greenway Hardwick Township Blairstown Township Frelinghuysen Township Knowlton Township Allamuchy Township Hope Township Independence Township Liberty Township H ackettstow n Belvidere White Township Manseld Township Oxford Township Harmony Township Washington Borough Washington Township June 2012 Lopatcong Franklin Township Township Phillipsburg Greenwich Township Alpha Borough Pohatcong Township Acknowledgements Technical Advisory Project Team Committee Warren County Planning Department David Dech, Planning Director Dennis Bertland Richard Miller, Principal Planner Brett Bragin Albert Krouse, Senior Planner Don Brinker Brian Appezzato, Senior Planner David Detrick Elizabeth Roy, Principal Planning Aide* John Handlos Warren County Department of Land Mike Helbing Preservation James Lee, Jr. James Lee, III Corey Tierney, Director of Land Preservation Robert Smith, P.E. Langan Engineering Myra Snook Michael Szura, LLA, ASLA, Director of Landscape Architecture + Planning Nate Burns, RLA, ASLA, LEED-AP BD+C, Warren County Project Manager Board of Chosen Dan Badgely, LLA, ASLA, PP, Landscape Architect Freeholders Rachael Griffith, Staff Landscape Architect Heritage Conservancy Everett A. Chamberlain, Director Richard D. Gardner, Deputy Director Jeffrey Marshall, President Jason L. Sarnoski Karen Williamson, RLA, CPSI, Landscape Architect 4Ward Planning Todd Poole, Managing Principal North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Scott Rowe, Manager Corridor Studies and Project Planning *Morris Canal Committee Staff Planner Megan Kelly, Principal Planner Regional and Subregional Studies Many thanks to all those who attended and participated in focus group sessions, stakeholder meetings and public open houses. Your comments and concerns played a vital part in the planning process and will contribute to the success of the Morris Canal Greenway. Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan Table of Contents Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan Executive Summary i Introduction 1 Purpose of this Plan 2 A Brief History 6 Why Tell the Morris Canal Story? 8 Current State of the Canal and its Resources 11 Project Approach and Methodology 12 Existing Features Study Area 17 Land Use 18 General Greenway Description 19 Transportation and Linkage Assessment 26 Land Development Plans and Regulations 28 Existing Organizational Structure 32 Demographic Analysis 38 Local and Regional Trails and Businesses 44 Economic Benefits 50 Natural Resources 55 Field View and Greenway Segments 58 Historic Assessment and Evaluation 60 Visioning and Public Process A Vision for the 25-Year Action Plan 81 Economic and Public Benefits Economic Benefits of the Morris Canal Greenway 91 Prospective Opportunities 99 Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan Table of Contents Recommendations Introduction 104 Overall Greenway Trail Considerations 106 Greenway Segments Recommendations Segment 1: Morris Canal Arch to Lock Street 114 Segment 2: Lock Street to Route 22 132 Segment 3: Route 22 to Plane 9 West 146 Segment 4: Plane 9 West to Bread Lock Park 164 Segment 5: Bread Lock Park to Meadow Breeze Park 178 Segment 6: Meadow Breeze Park to Washington Borough 188 Segment 7: Washington Borough to Port Colden 198 Segment 8: Port Colden to Port Murray 212 Segment 9: Port Murray to Rockport Pheasant Farm 226 Segment 10: Rockport Pheasant Farm to Florence Kuipers Park 236 Segment 11: Florence Kuipers Park to Saxton Falls 250 Segment 12: Saxton Falls to Waterloo Village 262 Greenway-Wide Recommendations Resource Preservation Recommendations 270 School Education Recommendations 281 Public Education Recommendations 288 Economic Development and Funding Recommendations 313 Operations Recommendations 342 Land Use and Policy Recommendations 361 Public Participation Recommendations 371 Organizational Structure Alternatives and Recommendations 384 Study and Recommendations Maps Study Area Land Cover South Land Cover North Land Use Capability South Land Use Capability North Zoning South Zoning North Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan Table of Contents Historic Resources South Historic Resources North Natural Resources South Natural Resources North Greenway Segments Map Physical Canal Conditions Recommendations Maps Appendicies Appendix A Review of Existing Planning Documentation Appendix B NJ DEP- Historic Preservation Office of New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places Appendix C Meeting Minutes and List of Attendees Appendix D Volunteer Group Promotional Material and Information Examples Appendix E Recommendations from the Master Plans for Lock 7 West and Plane 9 West Appendix F Complete List of Opportunities and Constraints Appendix G Model Ordinance Appendix H Morris Canal Survey Index Appendix I Land Owners Survey Results Appendix J Rails to Trails and Liability Appendix K Master List of Action Plan Recommendations Appendix L Additional Canal-Related Sources Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan Executive Summary Executive Summary What is the Morris Canal and Why is it Important? In 1821, many of the then 24 U.S. states were separated from one another because of poor transportation arteries. Because roads were not always suitable for heavy transportation, hauling by wagon was expensive and slow. In place of roads, canals were able to provide a more viable means of transportation to fuel growth. In New Jersey, Morristown businessman George P. McCulloch, brought together a group of citizens, to propose what would become the Morris Canal. By September 1825, 30 miles were under contract with 700 men digging the canal bed. Construction of the locks and inclined planes began later. Compared to other canals, the Morris Canal had to do quite a bit of climbing to go from the Delaware River to New York City. From Easton, the canal climbed step by step from one plateau to another and across lakes and rivers until it reached the Lake Hopatcong area, its summit level. From there, it descended to tide level at Newark. Locks overcame small changes in elevations, and inclined planes, used for the first time, overcame changes in elevation greater than 20 feet. On November 4, 1831, the first trip from Newark to Phillipsburg on the 90-mile canal was completed in about five days. In 1836, an 11.75- mile extension to Jersey City was added, making the main line of the canal 102.15 miles long. When all the navigable waters, including other feeder canals controlled by the canal company were combined, the full waterway covered 109.26 miles. Within this distance were 23 inclined planes and 34 locks consisting of feeder, outlet, tide, guard, and lift locks. Unfortunately, the canal became a victim of progress. While canals, including the Morris, enjoyed growth, railroads increasingly encroached on canal business. Even though the Morris Canal transferred east-bound shipments of coal from the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad between 1856 and 1870, the maximum of 146,359 tons in 1867 dropped to 80,977 tons the following year and disappeared altogether after 1870. The loss of coal business to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad amounted to about 34.4% of the entire coal business transacted by the Morris Canal at that time. It would take another 31 years, though, before the legislature would pass a resolution on March 31, 1903, to investigate and recommend legislation to abandon the canal. As expected, the Photo of the canal near Brass Castle. Photo courtesy Photo of the Port Delaware. Photo courtesy of New of New Jersey State Archives Jersey State Archives Morris Canal Greenway 25-Year Action Plan i Executive Summary study commission reported there was no longer an economic reason to keep operating the canal and recommended abandoning it. On March 12, 1922, the legislature created a commission tasked with transferring the Morris Canal to the state. Eight months later, on November 29, 1922, the state of New Jersey acquired the canal with the exception of property within the town limits of Phillipsburg and Jersey City. In 1924, a bill provided that the Morris Canal and Banking Company continue as a corporation holding the property as trustee for the state, that members of the Board of Conservation and Development be made directors of the corporation. This meant that operation of the canal would end, that Lake Hopatcong, Lake Musconetcong, Cranberry Lake, Bear Pond, Saxton Falls, and Greenwood Lake be retained for public use, and that remaining property be sold.1 The Morris Canal is among 41 places listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Warren County. Each of these places tell stories about the people who lived in and “grew” the county. These historic places tell stories about transportation, architecture, engineering, commerce, politics, community planning, industry, education, religion and more. They tell stories about what challenged and inspired people’s lives. Today, they inspire newer generations of historians, artists, engineers, and others seeking to learn from and apply the past to the present by reading about and examining the artifacts we preserve. Today, people who time their fast-paced lives by the minute would be vexed by the slow- moving Morris Canal. People don’t know what it was like to live and work in the early 1800s, before trains were introduced, when waterways, including canals, were the transportation highways that helped build America. Today, canals, like other historic sites, are a reminder of that slower past. Boats left dock only when full and moved very slowly. It took five days to travel from Jersey City to Phillipsburg and