Is This Still the Land of the Free?

We’ll collectively gaze skyward tonight, watch fireworks blossom and boom, maybe eat a hamburger or hot dog and think just how great it is to be in America where we are free from government oppression.
. I don’t want to spoil the holiday, and hate to burst your bubble of enthusiasm, but we are in grave danger from government oppression right here and now.
If that seems a drastic statement, consider that a non-ele
cted, state-appointed bureaucracy, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, has within its power to, in effect, seize property without compensation and make it worthless. And, it can do it in the noble-sounding cause of protecting the environment by managing water quality.
The colonists despised King George for a number of reasons enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. Among them, “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”
Few residents of Cape May County attended the June 26 freeholders’ meeting to learn of the impending Water Quality Management Plan that would affect each and every property owner to some degree, especially those on the mainland who have land in areas that are deemed not suited for sewers.
Why this? Why today, on this sacred national day of independence? Because the action smacks of reasons colonists separated from Great Britain in 1776, and for some of the same reasons. Private property is sacred to us, it is one of the things precious to Americans. It is not to be infringed upon by government for frivolous reasons.
Consider that in 2007, Cape May County, to comply with regulations placed by the DEP, drafted its initial map that dealt with water quality management in the county. According to Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, that draft was made in accordance with all known DEP regulations, but that was five years ago. Since the DEP changes regulations on whims, or so it seems, after reviewing the document, it was decided to make a few changes.
Well, said Thornton, how about 156 changes? That’s right 1-5-6. And the county made all the requested changes by DEP. Then, oh well, someone in Trenton changed their mind, and more changes had to be made.
Folks, we are talking government workers, government tax money, and, individual property rights.
That’s right, if you own a parcel of land and it’s not in a sewerable area, and you cannot meet the nitrate discharge rate of two parts per million (2 ppm), my advice, kiss it goodbye, or retain a very good, young attorney. Why? Because the battle you will have to wage with the DEP will take ages and, by the time that attorney is ready to retire, maybe you will get satisfaction on use of your land. Maybe not! That depends on the whim of some unelected official.
The DEP, not known for acting logically or swiftly, has stalled many projects, private and public, for no verifiable reason.
Talk to developers and you will hear horror story after horror story about what the DEP forced individuals to do with their land and their money in order to win a favorable decree. That’s wrong. Guidelines? Who needs them when rules change with the wind?
We know of one case where a developer asked DEP officials to tell him what the department would expect for a project he intended to construct. The DEP refused, instead telling him to submit a plan. Then, after a lengthy review, they told him what they didn’t like, and what he would have to do to comply.
In the present case, each municipality will be submitting, by July 13, a map dealing water quality management within its borders. Don’t be surprised to find property you own, or near you, in an unfavorable location. If it’s impossible to meet the 2ppm criteria for nitrates in wastewater, my advice, prepare for very heavy rolls.
So concerned was Thornton that he wanted to ensure that the County of Cape May would be indemnified against litigation stemming from the new plan and maps. That may be wishful thinking, but he wanted the world to know these new regulations were not the county’s, but were dictated by the DEP. He voiced a warning to each municipal solicitor that they draft language into their plan to shelter the governing body of each municipality from lawsuits resulting from the plan.
County Planning Director Leslie Gimeno told the board from a municipal standpoint, that not submitting a map was not an option. That’s because DEP would, in effect, shut down all future development in any municipality that did not comply and submit a plan. Isn’t that confiscation without reimbursement?
As Thornton said, if DEP wants to rule, let it pay owners fair market price for their parcels, then it could do what it pleases with the land. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
To me, this scenario conjures up a black-and-white Wild West movie where the sheriff, toting two six-shooters, declares, “’Round these parts, I’m the law. What I say goes. If you don’t like it, pardner, my advice is get out of town real soon.”
We celebrate living in a land of laws and cherish liberty, yet live in fear that a state agency can confiscate our ground without compensation for not meeting stringent regulations. Is this the same America that champions the Fourth of July as the day independence was declared in Philadelphia, and liberty was proclaimed throughout the land?