by Brian T. Lynch, MSW
What follows is my comments to the Mine Hill Planning Board on Monday, March 2nd, which I was not able to present to the Board, but was able to submit to the Board.
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I will be brief. I want to express my concerns about the change of status in the 2024 Master Plan Report regarding the Sweetwood-Ellison Tract, Block 1201, lots 1-13. And omissions that do not appear in our master plan that have a bearing in considered rezoning changes for that property.
The Master plan is designed to be comprehensive planning tool to guide appropriate use of development in a manner which promotes public health, safety and the general welfare, which includes providing a fair share of affordable housing based on population densities and future growth. It is also a guide to sustainable growth. I agree with all these goals.
As a result of recent changes to the law, AND to meet the current round of affordable housing unit quotas for Mine Hill, zoning changes to the 85 plus acre Randall Hill Forest may be required. This updated plan will rezone the land from a property to be removed as a potential affordable housing site in the 2024 Master Plan Review, to a property to be rezoned to permit 305 townhouse dwelling units with a 20% set aside for affordable housing.
What is missing from this Master Plan, and from any consideration in the past of which I am aware, is the sensitive environmental status of this property. Previously, the main concern in developing this land has been the existence of deep, uncapped iron mine shafts on the property. The cost of remediation made development for high-density housing prohibitive in the past.
But this property should not be developed, or very carefully developed, for environmental reasons as well. When or if it is developed, special zoning requirements should be in place to maintain this property as a natural water resource for Spring Brook. Simple flood mitigation is not sufficient. The purity of the water due to how if is filtered as rainwater runs through the ground and surface must also be considered. The brook and its wetland obtain most of its water from rainfall on Randall Hill. The brook is a tributary to Jackson Brook, and from there to the Rockaway River. It eventually flows into the Jersey City Reservoir and contributes clean water to the drinking water to 1.2 million New Jersey resident.
I am providing a map from the NJDEP’s GeoWeb to document my claim here. I am asking you to consider the potential environmental impacts that development of this site might have from a water resource perspective. As the2026 Master Plan Reexamination Amendment states, “Addressing such issues […. as storm resilience, environmental sustainability, and climate change-related hazard vulnerabilities assessment] will position the Township to address sustainability challenges and opportunities in a prepared and intentional manner.”
Thank you.
Randall Hill is the highland surrounded on three sides by the Spring Brook wetland, a C1 protected waterbody.
I will be brief. I want to express my concerns about the change of status in the 2024 Master Plan Report regarding the Sweetwood-Ellison Tract, Block 1201, lots 1-13. And omissions that do not appear in our master plan that have a bearing in considered rezoning changes for that property.
The Master plan is designed to be comprehensive planning tool to guide appropriate use of development in a manner which promotes public health, safety and the general welfare, which includes providing a fair share of affordable housing based on population densities and future growth. It is also a guide to sustainable growth. I agree with all these goals.
As a result of recent changes to the law, AND to meet the current round of affordable housing unit quotas for Mine Hill, zoning changes to the 85 plus acre Randall Hill Forest may be required. This updated plan will rezone the land from a property to be removed as a potential affordable housing site in the 2024 Master Plan Review, to a property to be rezoned to permit 305 townhouse dwelling units with a 20% set aside for affordable housing.
What is missing from this Master Plan, and from any consideration in the past of which I am aware, is the sensitive environmental status of this property. Previously, the main concern in developing this land has been the existence of deep, uncapped iron mine shafts on the property. The cost of remediation made development for high-density housing prohibitive in the past.
But this property should not be developed, or very carefully developed, for environmental reasons as well. When or if it is developed, special zoning requirements should be in place to maintain this property as a natural water resource for Spring Brook. Simple flood mitigation is not sufficient. The purity of the water due to how if is filtered as rainwater runs through the ground and surface must also be considered. The brook and its wetland obtain most of its water from rainfall on Randall Hill. The brook is a tributary to Jackson Brook, and from there to the Rockaway River. It eventually flows into the Jersey City Reservoir and contributes clean water to the drinking water to 1.2 million New Jersey resident.
I am providing a map from the NJDEP’s GeoWeb to document my claim here. I am asking you to consider the potential environmental impacts that development of this site might have from a water resource perspective. As the2026 Master Plan Reexamination Amendment states, “Addressing such issues […. as storm resilience, environmental sustainability, and climate change-related hazard vulnerabilities assessment] will position the Township to address sustainability challenges and opportunities in a prepared and intentional manner.”
Thank you.
Randall Hill is the highland surrounded on three sides by the Spring Brook wetland, a C1 protected waterbody.
Randall Hill Forest is pictured here. It is even more clear that the hill is the water source for most of the water that surrounds its lowlands.
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