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Matthew J. Curtis From: Keller, Eric [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:23 PM To: RMPComments Cc: [email protected]; Robin R. Kline, Municipal Clerk; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Borough of Stanhope, Sussex County Attachments: Highlands response.pdf; Highlands response Nov 2007 Version.pdf m~@~Dm~~ Importance: High W MAR04 2008W Dear New Jersey Highlands Council Members: BY_\ 7a1?~ On behalf of the Borough of Stanhope, we are pleased to enclose the attached comment letter during your public comment period regarding the Borough's concerns. We have included our response to the initial draft RMP for consistency as it is referenced in our current report. Additionally, an original signed copy of the response is being mailed to your office. Thank you for your consideration Eric L. Keller, P.E., P.P. Executive Vice President Omland Engineering Associates, Inc. 54 Horsehill Road Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 Tel: 973-359-8400X-119 Fax: 973-359-8455 www.OMLAND.com Should electronic files be attached, Omland Engineering Associates, Inc. transmits these files for use by the specified, intended recipient only. By opening and viewing these files, said recipient understands and agrees to accept full responsibility and liability for any consequences arising from the use of this information. The original. signed, and sealed hard copy documents remain the documents of record. This e-mail message is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution of any kind is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient. please contact the sender via reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. 1 mcurtis BOROUGH OF STANHOPE RESPONSE TO HIGHLANDS DRAFT REGIONAL MASTER PLAN NOVEMBER 2007 VERSION February 27, 2008 PREPARED FOR: BOROUGH OF STANHOPE 77 Main Street Stanhope, NJ 07874 Prepared By: OMLANQ ENGINEERINGASSOCIATES, INC. 54 Horsehill Road Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 Phone: 973-359-8400 Fax: 973-359-8455 mcurtis INTRODUCTION The Borough of Stanhope had provided comments to the Highlands Council with respect to the prior version of the Draft Highlands Regional Master Plan. The Governing Body of the Borough of Stanhope maintains their prior positions and concerns with respect to the Highlands Regional Master Plan. Further, they continue to emphatically disagree with the position that any portion of the Borough is contained within the Preservation Area of the Highlands. The current version of the Regional Master Plan (RMP) has adopted new nomenclature for the overlay zones, renaming the Planned Community Zone (from the prior version) to the Existing Community Zone (in the current version). The RMP has also created two new sub-zones that affect the Borough, these being the Existing Community - Environmentally Constrained Sub-Zone and the Lake Community Sub-Zone. Each of these sub-zones place additional conditions, limitations and constraints on existing developed lands within the Borough. By reference, we are incorporating all of the comments from our prior response dated May 10, 2007 into this document. Any prior reference to the Planned Community Zone should be considered modified to reflect the Existing Community Zone. As it relates to the Borough of Stanhope, we also find that the designation of the Environmentally Constrained Sub-Zone is inconsistent and duplicative of other existing regulatory and/or legal protections and does not reflect the current usage or conditions of these fringe areas. MASTER PLAN COMMENTS The Highlands Council"s RMP continues to state in the Table in Chapter I that a small portion of the Borough is located in the Preservation Area. We have reviewed again the Highlands Act and examined the description of the boundary line defining the Preservation Area in the vicinity of Byram and Stanhope. The relevant pages are appended to this report. However, to extract the relevant lines, the Act states the following (emphasis added): {t... thence easterly on Acorn Street to State Highway 206; thence southerly along the western edge of the State Highway 206 right of way to its intersection with the corporate boundary between Byram Township and Stanhope Borough; thence aenerally southerly alona the corporate boundary between Byram Township and Stanhope Borouah to the Musconetcona River and the corporate boundary between Byram Township and Mount Olive Township; thence northwesterly along the corporate boundary between Byram Township and Mount Olive Township..." As this states, the boundary line of the Preservation Area does not follow the westerly right of way of Route 206 but follows the corporate boundary line between the two rncurtis Borough of Stanhope Response Page 2 Final Draft Regional Master Plan February 27,2008 municipalities. Therefore, those lands within the Borough of Stanhope that are west of Route 206 are incorrectly included in the Preservation Area and must be placed in the Planning Area for consistency with the Highlands Act. These properties are in the vicinity of Belton Drive and Chestnut Street. As to the Lake Community Sub-Zone, the Borough has a number of concerns as most of the area encompassed within this sub-zone is fully developed, primarily with single family residential dwellings, but also a significant portion of the commercial area of its downtown area. A uniform 1000 foot limit about the lake for the Borough extends almost to Borough Hall located on Main Street, which is only marginally visible to and downstream of the lake. While the Borough certainly is supportive and actively pursues activities to preserve and enhance Lake Musconetcong, the general planning goals and objectives do not necessarily relate well to the specific conditions within the Borough proximate to the Lake. Lake Musconetcong and its associated HUC-14 are classified as a "Low Resource Value Watershed" because it has a low proportion of forest lands and habitat for TIE species and a higher percentage of developed lands. The surface water quality of Lake Musconetcong has been categorized as impaired, with most impairment related to fecal coliform bacteria, phosphorus and temperature. Stanhope and the other towns immediately abutting the lake are all fully served by public sanitary sewer systems, and therefore much of these problems are likely related to upstream conditions, wildlife impacts and the history and on-going lack of a committed effort on the part of the State to support lake management activities. The Borough promotes the use of low phosphorus fertilizers to minimize impacts to stormwater runoff. In addition, the Borough is implementing the required actions under the Municipal Stormwater Regulation Program in accordance with stormwater permit. The RMP classifies Lake Musconetcong and the river downstream of the lake as a "Special water", though this appears to be inconsistent with the classification of Lake Hopatcong and the upstream portion of the river as an "intermediate water". The Highlands Open Waters contain a 300 foot buffer for special waters which is inconsistent with the newly adopted Flood Hazard Area rules which impose a 150 foot riparian buffer around the lake and effects most development activities proximate to Lake Musconetcong. In Subpart g of Chapter IV, the discussion of Lake Management goals, policies and objectives states that, in general, existing lake communities are overdeveloped, damaged and poorly managed, while also being fully built out, with limited potential for major land use changes and predating environmental protections. This is an overly broad statement that does not reflect the specific conditions of the Borough, its efforts and its long support for the Lake Musconetcong Regional Planning Board. As stated previously, the Borough is fully served by public sanitary sewer facilities. "Stanhope has an increasingly limited supply of suitable vacant land that is available for future development" (Master Plan Re-Examination, May 8, 2006, page 19). At this time, mcurtis Borough of Stanhope Response Page 3 Final Draft Regional Master Plan February 27,2008 given the uncertainty surrounding the final COAH rules, the extent of the Borough's third round affordable housing obligation is not definitively known. The northern portion of the Borough, adjacent to the Township of Byram is largely undeveloped primarily due to lack of current accessibility and areas of steep slopes. Much of the recent development in the Borough has involved infill development, redevelopment of parcels and rehabilitation of obsolete or under-utilized structures. The Borough recognizes that the RMP was intended to be developed as a resource- based plan on a macro-scale and weighed a number of indicators to develop the Land Use Capability Map. However, the Borough continues to be concerned that a Protection Zone designation for some portions of the municipality may constrain and limit the Borough's ability to meet its goals and objectives as set forth in the Borough's Master Plan and under the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL) and as developed through the cross-acceptance process of the SDRP. The concern is that the RMP will not permit or address the needs of the Borough, its residents and its place in the larger Highlands Region. One significant issue related to the Borough's infrastructure, that the Borough wishes to strongly emphasize again in this current response, is their need to upgrade their potable water system. The Borough is in the preliminary stages of planning infrastructure upgrades and enhancements to their potable water system to provide increased water storage, improved water pressure and flow through out the system and improved fire protection coverage, particularly to the tower zone. The specifics of this planned investment in their infrastructure have been described in detail in our prior response. The proposal is to locate a new water storage tank on Block 11802, Lot 3 and interconnect this new water storage facility to the existing water system in the Borough.