MSM Supports Governor's Council on New Jersey Outdoors Recommendations for Open Space Legislation
Last fall, voters in New Jersey overwhelmingly supported the Governor's open space initiative by voting "yes" on Question One on this year's ballot. The referendum provides $98 million a year for 10 years to purchase 1 million acres of farmland and public open space. In addition, voters in many municipalities, voters will also supported local initiatives on this topic. Voting "yes" to local initiatives provided municipalities with the resources they need to save much more of their local landscape.
The importance of passing these initiatives cannot be underestimated. Saving our open space should be seen as essential as investing in other types of infrastructure. We talk about infrastructure as those systems we need to support our communities. The roads, water pipes, utility lines, and buildings that support our human habitat. But this view of infrastructure looks at only a few of the systems that we need. It is only our "gray" infrastructure. A more complete view of the infrastructure we need to support our communities includes "green" infrastructure.
Green infrastructure includes the rivers and streams, forests and fields, street trees and parks that complete our community ecosystem. Up until recently, we considered open spaces only for their aesthetic value, rather than for the critical importance they serve to support our community. This has been true even though most places derive some, if not most, of their value and character from green infrastructure -- a riverfront, a canopy of trees, or adjacent beaches, mountains, forests or farmland. As these resources degrade or improve, so does the value of that community.
Green infrastructure, in the form of undeveloped land, improves water quality by filtering pollutants, controls stormwater runoff and flooding by absorbing rain, reduces temperatures in urban areas by providing shade, provides habitat for a multitude of plant and animal species and improves air quality by filtering air born pollutants.
The consequences of losing green infrastructure can sometimes be felt instantaneously. Flooding may appear as soon as a parking lot is paved. In other instances, the impact of lost habitat may take years to recognize. The significant reduction of migrating song birds has only recently been documented as their habitat has disappeared over time.
Well planned green infrastructure maintains a community's quality of life just as much as a well planned transportation or wastewater treatment system. Just as public dollars are used to purchase and maintain gray infrastructure, public investment must also be made to acquire and maintain green infrastructure.
MSM urges the Legislature to adopt legislation to spend the Open Space Funds which includes the following principles:
1. Funding made available through the open space initiative should be spent in the context of sound comprehensive planning, that is consistent with the State Plan.
2. The NJDEP's existing Green Acres Program provides a prioritization framework that works and should be used as the foundation for implementation.
3. Allocation of the funding should not be used to undermine other important planning goals, such as the provision of affordable housing and encouraging growth in appropriate locations, or to substitute for the sensible zoning of land.
4. The funds should be considered new money, and should not be used to pay down debt service on previously authorized open space acquisition initiatives.
5. Because these resources are an important element of community infrastructure, the funding should be available for projects in all areas of the State including cities and other built up communities.
6. The Final Report of the Governor's Council on New Jersey Outdoors recommended a reasonable and well thought out framework for achieving the goal of preserving one million acres of lands. That framework should be used as a guide for the allocation of funding.
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.