ridge, where steep slopes, headwaters, and boulders prevail. In 1995, Princeton entered into an agreement with the Office of State Planning to designate Princeton as a Regional Center. Development was to be prohibited in Planning Area 5 in exchange for financial benefits for the Regional Center's development. A group of Princeton residents who live near the affected area has sued the Township. Central provided initial advice and contacts in December, but our involvement since then has been minimal. Recently, the Office of State Planning produced a report stating that Princeton has violated its agreement with the Office (see http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=14686), but the panel took no action to remedy the situation. On August 28, Princeton will present to the Office its reasoning for why the Township didn't violate the agreement. Central is waiting to see what the Office of State Planning does; we might file a petition requesting de-designation of the Regional Center, which has financial consequences for the Township.

• BERKSHIRE ROAD SUBDIVISION, HAMILTON TOWNSHIP

  We've got our eyes on a situation in Hamilton. Residents adjacent to a parcel along Route 295 are concerned that the site contains wetlands and is a floodplain. Hamilton Township has already given the developer approval to build, but permission is contingent on many permit approvals. The Township will try to obtain conservation easements for trees along the highway.

  Contact:Mike Buriani.

• THE POLE FARM AND BALDPATE MOUNTAIN PASSIVE RECREATION PLANS

  Several months ago, we submitted a plan for passive recreation (mostly trail improvements and suggestions for some trails to be discontinued) at the Pole Farm (Mercer County Park Northwest) in Hopewell and Lawrence Townships. The Mercer County Parks Commission said "Thank you" and we haven't heard from them since.

  Mercer County's initial plans for Baldpate Mountain, devised by out-of-state consultants, turned a relatively pristine setting into a spaghetti network of trails for uses ranging from hiking to biking to horseback riding to skiing. The plan also called for an open-air theater at the top of the mountain. In July 2001, Central met with Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space and Washington Crossing Audubon to evaluate and critique the County's plan. We submitted our suggestions for a much scaled-down plan, leaving only trails for passive recreation, nixing the theater, and making several suggestions for roadway improvements with minimal environmental impact. The County accepted some of our suggestions and broke the plan into three phases, the first of which is mostly simple roadway improvements. New trails will come later. The amphitheater idea was discarded.

• TRENTON-MERCER AIRPORT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

  A genuine piece of crap this EA was. So poor, in fact, that we were unable to determine if expanding the airport terminal would indeed have a significant environmental impact. We submitted a 10-page document during the comment period on NJ Chapter letterhead. The comments were written as questions that we are hoping the FAA will answer.