Andover awarded $10,000 ‘Smart Growth' grant

ANDOVER - The Association of N.J. Environmental Commissions has awarded a $10,000 Smart Growth Planning Grant to the Andover Environmental Commission. The township was the only municipality to receive funding for two projects: Revision of the township’s 10-year-old natural resource inventory and a build-out analysis. “Both projects are necessary first steps for revising our master plan,” said Lois de Vries, environmental commission chair. “What is allowed to go on top of the ground should be based on what is in the ground, and how any changes might effect our natural resources, not the other way around,” she said. She cited the recent return to its natural level of the water table within the limestone valley. “These formations underlie the central portion of the entire town, as well as adjacent towns.,” she continued. “We have to be good stewards of this vital water source and plan accordingly.” Over the past three years the commission has been working on developing new mapping tools to be incorporated into the natural resource inventory, and later, as part of the environmental element of the master plan. The build-out analysis will project recommended growth based on the carrying capacity of the land. By state law, master plans are required to be reviewed every six years. Because the township had undertaken no major revision of its zoning and protective ordinances in more than 20 years, environmentally sensitive areas are still at risk of inappropriate development. The inventory will provide the science-based underpinnings, and the build-out analysis the interpretive rationale, to support ordinances and master plan revisions. “While I’m sure most residents appreciate the natural beauty of our town, I don’t think they realize the unique nature of our environment,” said de Vries. “There’s a reason why The Nature Conservancy, the Green Acres Program, and the State of New Jersey have purchased so much of our land. For example, there is an insect that lives in our limestone fens that is found in only four other places on Earth.” The township committee, which allocated the matching funds, fully supports the projects. “We inherited a budget process that was inadequate to fund our required master plan reexamination this year,” said Bob Webster, a member of both the town committee and planning board. He said the grant “could not have come at a better time” and provides “critical financial support to a key element of our master plan work”. The environmental commission and the planning board will be working with Banisch Associates, a consulting firm, to produce the documents. “The function of a planning board goes much further than simply hearing applications for development,” said Stan Christodlous, planning board chair. Christodlous said the board has the major responsibility to develop the master plan, and then to recommend to the township the ordinances that support and make the plan a reality. “When properly enforced by ordinances,” he noted, the master plan “is probably the most important document that a community can develop. It sets the standards by which growth and development can take place.” The natural resources inventory “is a critical ingredient in the development of this plan,” he concluded. The grant is being managed by a project task force composed of members of the environmental commission, the planning board, and the township committee.