Will Plan Balance Enormous Growth?

Thursday night, there was a very important public hearing on Middle Township’s newly minted “draft” Master Plan and Land Use Plan update. The Municipal Land Use Law requires that a master plan must be reexamined at least once every six years. The last Master Plan for Middle was completed in 2003.
At the hearing the public had the opportunity to ask the planning questions about the new plan, as well as provide comment on what it likes or may not like about the recommended changes to land use and zoning.
One objective that makes this proposed master plan very different from those in the past, is that the town is seeking high-density development within several centers throughout the township, through a state process called Plan Endorsement by the State Planning Commission. In return for permission to build at higher densities than would otherwise be permitted, the township has been asked to adopt several measures to better protect water quality and natural resources in the outlying environs.
The township has taken steps in proposing several ordinances designed to make development happen in a more environmentally sensitive manner, in addition to modestly reducing developing potential in the areas surrounding the centers. However, we believe the overall build-out, or future development level remains far too high.
At present there are already development approvals in place for 2,274 new houses.
In addition, the zoning changes proposed by the township would allow another 5,054 new houses, plus over 2 million square feet of office and commercial building.
Taken together, the new zoning increase from 16,405 residents today to 28,029 — 11,624 more residents. That is a 70 percent increase in population.
Both Middle Township officials and its residents need to seriously consider the implications and impacts that such growth will have on their quality of life. With growth comes more maddening traffic, more air and water pollution, and certainly higher taxes needed to support public infrastructure and services such as police, schools and fire protection.
Remaining forests within the township are home to many of New Jersey’s rarest plants and animals and represents important migratory flyways for songbirds. Too much of this forest has already been lost to pavement and strip malls, and the proposed master plan fails to protect it.
Whether or not we grow the National Wildlife Refuge into an ecological whole, largely hinges on how Middle zones its land acquisition boundaries. Right now, much of that environmentally sensitive land is zoned for development.
Between, 2002-2007, we lost an average of 16,000 acres of forest and farmland to development each year in New Jersey. As we recover from the recession, the growth boom that’s been focused on the region will return. When it does, we hope the town will have a plan in place that truly balances the enormous growth it wants for its centers with meaningful protections of what remains.
MATT BLAKE
Greenwich
(Matt Blake manages the American Littoral Society’s Delaware Bay Program)