NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY BOROUGH OF OLD TAPPAN BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY Prepared for: THE BOROUGH OF OLD TAPPAN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION June 1995 ·••.·•· NOTE: Tb.is documenf.was prepared with the aid of a. m:~.tchirig grariffrom the New Jersey Department · of Environmental Protection and Energy, ()W<;e pfEl1Yiromu~JJ.tal Services Prepared by: HAKIM ASSOCIATES Landscape Architects, Land Planners, Environmental Consultants 68 Dean Street Harrington Park, New Jersey NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY BOROUGH OF OLD TAPPAN BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A. INTRODUCTION. 1 B. LOCATION. 2 c. RESERVOIR AND TRIBUTARIES. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 D. TOPOGRAPHY . 8 E. SLOPES. 10 F. GEOLOGY. • . • . • . 12 G. SOILS. 13 H. FLOOD PLAINS. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 18 I. FRESHWATER WETLANDS. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2 0 J. SURFACE WATERS.................................... 25 K. GROUNDWATER. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • 3 0 L. WILDLIFE.......................................... 32 M. UPLAND VEGETATION. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • 34 N. OPEN SPACE. 3 6 o. ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS ••••••••••••.•••••• 40 P. RECOMMENDATIONS. • • • • . • • • • • . • • • • • . • . • • • • • • . • • • • • • . 42 i NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY BOROUGH OF OLD TAPPAN BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY LIST OF FIGURES Follows Page: Figure #1 LOCATION MAP. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2 Figure #2 VICINITY MAP. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 Figure #3 TOPOGRAPHY. 8 Figure #4 SOILS. 14 Figure #5 WATER RESOURCES. 2 3 Figure #6 VEGETATION . ............... ~ . 3 5 Figure #7 ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS •.......•..... 41 ii NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY BOROUGH OF OLD TAPPAN BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY A. INTRODUCTION The establishment of local municipal Environmental Commissions in New Jersey was made possible in 1968 by the New Jersey State Legislature, when it authorized the formation of "Conservation Commissions". The current name of "Environmental Commissions" was adopted as a replacement name in 1972, when the State legislature amended the enabling legislation to grant expanded roles to these volunteer commissions. The State Legislature recognized at the time, and it still holds true today, that one of the primary functions of the Environmental Commission is the preparation of a municipal Natural Resource Inventory (NRI), or Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI). This document is intended to be a factual one, free from opinionated interpretation. The purpose is to identify the presence of natural resources, and to delineate and classify them where appropriate. A certain level of professional interpretation is acceptable, however, as may be necessary to determine the predominance of prescribed characteristics, the cumulative sensitivity of a variety of natural resources as may occur in a particular setting, andjor the particular combination of resources as might characterize or distinguish one locale. The local value of resources may also require a certain level of interpretation, in consideration of their frequency of occurrence on a regional basis. Beyond this level, however, interpretations could be construed to be statements which reflect local or personal values or biases. It is important to avoid such statements in a Natural Resource Inventory, in order not to devalue the credibility of the factual data. Utilizing a matching grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (then "and Energy") (NJDEP), Office of Environmental Services (OES), the Old· Tappan Environmental Commission (OTEC) authorized the preparation of this NRI. A similar grant was used in a previous year to prepare a companion document entitled watershed Natural Resource Inventory (WNRI), Borough of Old Tappan. Both ·documents were prepared by Hakim Associates. Because this NRI represents a continuation and expansion of the WNRI in order to encompass the entire municipality, and in order to not requ1re every reader to continually refer back to the WNRI, there will necessarily be considerable redundancy. 1 It is likewise important that this Natural Resource Inventory not be placed on a shelf in Borough Hall, where it will be read and used by only those who seek it out. Rather, this document should be readily available to all those who may derive value from its contents. For this reason, the OTEC has authorized the preparation of large scale exhibits of the graphic portions of this Inventory, to be mounted on a Borough of Old Tappan base map and permanently displayed in the Old Tappan Council Chambers. Those graphic exhibits are an integral part of this document. In this manner, the information is readily available to all parties to refer to when land use decisions are being discussed. This document and the large scale exhibits together constitute the Natural Resource Inventory of the Borough of Old Tappan. The entire Borough of Old Tappan constitutes the Study Area for this document. This is in contrast to the previously prepared WNRI, the companion document of this report which is described above. The WNRI limited the Study Area to the watershed lands of the Borough. The text describes the importance of each resource, the methodology employed in the determination of its existence and extent, its level of regulatory protection, its location within Old Tappan, and its relative level of sensitivity. Where particular resources offer opportunities; or where they may present severe constraints to development, they have been discussed. Furthermore, where a valuable resource is threatened by some type of intrusion; or where one may have already been degraded and remedial actions may be appropriate, these too have been discussed. Finally, resources have been described in terms of their individual characteristics, as well as their value within the context of the overall system of which it may be a part. The large scale exhibits serve to map such resources as topography, slopes, soils, flood plains, wetlands, surface waters, and upland vegetation. The delineation of these resources is depicted in relationship to the man-made features of the Borough, such as the street system. This mapping is general, and is based on the research of record data, and on-site confirmation to the extent one might expect of a planning study. By no means should this mapping be considered accurate on a site-specific basis. Rather, it should serve as a "red flag", to alert interested parties to the likely presence of valuable natural resources in a particular area. This document would then serve as a tool to ensure that the proper questions are asked, and hopefully answered, in a timely fashion, so that environmental concerns and issues can be considered at the earliest possible opportunity. B. LOCATION Bergen County occupies the northeast corner of the State of New Jersey (see Figure #1). The Borough of Old Tappan is located in 2 I I CONN. CITY figure I LOCATION MAP the northeastern region of Bergen County (see Figure #2). Old Tappan is situated approximately 17 miles due north of midtown Manhattan, New York City. Old Tappan encompasses approximately 3. 9 square miles, and is roughly rectangular in shape. It is bounded by the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York to the north, the Township of River Vale to the west and south, the Borough of Harrington Park to the south, and the Boroughs of Norwood and Northvale on the east. Old Tappan is bisected from southwest to northeast by Old Tappan Road. The entire western boundary of the Borough is formed by the Lake Tappan Reservoir and the Hackensack River. The majority of the Borough's southern boundary is formed by the Hackensack River. The entire Borough is located within the Hackensack River Basin. c. RESERVOIRS AND TRIBUTARIES The Lake Tappan Reservoir is a part of a larger water supply system associated with the Hackensack River. The reservoirs within this system include: (1} The Oradell Reservoir (the terminal reservoir of the system) (2} Lake Tappan (3} The Woodcliff Lake Reservoir, and (4) Lake Deforest The first three are owned by the Hackensack Water Company (HWC), and the last by the Spring Valley Water Company (SVWC). Both companies are wholly owned by United Water Resources (UWR) of Harrington Park. Since only about one quarter of the Borough of Old Tappan drains into the Lake Tappan Reservoir, and the entire Borough drains into the Oradell Reservoir via the Hackensack River or Dorotockey's Run, it is as important to discuss the Oradell Reservoir within the context of Old Tappan as it is to discuss Lake Tappan. Both reservoirs are man-made, having been formed by damming the Hackensack River. In the case of the Lake Tappan Reservoir, its fifty-five foot high dam is located just to the west of the point at which Washington Avenue crosses the municipal boundary between Old .Tappan and the Township of River Vale. The watershed drainage basin for the Lake Tappan Reservoir encompasses approximately 67 square miles. Its aerial extent within the Borough encompasses approximately 0.8 square miles, or twenty percent of Old Tappan's land area, making the reservoir the single largest land use within the Borough. Prior to its 3 r· / '-.. '-._ . ·'-.... )./ ~O~CJUG-H tlr '-/ ;,f~' OW IAFFAH o; ~; I / (J/ '• ~~·· .............. .., .... __ ;tI '· Q I I I ' figure 2 VICIHITY MAP construction, the