NJAS Opinion: February 2000

Note: The following editorial, which we co-authored with NJ State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc. Executive Director George Howard, appeared on the Op-ed Page of the Daily Record on February 2, 2000, under a different title.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT OUR FAILED STATE PLAN?

We thank you for your "on target" editorial of January 2, where you said that "New Jerseyans must confess to pursuing an unsustainable model of growth." We think that New Jerseyans have made such a confession in the Star-Ledger Eagleton poll released this past December, where overwhelming numbers of citizens expressed the view that the State Plan was not working to control sprawl. New Jersey Audubon Society and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc. were the co-sponsors in 1997 of the People's Petition to put teeth in our State Plan. Since then, without special staff or budgets, and without a great deal of media coverage, we have obtained over 12,000 signatures calling on the Governor and the Legislature to set a tough protective standard of zoning for the most environmentally sensitive areas. Despite what the Governor's spinmeister Pete McDonough says, there are still no teeth in the State Plan, no enforceable standards, and local governments still zone rural lands for suburbia. In addition, there are no substantial financial incentives to do the right thing. This Christmas Wall Street alone paid out $14 billion in bonuses - this puts the piddling numbers for urban revitalization and watershed purposes in the Governor's State of the State address into true perspective: small change for small ideas. The Governor's open space plan will buy some land, probably nowhere near a million acres, but it will not control suburban sprawl, and everyone can see that just by looking out their windows while stuck in traffic. The Governor has also dropped the ball on coastal reform, endorsing a weak set of rules and refusing to lead the way to close the infamous coastal 24 unit "loophole."

Her new Executive Order No. 109, which purports to get a handle on sewer expansions, did not create any new substantive criteria for stopping them. Orders cannot substitute for the political will to take on the real estate and builders' lobbies. Speaking of political will, we can only shake our heads in amazement at the failure of the Democratic Party to formulate any policy position on sprawl issues, even if it was just for the sake of livening up their otherwise dull and futile attempt to recapture the Assembly. There was nary an environmental plank in their platform. In this state, on land use, it doesn't look like we have a two party system. We have a "one party, builder's state."

NJ Audubon and the State Sportsmen's Clubs will be working with other environmental and citizen organizations, including transportation groups, to update our petition and bring it before the people with policies that the Governor and Legislature can enact to bring us real sprawl control. . The history of environmental progress in this state shows that when we have acted well in the past, the Legislature has set a tough but fair standard to hold local governments and state agencies accountable. Municipalities have had almost a decade to enact their own protective standards on land use densities, and have failed to do so. We do know how to do it, and have done it before with our Pinelands legislation and freshwater wetlands act. We need a strong coalition and active citizens to keep the heat on our reluctant Governor and Legislature - and our two builder-shy political parties. They are out of step with citizens on sprawl. We intend to close the gap