VINELAND ORDINANCES WILL PROTECT IMPORTANT WATERWAYS (08.15.08 Coastal Reporter)
In June when the City of Vineland, New Jersey, passed an ordinance to buffer sensitive woodlands and habitat along two of the Delaware Bayshore’s most ecologically significant, yet vulnerable waterways - the National Wild and Scenic Maurice River and Menantico Creek.
The Society joined the Vineland City Environmental Commission at a Master Plan hearing to urge the City Council to shield special waterways from encroaching development. The newly adopted land use ordinance followed an extensive Master Plan adoption effort. As a result of the Society’s testimony, future development is largely prohibited within 250 feet of the Maurice River and Menantico Creek. These protections are critical to protecting water quality and the stream environment from adverse development impacts including non-point source pollution. They will help protect the City’s extensive riparian habitats which serve as a super-highway for tens of thousands of songbirds during migration.
The Society is also working with several other towns in the region to protect other significant coastal waterways such as the Cohansey River. Our goal is to develop and implement river and stream protection ordinances in a few pilot towns and then make model ordinances available for use by other towns in the region. We have already begun working with Hopewell Township.
JOIN US ON THE SCENIC COHANSEY RIVER
Sept. 27 & 28 - Coastal Birding Walk
Society staffers Matt Blake and Tony Geiger will lead walks along the scenic Cohansey River for some of the best birding in the state. Walks are free to the public and start at 8:30 AM each day (same itinerary each time). We’ve scheduled these walks to coincide with other local events and recommend you make a day of it -- after the walk visit historic maritime Greenwich for lunch in local eateries, attend the 100th Anniversary of the Tea Burner’s Monument, Artisans’ Faire and Marketplace, and sail on the historic Schooner A. J. Meerwald. Even though this event is free, it helps us to have a headcount--please contact Tony Geiger at tony@littoralsociety.org or 856-455-2174 for information or to sign up. Download flyer with more details
CUMBERLAND COUNTY:
TDR Program Could Revitalize Vineland’s Downtown and Preserve Fourteen Thousand Acres, 7.23.08 Download PDF
Unintended Consequences of Motorsports Park Already Here, 7.15.08 Download PDF
Hopewell’s New ATV Ordinance Shows Leadership, 6.12.08 Download PDF
CAPE MAY COUNTY: American Littoral Speaks out against proposed mine inside acquisition boundaries of Cape May Wildlife Refuge. Read about it in the Cape May County Herald: Conservationists Finally Get Opportunity to Speak , posted May 8, 2008. To learn more-
Indian Trail Fight Can and Must Be Won, 7.1.08 Download PDF
SALEM COUNTY: Society and Enviro Partners Defeat Wal-Mart Development Plan
When we first learned of Wal-Mart’s environmentally insensitive plan to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter inside the acquisition boundaries of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, we carefully weighed the potential impact of our not becoming involved, the resources we had available, and the size of the task. Some told us “you can’t beat Wal-Mart” and said they wouldn’t do it. Because the land in question, known as the Sinnickson tract was so important to the refuge and to the ecological health of the Delaware Bay watershed and the Bay and because our Delaware Bayshore Project Manager, Matt Blake, was ready to do whatever it took, we decided to proceed.
Matt spent two and a half years preparing testimony, speaking at hearings, advocating against the proposed development in the press, and strategizing with the many groups opposing the project. Matt spent hundreds of hours poring over Wal-Mart’s site plan submissions, environmental impact studies, and writing and submitting comments, objections, and alternate scenarios. He worked with the Office of Smart Growth to get important changes to the growth designations for the area in question. He worked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that when Wal-Mart’s applied for permits, they were aware of all the implications and of the public groundswell of opposition.
By the end of the first year, local planning board meetings had to be moved to the local high school gym because the number of public opposing the project had outgrown Pennsville’s municipal building. The first year passed, then the second and Wal-Mart still had not broken ground. Some of the naysayers joined the effort. In the end, everyone did the right thing and Wal-Mart backed down and let their option on the property expire.
This is an exceptional ending—but the story is not over yet. Now, a coalition of New Jersey conservation organizations is working to secure federal funds to acquire the Sinnickson Tract for the refuge. We will be supporting that effort in any way we can. In the meantime, we thank all of the individuals who attended hearings, wrote letters and supported this important effort. Finally, we recognize the contributions of the following groups that worked so hard to reach this happy ending:
Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions
Citizens of Pennsville Against Sprawl
Concerned Pilesgrove Residents (CPR)
Congressman Frank Lo Biondo
Friends of Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
New Jersey Audubon
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
New Jersey Environmental Federation
Salem County Watershed Task Force
To learn more-
The Future of Supawna Meadows, 7.24.08 Download PDF
Environmental Coalition Defeats Wal-Mart Development Plan, 05.06.08 (Revised 05.12.08) Download PDF
Lapse Leaves Refuge Vulnerable to Wal-Mart, 07.10.06 Download PDF
Preserve Pennsville Tract, 01.22.06 Download PDF
American Littoral Society Urges Citizens to Oppose Wal-Mart Plan, 11.10.05 Download PDF