Town Council Passes Ordinance to Add Riparian Zone Protections

Residents opposed to an ordinance that amends the township's code on flood damage prevention to include riparian zone protections continued their protests to the town council on Tuesday night.

The ordinance fufills a state mandate on protected land use. After adoption, municipalities have the flexibility to interpret and manage the ordinance based on its intent. This includes unique homeowner cases. 

Residents had interpreted that Tuesday's vote on the ordinance to become the final say on whether they can repair or otherwise modify their property within a riparian zone.

Residents anywhere in New Jersey that live in a riparian zone against the Passaic River are bound by state mandates that protect the zones. A riparian zone is an interface between land and a river or stream.

"This ordinance deals with setting forth the state regulations that are already in place and allows the town (some leverage) in how it enforces them," said borough attorney Joseph Sordillo. "Any application would still require Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approval whether this ordnance is adopted or not." 

The council passed the ordinance by a 4-2 vote.  

But that wasn't before residents took turns in protesting what could happen once the ordinance is in place.

"I think it's your duty to be proactive if there's a problem and to identify it for the community," said resident Paul Bakas who lives on Lawrence Drive. "The problem with zone (in the ordinance) is that it is very broadly written. It's not tailored to Berkeley Heights, it's not tailored to small communities and it does not help the public get informed about the purpose and intent of this state regulation."

There are specific elements of the mandate that prohibit the disturbance of the land in the zone regardless of whether it is on a homeowners's property. That means that residents are not allowed to build or repair embankments or reroute the waterway, no matter how destructive the water can become.

The township, similar to all others in New Jersey, is under pressure from the DEP to pass the ordinance as it is tied to receiving state sewer permits that pave the way toward municipal expansion.

Municipal or state restrictions, however, are cold comfort to homeowners who are looking for a way to suspend the flood waters that are causing damage and potentially impacting home values. 

Resident Karen Bland, who came out to voice her concerns about the ordinance for a second time, said that once property damage occurs in the riparian zone, residents are powerless to address the problems on their own.

"I have identified that the majority of (my) erosion is on green acres (protected) land and will soon on be on my property," Bland said. "It is devaluing my property."

Bland said that the real crux of the issue is that residents do not have a proper recourse to address issues that occur within the riparian zone.

Since the last meeting, Bland sought the advice of a consulting firm that has experience dealing with the DEP.

"They said that it was not natural erosion, but a pure storm water issue," Bland said. "It is beyond repair from a riparian perspective." They gave me a quote and just to write up a plan would cost me $25,000. 

"You are putting me in a terrible position," she told the board.