Take Action on S4736

Help us stop a new threat to the Drew Forest and environmentally sensitive lands: bill S4736 introduced in the lame duck session ending Jan 13.

  • send our small letter

  • contact legislators and local officials

Click on this link  to download and send our letter!

To:  

From: Friends of the Drew Forest 

RE: Imminent threat to the Drew Forest and environmentally sensitive lands—S4736 introduced in the NJ Legislature's lame duck session

Thank you for standing with us over the years. Just as we are getting close to saving the Drew Forest, a new threat is on the horizon: an environmentally troubling bill, S4736, that could impact our ability to save the Forest and preserve valuable open space across NJ. The bill was introduced on Oct. 27 by Senator Troy Singleton, the Senate Majority Caucus Chair. We suspect it will be fast tracked through the lame duck session, which ends Jan. 13.

The bill has an extremely laudable goal: accelerating the construction of affordable housing in New Jersey by allowing nonprofits and churches to monetize their lands and turn them into housing. But it does so without regard to existing municipal zoning ordinances.

What has us on edge: If S4736 becomes law, developers will be able to bypass a municipality’s  Zoning Board of Adjustment. For example, in Madison, there would be no need for a zoning change (from university to residential) for Drew University to develop anywhere on its 164-acre property, including the Forest. 

Developers would be allowed to do the following as pre-approved, permitted uses:

  • build housing with a 40 unit per acre density. 

  • build housing with heights one story higher than the highest building in town.

  • enter into automatic agreement for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), something that normally occurs when an area has been designated ‘in need of redevelopment.’

  • build housing that is 80% market rate and 20% affordable. 20% affordable is not a high enough threshold for a fast-track bill; it is simply what towns like Madison require.

The bill incentivizes sprawl, overrides local Master Plan goals and obviates the need for the sort of smart growth planning that makes towns walkable, liveable and public-transportation savvy. 

Most importantly, the bill totally ignores the need to protect New Jersey’s dwindling open space and its over-stressed natural resources, including the Buried Valley Aquifer, for which the Drew Forest is an important recharge zone.

Please pass this on to friends, elected officials and everyone who cares about open space and the Drew Forest.


Sincerely,

Your name here

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