Belmar: a Natural & Historical Treasure
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Belmar: A Natural & Historical Treasure An Environmental Resource Inventory And Brief Natural and Cultural History of The Borough of Belmar Monmouth County, New Jersey October 2008 Acknowledgements Borough of Belmar Kenneth Pringle, Mayor Merry Brennan, Council President, Liaison to the Environmental Commission Borough of Belmar Environmental Commission Carol Davies, Chairperson Gene Creamer Chris Hoffman Ed Lippincott Peggy OConnor Ginny Seidel Thea Sheridan Pat OKeefe, Belmar Historical Preservation Advisory Council Prepared By: This plan was prepared with the assistance of a Smart Growth Planning Grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. BOROUGH OF BELMAR - ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE INVENTORY Table of Contents Why an ERI?..........................................................................................................................................1 The Borough of Belmar: An Overview..................................................................................................... 2 Housing and Population Growth................................................................................................ 2 Parks and Recreation.................................................................................................................5 A Brief History of Belmar ....................................................................................................................... 8 Changes to the Natural Environment over the Years.................................................................. 14 General Environmental Conditions and Descriptions............................................................................... 15 Vegetation Then and Now....................................................................................................... 15 Threatened and Endangered Vegetation...............................….............. ...................................16 Climate...................................................................................................................................16 USDA Plant Hardiness Zones................................................................................................... 16 Topography and Geology....................................................................................................... 18 Soils.......................................................................................................................................18 Soils History........................................................................................................................... 20 Wildlife.................................................................................................................................. 20 Threatened and Endangered Wildlife....................................................................................... 20 Watersheds............................................................................................................................ 22 Water Supply..........................................................................................................................22 Water Quality.........................................................................................................................29 Flood Prone Areas.................................................................................................................. 29 Wetlands................................................................................................................................29 Known Contaminated Sites and CEAs....................................................................................... 29 The Zones of Belmar.............................................................................................................................33 Zone 1 Beach........................................................................................................................36 Zone 2 Eastern Residential Area............................................................................................. 41 Zone 3 Downtown Commercial Area....................................................................................... 45 Zone 4 Western Residential Area (formerly called Rhode Island Point)...................................... 48 Zone 5 Shark River and Inlet................................................................................................... 51 Zone 6 Silver Lake................................................................................................................. 57 Zone 7 Lake Como.................................................................................................................62 Recommendations................................................................................................................................ 67 Summary.............................................................................................................................................69 Appendixes.........................................................................................................................................70 Appendix 1 - Natural Heritage Priority Site and Grid Data........................................................ 70 Appendix 2 - Monmouth County Soil Service Information.......................................................... 71 Appendix 3 - The Flora and Fauna of Belmar............................................................................. 74 Appendix 4 - Known Contaminated Sites List and Classification Exemption Areas........................ 77 Bibliography........................................................................................................................................78 BOROUGH OF BELMAR - ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE INVENTORY List of Figures Figure 1 - 2002 Aerial Photograph..........................................................................................................3 Figure 2 - USGS Topographic Quadrangle Map (Asbury Park)................................................................. 4 Figure 3 - Parks and Recreation...............................................................................................................6 Figure 4 - Map of Ocean Beach, Monmouth County, New Jersey Dated 1873......................................... 10 Figure 5 - Map of Ocean Beach, Monmouth County, New Jersey Dated 1883......................................... 12 Figure 6 - Map of Belmar, Formerly Ocean Beach, Dated 1895.............................................................. 13 Figure 7 - NJDEP Landscape Project - Forested Wetlands........................................................................ 17 Figure 8 - NJDEP Landscape Project - Forest........................................................................................... 19 Figure 9 - NJDEP Landscape Project - Emergent...................................................................................... 21 Figure 10 - NJDEP Landscape Project - Beach......................................................................................... 23 Figure 11 - Public Community Water Supply Wells.................................................................................. 24 Figure 12 - Sub-watersheds of Belmar.................................................................................................... 25 Figure 13 - Monmouth County Soils Map............................................................................................... 26 Figure 14 - Historic Fill for New Jersey as of January 2008..................................................................... 27 Figure 15 - NJDEP Wetlands Maps of Monmouth County, 2002.............................................................. 28 Figure 16 - Known Contaminated Sites List and Classification Exemption Areas........................................ 30 Figure 17 - Natural Heritage Priority Site Map and Grids....................................................................... 31 Figure 18 - Flood Prone Areas.............................................................................................................. 32 Figure 19 - NJDEP Land Use Land Cover Maps of Monmouth County...................................................... 34 Figure 20 - Borough Zone Overview..................................................................................................... 35 Figure 21 - Zone 1 - Beach....................................................................................................................37 Figure 22 - Zone 2 - Eastern Residential................................................................................................. 42 Figure 23 - Zone 3 - Commercial........................................................................................................... 46 Figure 24 - Zone 4 - Western Residential................................................................................................ 49 Figure 25 - Zone 5 - Shark River and Marina......................................................................................... 52 Figure 26 - Zone 6 - Silver Lake.............................................................................................................58 Figure 27 - Zone 7 - Lake Como............................................................................................................ 63 Why an ERI? BOROUGH OF BELMAR ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE INVENTORY An Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) is an assessment