The NJ DEP has granted a CAFRA permit to Paramount Homes at Traders Cove. Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic will represent Save Barnegat Bay in an appeal.
The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has granted a CAFRA permit to Paramount Homes at Traders Cove in Brick Township. Save Barnegat Bay, represented by the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, will represent us.
In the opinion of Save Barnegat Bay this action exposes Governor Jim McGreevey’s and DEP Commissioner Brad Campbell’s claims to favor aggressive protection of coastal water quality and “Smart Growth” as empty political rhetoric.
Last year McGreevey held a press conference within sight of Traders Cove at which he extolled his commitment to protect “Category One” waters. The waters at Traders Cove fall into this category; McGreevey’s rhetoric turned out to be false.
This summer Ocean County experienced a celebrated and huge “Green Blob” in a lagoon in Little Egg Harbor. Just last week Lake of the Lillies in Point Pleasant Beach experienced a massive fish kill. Virtually every summer Barnegat Bay suffers from polluting brown tides. McGreevey and Campbell’s answer: To renege on their own promises and approve a highly dense and potentially precedent setting development in the Category One waters at Traders Cove.
Save Barnegat Bay submitted a report by Princeton Hydro, one of the most highly qualified water quality experts in the country, into the CAFRA record. Princeton Hydro found the applicant’s stormwater management submission highly inadequate. This apparently had little effect on the Department’s determination to approve this politically sensitive application.
The environment of the coast suffered greatly under the regulatory regime of Republican Christine Todd Whitman. Now Democrat McGreevey is approving massive inappropriate development. Save Barnegat Bay continues to believe that the only salvation for the environment of our state is a revamping of the statutes governing the role of money in politics. “Pay to Play” public contracting reform would be the most appropriate start.
On another front, the Brick Township Zoning Board of Adjustment in January granted a highly politicized and legally vulnerable land use variance to Paramount Homes for the Traders Cove site. On the advice of our attorney, Save Barnegat Bay’s Board of Directors has voted to appeal the granting of this variance to Superior Court in Toms River. In this matter SBB will be represented by Michele R. Donato of Lavallette.
Read a brief Asbury Park Press report on the Traders Cove CAFRA approval.
