Water and Sewer
One of the first rules of land use is that development follows infrastructure. Where sewers are located largely dictates where development occurs. Similarly, where and how septic systems are regulated governs how larger lot subdivisions are designed. The regulatory system governing the use of water and wastewater not only affects our environmental health, but can also help rein in sprawl and support the smart, center-based development called for in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
The planning frameworks in the Highlands and Pinelands regions were established to protect those regions’ vulnerable water resources. Across the entire state, the state’s Water Quality Management Planning rules have the potential to ensure good outcomes, depending upon exactly how they are written and implemented.
If the Christie administration focuses earnestly on implementing the wastewater rules, the governor can keep his commitment to supporting growth while reducing environmental damage.
How the NJDEP goes about implementing its own new vision will say much about how the Christie administration intends to fulfill the mission of the new State Strategic Plan.
New Jersey residents are unhappy about recent growth patterns, saying they have made the state expensive and difficult to travel. They support coordinated planning to protect natural resources, foster walkable communities and enhance transportation options.
Extension of Sewer Service Areas is one of the most important factors in determining where development will happen next: Where new sewer lines go, development follows. Until recently, most of the state had obsolete, and in some cases nonexistent, designations for where sewers were permitted. But since the Department of Environmental Protection updated its water quality rule in 2008, the situation has changed, and counties are poised to adopt plans designating where sewers are allowed.
In yet another sign that the real estate market is moving away from the typical suburban, single-family housing toward more compact, walkable development, the New Jersey Builders Association recently announced the formation of an affiliate organization to advocate specifically for multifamily housing issues.
Oct. 11, 2011 — A new statewide poll commissioned in part by New Jersey Future shows that New Jersey residents think the way the state has developed over the last 20 years has made it less affordable and more difficult to travel. They support more compact communities with greater transportation choices, protection of critical resources like drinking water, and regional coordination of land-use planning efforts.
January 20, 2012 — Press coverage of S3156, the recently signed law to change New Jersey’s water quality rule, has been dominated by two opposing positions. The building community has insisted that the existing rule be scaled back and delayed to allow more opportunities for development projects on open lands in order to create jobs and jump-start the economy. Environmentalists, meanwhile, have focused on the bill’s adverse impact on the state’s drinking water supplies.
December 27, 2011 — New Jersey has grown and developed during the past quarter-century in much the same way as it did during the half-century that preceded it—ever outward, from established places where infrastructure already exists to sprawling suburbs that encroach on environmentally sensitive areas.
Oct. 28, 2011 — The new State Strategic Plan can succeed where the earlier State Development and Redevelopment Plan failed — but only if Gov. Christie stands strongly behind it.
October 21, 2011 — According to a recent Monmouth University poll, New Jerseyans want to live in walkable communities with access to amenities and transportation choices besides cars. It’s time we turned our resources toward inward-bound redevelopment instead of outward-bound sprawl.
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