What can be done about the proposed Bi-County property development?
Mayor Linda Schwager and Mayor Chris Vergano of Wayne at the rally to save High Mountain
At a recent rally to save High Mountain, the mayors of Oakland (Linda Schwager) and Wayne (Christopher Vergano), the Sierra Club of New Jersey (Executive Director Jeffrey Tittel), the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (Emile DeVito, Manager of Science and Stewardship), the New Jersey Highlands Coalition (Elliott Ruga, Senior Director of Policy and Development) and Ramapough Conservancy President and Founder (Judith Joan Sullivan, Esq.), all spoke to concerned residents of both Oakland and Wayne.
We have a good deal of achievable work to undertake in order to prevent the construction of this proposed development which includes 209 homes on 84 acres of which there will be 77 four bedroom homes, the balance being townhomes and apartments (with 24 of those units being affordable units), said most of the civic and charitable leaders. It was pointed out that the Ramapo River is already contaminated (33% of the 68% studied), and depletion of our drinking water supply will make these statistics worse. Oakland and Mahwah depend entirely on the health of the Ramapo River and its watershed for our drinking water in our homes. In addition, this development could result in additional taxes imposed on our already struggling citizens to build new schools as our current schools are overcrowded.
It seems there are 4 possibilities:
1. Find land conservancy groups, people, grants, the town, etc. to buy the property. Click here to donate to the NJ Highlands Coalition
2. Find an animal species or flora species which is resident there that is endangered. We already know about the barred owl, for example.
3. Find ancient artifacts, burial grounds or something like this that can’t be disturbed. Ramapough Conservancy is actively looking for funding to support this kind of study. The Conservancy estimates a Phase One study evaluation could be approximately $15,000.00. The Conservancy would require the builder to bear the larger cost of the study and use its geologists and archaeologists on consulting staff to review the builder’s hired consultants’ work.
4. Hope the towns/environmental groups create legal tie-ups which last for several years. The New Jersey Highlands Coalition needs donations to support a legal appeal it has filed with the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division, and has merged its case with Wayne, who has also filed an appeal (of the issuance of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s initial permits allowing the work to continue for the project.) Being that the area is small compared to the overall Highlands protected area under the New Jersey Highlands Act, Judith Sullivan, a resident of Oakland, founder of Ramapough Conservancy and board member of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, urges Oakland, Mahwah and Wayne citizens to donate to the New Jersey Highlands Coalition to support this legal action. The Coalition has hired some of the best environmental lawyers in the nation at Columbia Law School to fight the fight.
Emile DeVito, Manager of Science and Stewardship at the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, and Elliott Ruga, of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition
Oakland residents – now is the time to take a bigger interest in this. With the Highlands Coalition on our side for this piece of land and for them to engage in the project as a priority is a big deal. For them to advocate and devote a lot of resources for our land and water is something Oaklanders should be aware. The New Jersey Highlands coalition has eight hundred thousand acres that they are responsible for managing and in 2016 they have decided to make Oakland’s two hundred acres on High Mountain a priority. If you would like to donate any amount to Save High Mountain please visit http://www.njhighlandscoalition.org/ No amount is too small.