Activity Report
May 2003

• THE MATRIX:

  Ed Pfeiffer and Mike Buriani read the DEP wetland Letter of Interpretation (LOI) file for the Matrix development and found two egregious errors: 1) Recommendations by USFWS to search the site for endangered bog turtles, and records of endangered savannah sparrows across the street from the site, were ignored; and 2) the LOI noted several deficiencies in wetlands reporting, since more wetlands were on site than Matrix had reported; however, Matrix met with the DEP, and DEP officials ranking higher than those who wrote the LOI, granted Matrix the wetland permit without further changes. The LOI was granted on the same day that Matrix met with the DEP. Ed and Mike have drafted a letter to Governor McGreevey and DEP Commissioner Brad Campbell expressing outrage and concern that the DEP is not following its own rules. A second letter was sent to Campbell, via Jeff Tittel, with Jeff as a co-signatory. A press release is also being drafted. Ed will look at the file again on Monday to look for a memo covering the meeting that Matrix had on May 6, the same day that the DEP granted Matrix the permit. Ed and Mike will also look for the Schorr-dePalma report on the lack of bog turtles at the site. Matrix also hired Cultural Resources Consulting Group to get a State Historic Preservation Office permit. Ed's letter to the editor was published in the Trenton Times on June 1 or 2.

• KLOCKNER WOODS:

  Ed Pfeiffer has been working with Rocky Swingle, who is the head of a group of concerned citizens working to preserve the Klockner Woods in Hamilton Township. Rocky will meet with Assemblyman Gary Guear next week. So far, the Township has been in favor of preserving the land, but funding has notbeen secured. Preservation of the Klockner Woodlands might compete for funding with the SCHISLER FARM, about which Ed Pfeiffer and Bonnie Tillery attended hearings. The Township would like to preserve both, as well as a third tract (the Braghelli Tract). Since Rocky's group is well-organized, we are serving an advisory role and taking care not to favor one tract over the other, since we want all of them preserved.

• PRINCETON RIDGE:

  When Princeton Township attempted to create ovelay zoning on the Princeton Ridge's environmentally sensitive (headwaters, boudlers, steep slopes, wetlands, last remaining open space) Planning Area 5 lands, the Sierra Club got the Office of State Planning to remind Princeton that if they built high-density housing on the ridge, they'd lose their funding for their downtown Regional Center. The Township removed the overlay on the NORTHERNMOST TRACT, but now the landowner, Bryce Thompson, is suing Princeton for "taking" his property. Politics being the bedfellows they are, Princeton Friends of Open Space has asked us to join them and the Township in keeping the land out of developers' hands. Meanwhile, Friends of the Princeton Ridge have sued the Township for spot zoning and have been negotiating with the potential builder on the MIDDLE TRACT. The developer applied to the DEP for an LOI; the land is largely wetland, and the developer plans to build on everything that's not. The Friends have asked us to review the LOI for discrepancies. Since we've just been through this, we've agreed to do it again. Meetings with the Friends are still in the planning stages; Laura Lynch has been in touch with Jim English about setting up a meeting. The SOUTHERNMOST TRACT, in Planning Area 4, will be developed.

• PENNS NECK AREA EIS:

  June 30 is the day of the public hearing for the Penns Neck Area Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Laura Lynch will receive a copy of the DEIS (she has to pick it up in person and sign for it on the one day and time they are being handed out, an hour before our next Executive Committee meeting, June 5). Much of it is already on the web in scattered form, as Partners' Roundtable documents, at http://www.sierraactivist.org/eis. Final comments on the DEIS are due August 1 (mark your calendar). Laura will represent the Sierra Club at the hearing; everyone else should represent themselves. The main points to make are: 1) The East-Side Connector (ESC) is too environmentally damaging to be built, especially if Option 1 (ESC-1) is chosen, since it runs close to the river, destroys several archaeological and historic sites, runs through and fragments open space, and threatens the habitat of the NJ threatened long-eared owl; 2) Speaking of endangered and threatened species, why hasn't there been a wildlife survey to document all flora and fauna at the site? 3) What has the DEP determined is the proper buffer area for the long-eared owl habitat? (This might be answered in the DEIS.); 3) Route 1 in a cut best serves the mobility and environmental needs of the Study Area, and the creation of a pedestrian-friendly plaza over the cut would be the best option for covering the highway; and 4) The public should have input in all stages of the design, no matter which option is chosen. When making comments, put them in question form so that they will be answered.

• ROUTE 92 DEIS:

  Once again, the release of the Route 92 DEIS has been delayed until late summer because the NJ Turnpike Authority is meeting with the DEP to make the plan fit into NJ's "Smart Growth" vision.