Woodbridge Township 2008
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Woodbridge Township 2008 2008 Scenic Resources Element Prepared by Environment Commission Heyer, Gruel & Associates, PA Community Planning Consultants 63 Church Street, 2nd Floor New Brunswick, NJ 08901 732-828-2200 Paul Gleitz, P.P. #5802, AICP Aditi Mantrawadi, Associates Planner Acknowledgements Mayor John E. McCormac, CPA Robert Landolfi, Business Administrator Woodbridge Township Council Marta Lefsky, Director of Planning Greg Bedard and Development, Woodbridge Township James V. Carroll John Eberhardt, Director, Parks and Richard A. Dalina Recreation, Woodbridge Township Gregg M. Ficarra Woodbridge Township Planning Board Woodbridge Township Historical Charles Kenny Preservation Commission Robert G. Luban James Major This ERI Made Possible Through a Patricia Osborne 2006 Smart Growth Planning Grant Brenda Yori Velasco From the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) Environment Commission Sandy Batty, Executive Director Chantal Greffer, Chairperson Kerry Butch, Project Director Patricia Osborne, Council Representative Christopher Adornato Mary Beth Koza Roberta Martin Jeanette Miller Elizabeth Rudowski Charles Shaughnessy Heyer, Gruel & Associates Paul Gleitz, P.P. AICP, Project Manager Aditi Mantrawadi, Associate Planner Dilip Chittajallu, Associate Planner Ring Yu Lin, Graphic Designer Table of Contents 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................................... 01 2. Municipal Summary......................................................................................................................................... 05 3. Current Land Use Land Cover 2002.............................................................................................................. 11 4. Topography – Slopes and Elevation.............................................................................................................. 19 5. Soils...................................................................................................................................................................... 23 6. Geology............................................................................................................................................................... 35 7. Wetlands............................................................................................................................................................. 43 8. Surface Water and Surface Water Quality................................................................................................... 49 9. Floodplains......................................................................................................................................................... 59 10. Watershed Management Areas, Watersheds and Sub-watersheds......................................................... 67 11. Existing Infrastructure..................................................................................................................................... 73 12. Ground Water Recharge Areas...................................................................................................................... 79 13. Aquifers............................................................................................................................................................... 83 14. Public Community Water Supply Wells And Wellhead Protection Areas, Ground Water Contamination Classification Exception Areas and Well Restriction Areas, NJPDES Discharge Locations............................................................................................................................................................ 91 15. Landscape Project - Critical Habitat Areas............................................................................................... 111 16. Historic and Cultural Resources.................................................................................................................. 123 17. Open Space Inventory.................................................................................................................................... 131 18. Brownfields and Known Contaminated Sites .......................................................................................... 143 a. New Jersey NJDEP Known Contaminated Sites List b. New Jersey NJDEP New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System c. Federal EPA Toxic Release Inventory System d. Federal EPA Resource Conservation And Recovery Act Facilities e. Federal EPA Permit And Compliance System f. Federal EPA Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation And Liability Information System g. Federal EPA Aerometric Information Retrieval System - Air Facility Subsystem h. Federal EPA National Priority List 19. Scenic Resources............................................................................................................................................ 185 Introduction The Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) is an unbiased report of data that describes the current state of the various environmental resources in a community. It is a compilation of text and maps, and forms the baseline documentation that the community can use to evaluate, and possibly revise, planning documents, policy initiatives, and local ordinances to better protect the remaining resources, and when possible, improve the state of the natural environment. The ERI is not a policy statement or a plan. Rather, it is an objective listing of the resources in the community. It can be used as a tool for Environmental Commissions, Planning Boards and Zoning Boards, as well as by the Township administration and the public at large. The ERI can be adopted as part of the Master Plan, or it can be combined with policy statements and programs to create a Conservation Element for the Master Plan. ERIs are often the basis for resource protection ordinances in a community, which are designed to protect the resources inventoried in the ERI. Whether the ERI is an amendment to the Master Plan, a part of a Conservation Element, or a separate reference document, it is always seen as dynamic and revisable as circumstance on the ground evolve and change. 1 Woodbridge Township 2008 Introduction The legal authority for the drafting and It should be noted that all of the informa- adoption of an ERI is the Environmental tion included in this ERI should be consid- Commission Enabling Legislation (N.J.S.A. ered to be reasonably accurate for planning 40:56A), which states, “Power to conduct purposes, but does not replace site-specific research into the use and possible use of investigations for regulatory purposes. It open land areas of the municipality…. should also be noted that the most up-to- It shall keep an index of the marshlands, date data sources were used to create this swamps, and wetlands…. the proper use of document; however, some of the most re- such areas…recommend to the Planning cent information is based on data and aerial Board…. plans and programs for a master photography collected by NJDEP in 2002. plan and the development of such areas”. Other information is based on topographic Additionally, the Municipal Land Use Law maps that were last updated prior to that time. (N.J.S.A 40:55D) requires a Land Use Plan Environmental resource information is element and states that “Whenever the dynamic and should always be understood Environmental Commission has prepared to be so. and submitted to the Planning Board and to the Board of Adjustment an index of the natural resources of the municipality, the Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment shall make available to the Environmental Commission an informational copy of ev- ery application for development submitted to the board”. 2 3 Municipal Summary Woodbridge Township is comprised of 23.1 square miles. With a population of approximately 99,000, it is the fifth largest Township in New Jersey. Wood- bridge is the oldest original township in the state and is named after Reverend John W. Woodbridge. The area was originally settled by Lenni-Lenape Indians. In 1664 a treaty was signed transferring the possession of Woodbridge to three New Englanders. The township was granted a charter on June 1, 1669 by King Charles II of England. Over the 1800s and early 1900s portions of the Township were taken to form the neighboring municipalities of Rahway, Edison (formerly Raritan Township), and Carteret (formerly Roosevelt). The first newspaper in New Jersey was printed at Parker’s Press in Woodbridge. The Township also had a role in the Revolutionary War, with some minor conflicts settled in 1777, 1779, and 1782. The township is comprised of ten towns: • Avenel • Colonia • Fords • Hopelawn • Iselin • Keasbey • Port Reading • Menlo Park Terrace • Sewaren • Woodbridge Although these are separate towns, the township functions and thrives as “one community”. 5 Woodbridge Township 2008 Municipal Summary The Township’s population has almost Located in northern Middlesex County, quadrupled since 1930, when 25,266 people Woodbridge is a mature suburb of the called the Township of Woodbridge home, New York Metropolitan region. It is according to the United States Census. surrounded by Sayreville Borough, Linden The greatest population growth took place City, Carteret Borough, Rahway City, Clark between 1950 and 1960 when the population Township, and Edison Township. The went from 35,758 to 78,846, an increase just Township is one of the most accessible