WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT PLANNING IN THE HOPEWELL VALLEY
STATEMENT OF POLICY
MSM Regional Council affirms our long-standing policy that region-shaping infrastructure decisions should be made consistent with and in support of local, county and state land use plans. In particular, wastewater treatment infrastructure decisions dramatically shape the manner in which this region has and will develop.
Investments in urban scale wastewater treatment infrastructure must be strategically targeted, so as to encourage compact, centered development in appropriate locations and at a scale, intensity and pace consistent with the capacity of natural systems and other infrastructure systems to assimilate the impacts of growth. Toward that end, MSM recommends that the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan be used as the framework under which an integrated growth management and watershed management program for the Hopewell Valley be developed. Such a program is not now in place.
The development of such a program should be given top priority in the near term and should include a cooperative and aggressive effort to ensure consistency among the various land use and growth management plans and ordinances in place today, as well as a means to ensure that public and private infrastructure investments facilitate the implementation of these plans. More specifically, the program should include:
- planning and implementation of a Planned Regional Center in the I-95 corridor which capitalizes upon Merrill Lynch's proposed Scotch Road Office Park and builds upon the I-95/295 Transportation Development District Plan;
- continued compact development in the historic villages of Hopewell Borough (a Village Center designated by the State Planning Commission) and Pennington Borough (an identified Village Center);
- adoption of zoning and other land use policies, by the Hopewell Valley municipalities, that will ensure that development which takes place within centers and in the center's environs is consistent in use, location, scale, intensity and phasing with the pertinent provisions of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan; and
- continuation of efforts by the County and the Hopewell Valley municipalities to aggressively protect open space in the environs of these centers through easement purchase and acquisition as well as an expansion of those efforts to include transfer of development rights.
POSITION ON CURRENT WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS
The following positions are based upon the above stated policy framework and the findings and recommendations contained in the January 1998 Heyer, Gruel and Talley Planners' Report commissioned by MSM and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association to analyze the three pending proposals to expand wastewater treatment capacity in the Hopewell Valley:
Southeastern Hopewell Township in the vicinity of the I-95 Corridor Transportation Development District
MSM finds that:
- the Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority (ELSA) Option, the negotiated agreement between ELSA and Merrill Lynch to provide 330,000 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity to the 450 acre Merrill Lynch site at the interchange of Scotch Road and I-95, is generally consistent with State Plan policies, However, the site-specific nature of the option renders it inadequate to meet the full range of community and regional goals in a manner fully consistent with State Plan policies and the criteria for implementation of a Planned Regional Center in the I-95 Corridor.
- the Trenton Option, the negotiated agreement for up to 2.5 MGD of wastewater treatment capacity from the city of Trenton, if implemented under existing zoning would facilitate direct and induced development at a scale and intensity beyond the capacity of other community infrastructure systems. The traffic, school and quality of life impacts of the direct and induced development would likely overwhelm the Hopewell Valley. While the provision of public wastewater treatment infrastructure to this area is generally consistent with State Plan infrastructure policies for Planning Area 1, implementation as proposed under existing zoning would not be in the public interest.
- in concept, the use of wastewater treatment capacity through the Trenton system should be viewed as an opportunity for addressing multiple community and regional needs, however, public decision-makers have a responsibility to more fully examine the land use, environmental, economic, and planning consistency implications of the proposal prior to moving forward with implementation of the Trenton Option as presently proposed.
MSM recommends that:
- Hopewell Township officials concentrate their resources in the short term (next six months) on resolving the implementation conflicts described in Heyer, Gruel and Talley's Planner's Report and work expeditiously to develop an implementation plan for the Trenton Option which: embraces the concept of a Planned Regional Center in the I-95 Corridor, is fully consistent with the State Plan, and which continues to afford Merrill Lynch the opportunity to use wastewater treatment capacity from Trenton in conjunction with the development of their Scotch Road Office Park.
- additional consideration of the wastewater management proposals for the Route 31 corridor and Lucent Technologies property be tabled pending the timely development of an implementation plan for the Trenton Option.
Lucent Technologies Area
MSM finds that:
- Hopewell Township's zoning for the Lucent Technologies property is inconsistent with local and county land use plans as well as the State Development and Redevelopment Plan;
- development of large-scale commercial uses on the Lucent Technologies property is inappropriate given the proximity of the property to the existing village of Hopewell Borough, the character of surrounding land uses and the lack of adequate road infrastructure to serve the site.
- the extension of public wastewater treatment infrastructure that permits
expansion of the Lucent Technologies property is inconsistent with the
goals, objectives and policies of local and county land use plans as
well as the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
MSM recommends that: - the existing on-site wastewater treatment plant which now serves the Lucent Technologies property be maintained as the sole source of wastewater treatment for the site and that neither the Hopewell nor the Pennington treatment plants of the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority be expanded to serve the Lucent Technologies property.
Route 31 Corridor from Pennington to Marshall's Corner
MSM finds that:
- Hopewell Township's zoning for the Route 31 corridor is inconsistent with the county land use plan as well as the State Development and Redevelopment Plan;
- development of large-scale commercial uses in the Route 31 corridor is inappropriate given the proximity of the area to the existing villages of Hopewell Borough and Pennington Borough, the character of surrounding land uses and the lack of adequate road infrastructure;
- the extension of urban level wastewater treatment infrastructure to the Route 31 corridor is inconsistent with the goals, objectives and policies of local and county land use plans as well as the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
MSM recommends that:
- the present sewer service area of the Pennington treatment plant be maintained. Further, we recommend that any future sewer service area expansion for the Pennington Treatment Plant be contingent upon and consistent with a Village Center designation by the State Planning Commission;
- the Pennington treatment plant's capacity be expanded to address the failing septic systems in and immediately adjacent to Pennington Borough and as needed to provide capacity for future growth within a Village Center at Pennington. However, steps should be taken to reduce the existing infiltration problem present in Pennington treatment plant system, so as to limit the amount of expansion ultimately necessary;
- the current wastewater disposal problem at Pennytown should be addressed by upgrading the facility's on-site disposal system; and finally;
- the Bristol Myers Squibb research facility should rely upon its own on-site treatment facility to service any expanded wastewater needs on their site.
In conclusion, MSM urges Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough, Pennington
Borough, Mercer County, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT), the State Planning
Commission (SPC) and the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority to work
collaboratively, with the assistance of the public, regional organizations,
and the private sector to:
- reexamine the sewer expansion proposals for the Lucent Technologies property, the Route 31 Corridor, and Southeastern Hopewell Township,
- scale back and target more precisely the proposals, and
- develop revised wastewater management plan proposals that will fully implement the State Development and Redevelopment Plan
Finally, MSM pledges its cooperation with the three municipalities of the Hopewell Valley, local citizen groups, the private sector, regional organizations, Mercer County, and the key State agencies (NJDEP, NJDOT, and SPC) in developing openly and achieving this integrated growth management and watershed management program for the Hopewell Valley.
MSM Regional Council is a civic action group established in 1968 and committed to improving the quality of community life through fostering regional cooperation in central New Jersey. Working in the public interest, we pursue this mission by: building coalitions of public and private interests for sound regional planning; educating regional leaders on effective programs to protect the natural environment and to improve the built environment; advocating common-sense land use policies for the region and the state as a whole; and conducting research to support civic action on regional development issues. MSM is an independent voice for sound land use decision-making in central New Jersey and we have a long-standing history of support for public policies that seek to balance economic development and conservation.