Pastor Urges Flood Mitigation For Black Community In Morristown

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Nearly two centuries ago, Morris County's first Black church came to be. Because of racial segregation, its founders could only build it down by the river, according to Bethel Church Pastor Sydney Williams.

Much has changed around Morristown in the nearly 180 years since the church got built. But one thing remained the same, according to Williams: the town hasn't taken enough action to mitigate floods in the area.

After the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit New Jersey last week, the Bethel Church came out unscathed. But much of the surrounding area was flooded, including Martin Luther King Avenue near the Manahan Village public-housing complex.

On a social-media video, Williams said the area's consistent issues with flooding represent a half-century of broken promises to the community.

"The Black population in Morristown has been greatly depleted due to so-called urban renewal and a lack of environmental justice," Williams said.

According to the pastor, the Headquarters Plaza urban-renewal project of the 1960s displaced Black residents, who were never able to find another home in Morris County. The project was supposed to bring $12 million for flood mitigation near the church.

"Fifty years later, no flood mitigation has been done whatsoever," Williams said.

Williams credited Rep. Mikie Sherrill for putting the area's flooding issues on the Congressional record. But he urged the public to reach out to the Town Council and Planning Board and to share his video:

The town sent Patch the following statement in response:

"In many other communities in NJ, lives were tragically lost, and homes and property were destroyed by the floods and the aftermath. Thankfully, Morristown did not experience any major damage or injury. While the delineated flood zone adjacent to the Whippany River did experience some flooding, it receded within hours and no occupied structure in the area was impacted. That is a blessing that other communities around us did not receive and for which we should be grateful.

"Let’s not ignore the strides that have been made here that prevented more extensive damage and preserved the area properties and churches that were in harm’s way 10 years ago. Our Police, Fire, and DPW did a yeoman’s job preparing for this storm and swiftly provided assistance to those residents that needed it. We thank them for their efforts."

Williams said the issue was not political, but one of environmental justice. But he criticized Mayor Tim Dougherty, who voted with the Planning Board to approve a 15-unit building of mostly market-rate apartments for Martin Luther King Avenue.

"The disappointing part is," Williams said, "we have a mayor who says he cares about all citizens in our community and yet endorses market-rate housing to be built on Martin Luther King Avenue, with no conversation about what we’re going to do about the flooding in this area."

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