My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.- Robert Burns
The romantic nature of Robert Burns’ poem is a sentiment that can easily be applied to the local commitment to nature and preservation. But as news reports from around the state and the nation show, we live in a much more complex time.
An article in The Bergen Record is describing the Oakland borough council as enthusiastic about the possible benefits if the town were to voluntarily place the entire borough under the restrictive regulations of The Highlands Act “preservation area” as compared to the “planning area”. Oakland is now only partially in the preservation area which provides greater protection of natural resources through more restrictive controls administered by the Highlands Council. While the article listed other neighboring towns as assuming a wait and see approach, The Record is portraying the Oakland council as eager to use the protections afforded these areas as a means to avoid legal battles in it’s effort to protect open space from developers.
The Highlands Council is encouraging municipalities to sign onto greater legislative oversight from Trenton with promises of increased aid, streamlining approval processes, and protection from lawsuits. Mayor Szabo and the council will apply for grant money to study the impact of Plan Conformance. As reported in the Flanders NJ News, this money is being made available through The Plan Conformance Grant Program. Eileen Swan, an environmental activist and now Executive Director of the Highlands Council, is quoted as saying, “We hope that municipalities in the Planning Area will look to the incentives we offer, including the grants, technical assistance, and legal protection, and strongly consider Plan Conformance with the Highlands RMP.” Presumably the lawsuits being alluded to refer to ones involving developers, open space, and affordable housing requirements.
The conflict between The Highlands Council and The Council on Affordable Housing is being reported by municipalities around the state. The COAH has issued new guidelines for New Jersey towns that might not sit well with most New Jersey residents. The Star Ledger’s Paul Mulshine reports the situation in Cranford, NJ where the mayor informed him, “They were counting the Parkway right-of-way, school properties, soccer fields … They even included the lawn outside town hall as buildable acreage.” State Senator Tony Bucco, a Republican from Morris County, describes in the same article the situation in Victory Gardens. “They’re taking backyards and saying it’s open space.”
With The Department of Environmental Protection, The Council on Affordable Housing, The Highlands Council, private developers, environmental and affordable housing activists all pushing their own agenda, small towns across New Jersey are facing the perfect storm as they try to navigate a path that preserves the character of their town while complying with state mandates. Some towns in New Jersey and across the nation are getting very aggressive in their determination to control their own destiny, and have resorted to applying the use of eminent domain to open spaces in their community. But solutions such as that do nothing to address the affordable housing requirements that continue to be piled on. These concerns are being voiced by residents of Roxbury, NJ who fear that mandates from COAH and mandates from The Highlands Council may force them to build up, as into the sky with apartment buildings. This might be the only option that satisfies everyone except the residents of Roxbury.