Vote YES for Open Space

 Somerset County Preservation Guide

Opened for daily public use on May 1, Natirar immediatelytakes its place as the crown jewel of New Jersey’s Open Spacepreservation movement and showcases what determined public landpreservation programs can achieve. Your Open Space property taxes,along with those of other Somerset County residents, have provided oursmall community with a brilliant new reminder that wall-to-walldevelopment in the Garden State need not be inevitable. Rather thanlamenting yet another housing tract, early summer here will forevermorebe a great time to grab a pair of comfortable shoes and go experience Natirar for yourself.

First established as the Walter Graeme & Kate Macy Ladd estate in 1905, Natirarbore witness to the Somerset Hills’ original gilded era and eventuallyencompassed nearly 1,000 acres of rolling hills, lawns, and woodlandswithin the municipalities of Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills, andBedminster, mostly astride the North Branch of the Raritan River fromwhence the estate and new public park take their name. (Natirar is “Raritan” spelled backwards.)

First-time visitors to the new Park will observe that Ladd was amost-capable steward of his land, leaving spectacular undisturbedvistas of the surrounding countryside and taming the course of theNorth Branch to preserve its orderly flow for nearly a century. Theresult is a unique achievement, all the more remarkable for what hassurvived than for what has been lost during subsequent changes inownership. Following Ladd’s death, the estate served as a convalescenthome until 1983 when it was acquired by H.R.H. Hassan II, King ofMorocco. Having long eyed the property as potential parkland, SomersetCounty purchased the estate from the King’s heirs for $22 million in2003 with the intention to preserve it forever as public Open Space.

We are fortunate that what remains today is 411 acres, of which 247are located within the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone. Accessed viathe Park’s main gate on Peapack Road, the new trail is open forpedestrian hiking each day from dawn to dusk, unless otherwise posted.County Park Rangers are on-site should you require assistance, but inkeeping with the spirit of passive-use, permanent sanitary facilitiesand concessionaires are not.

Consisting exclusively of level, graded ground, the new trail isundemanding, non-technical hiking but even the most energetic strollerwill find the two miles to be an agreeable outing. The trail loopsalong the North Branch for most of its length and provides expansiveviews of former pasturelands, as well as the estate’s main residence, a40-room, Tudor-style hilltop mansion that is currently closed to thepublic while it undergoes renovation as a world-class spa/retreatcenter. On a recent visit, birdcalls and running water were the onlydiscernable noises and an enlarged sense of space and perspective wereeverywhere apparent. Passing away from the river, a newly-graded trailsegment traverses what County Parks officials are calling the “GreatLawn,” a large, open meadow beneath the brow of the hill that willeventually be used for public musical performances and other communityevents.

Whether you walk, jog, or simply find an agreeable spot to sit apartand clear your mind, you owe it to yourself to enjoy the enduringmarvel that is Natirar and your Open Space tax dollars at work.

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If the I.R.S granted a 30 percent reduction in your income tax bill in exchange for your agreement to permanently preserve the natural features of your property, would you do it? The question is worth pondering because, under the current U.S. tax code, Uncle Sam will pay handsomely to ensure that unwelcome development never crops up on your land.

At present, you may deduct from your taxable income the fair market value of any property you charitably commit to open space preservation. Contrary to popular belief, making such a gift need not entail giving up any ownership of your land, nor must you welcome the public onto your property. By simply placing a conservation easement on your land, you can generate a substantial multi-year tax benefit while retaining full ownership and private enjoyment of your entire acreage. All you must do in return is agree to limit the development and landscape disturbance that occurs on your property.

Suppose, for example, that you own a home on 15 acres that has an appraised market value of $500,000. And suppose that, under your town’s zoning and subdivision regulations, your property could yield two additional building lots, each worth $100,000. Without any rights to build, these two potential lots might have a residual value of just $25,000 a piece, placing the value of each lot’s development rights at $75,000. By charitably giving just these development rights to a land trust through a conservation easement (you would still own all of your land and–unless you’re terribly gracious–retain exclusive use of it), you would generate a $150,000 income tax deduction, placing many thousands of dollars in your pocket that would otherwise go to the federal government.

If $150,000 represented 30 percent or less of your annual income, you could take the full deduction in one year, shaving, in the 38.6 percent bracket, $57,900 off your income tax bill. If your annual income were less substantial–say, $100,000–you could spread the deduction out in varying amounts over the full six year period permitted by the I.R.S, shielding an annual average of $25,000 from income taxes. This would leave an extra $6,750 in your pocket each year, resulting in a total six-year tax savings of $40,500 (27 percent bracket). If ownership of your land eventually passed to an estate, additional tax benefits could be realized.

If this all sounds too good to be true, you will want to note a few small catches. First, you must own your land for at least one year to fully benefit from an open space income tax deduction. Second, the land protected must merit conservation (most of Northwest Connecticut does). Third, you must work with a town, a not-for-profit land trust, or another qualifying entity to create the open space designation. Finally, you should bear in mind that open space dedications are generally permanent; if you anticipate ever wishing to erect a barn, guesthouse, or other structure on your property, you will want to ensure that the language of any conservation easement you accept makes it possible for you to do so (which may reduce your tax benefit).

The size of the income tax deduction you generate by conserving your land will depend on its appraised market value at the time your property is formally preserved. With land prices in many Litchfield County towns currently at record highs, now is an ideal time to obtain a favorable appraisal and substantial tax benefit. If you believe the recent talk of a real estate bubble and its impending deflation, or if you wish to ameliorate recent losses in the financial markets, now is truly an opportune time to preserve your land and lower your income tax bill.

The major steps in creating an open space tax benefit include conducting an analysis of your land, determining its development potential under your town’s land-use regulations, formulating a conservation strategy, obtaining a commitment from a qualifying entity to accept your gift of land or development rights, having your property appraised, and completing the appropriate tax forms. To ensure that your deduction withstands any potential I.R.S. scrutiny, it is important to consult experienced professionals throughout the conservation process–particularly when it comes to having your property’s fair market value appraised.

To maximize the financial benefits of protecting your land, you may wish to creatively reconfigure it (or at least do so on paper) before obtaining an open space designation. For example, if you plan a subdivision that would yield numerous building lots, you may be able to increase your property’s fair market value, generate a larger income tax deduction, and gain flexibility to utilize your deduction over a longer time period.

Completing the entire open space conservation process can take several months, but, if you act quickly, you may still be able to generate a substantial income tax deduction before the current year’s end. So why not reduce your income tax liability and help preserve Litchfield County’s rural character?

Kelly Christopher Boling and Christopher Charles are co-founders of Open Space Equity, a conservation and sustainable development organization in Washington, Ct.

In May 1919, a group of public-spirited town fathers met at the local firehouse to discuss creating a park in honor of area men who had served their country in the Great War. They proposed to raise the funds necessary to acquire the property then known as Riker’s Meadow, to develop it, and to maintain it as a memorial to these World War I veterans. The group agreed to form the Liberty Park Association.

In April, 1927, Liberty Park was deeded to the borough by the association. The care and upkeep of the property had gone beyond the means of the association, and it was financially advantageous that the borough maintain the park through taxation. In the late 1930’s, swimming was discontinued because the pond had become polluted by waste from the development of homesites.

In 1948, a new memorial honoring the veterans of World War II was placed in the park. The swans made their appearance around 1955, the gift of Mrs. Edgar Rosenblatt, who pictured them as the finishing touch to an idyllic setting.

The newest monument, honoring Vietnam veterans, was erected in the mid-1980’s. Through the efforts of Borough Council member Ann Winston and her fundraising committee, aerating fountains were added to the pond in 1990.

Liberty Park has been the focal point of the events that bring the town together year after year. Most significant of these have been the annual Memorial Day services, which are in keeping with the intent of the founders of the Liberty Park Association.

Residents of this community look with gratitude to the town fathers of 1919 who had the foresight to plan Liberty Park, and to the volunteers who carried out their plan. To many minds, the image of this serene oasis in our midst has come to typify what is best in Peapack-Gladstone.

Clicking these links will take you away from http://www.peapack-gladstone.info, an official information service of Peapack-Gladstone Borough. Neither the Borough, its agents or officials, nor the volunteer authors of this public website are responsible for the content of linked sites. Conclusions regarding their accuracy, content, or accessibility should be weighed carefully and may not represent the opinions of Peapack-Gladstone Borough.

Government Agency Resources

Agencies of the State of New Jersey, counties, and other localities report significant Open Space activities online. Here are a few sites that we found helpful.

The State of New Jersey Garden State Preservation Trust
New Jersey Green Acres
Somerset County Park Commission Open Space Program
Hunterdon County Agriculture Development Board
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
The NJDEP Division of Watershed Management
The NJDEP Geographic Information Systems

Land Preservation Groups

Private conservationists form the vanguard of statewide Open Space preservation efforts. In our region, we benefit from public/private collaboration with several groups that deserve your support.

The Open Space Institute
The Land Trust Alliance
The Morris Land Conservancy
The Great Swamp Watershed Association
Garden State Greenways
The New Jersey Conservation Foundation
The Nature Conservancy
The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance
The Highlands Coalition
The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions
The Schiff Natural Lands Trust, Inc.
The American Farmlands Trust
The Trust for Public Land

Environmental and Riparian Organizations

The Upper Raritan Watershed Association
The Raritan Basin Watershed Alliance
The New Jersey Audubon Association
The New York - New Jersey Trail Conference
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Academic Resources

The Garden State socks away open space

Helpful as they are, what these bills don’t say are the reasons why our residential property taxes seem to go up every year. Nor do the charts tell us how one of the tiniest line-items, the local Open Space Tax first authorized by voters in 1998, is paying for itself many times over today by helping regulate those bigger chunks, the ones that represent our rising public schools tuition attributable to ever-higher enrollments and our costs of providing borough services.

At tax time, even our most civic-minded neighbor will be forgiven for scoffing at the notion that there is any such thing as a “good” tax. And calling our Open Space tax a giant-killer may be slightly exaggerated. But the record in our community as elsewhere in New Jersey is that public Open Space purchases are tax-smart public policy and among our most cost-effective tools when it comes to regulating municipal expenditures. That’s because municipal, county, and state Open Space trusts address the single largest problem facing New Jersey communities today: runaway growth in residential construction. Voters are learning that when it comes to taming sprawl, the best Defense may very well be a good Offense.

Planners claim that every time the sun rises over New Jersey, another fifty acres of open land has fallen to development. New houses, office parks, roadways and public buildings are quickly displacing pastures, woodlots and forests. Already, 40 percent of the Garden State’s land area is developed, making New Jersey the most densely-developed state in the nation and even more densely populated than India or Japan. Preservationists estimate that development consumes another 18,000 acres of open space every year, and that, in the decade between 1985 and 1996, fully five percent of the state’s remaining open land was developed. At that rate, Rutgers scholars project that it will take just 40 years for the entire state to mirror the land-use density of urban Hudson County. It may be unprecedented in American experience, but reaching full build-out on a statewide basis is entirely conceivable within the lifetimes of current NJ taxpayers.

With all that growth comes demand for more seats in more schools, additional teachers, more buses, greater traffic and sewer capacity, more police and emergency services — in sum, more of all those things that our property taxes subsidize. Given this economic scenario, it’s neither inaccurate nor inhospitable to point out how new neighbors cost everybody more. Nobody advocates hauling in the proverbial welcome mat, but after too many years of spiraling property taxes, concerned voters are demanding new remedies for sprawl. Regulating development and property taxes are undeniably hot political issues for our community as they are all over New Jersey.

Fortunately, courts, legislatures, and politicians are taking notice. Their response has been the introduction of an array of policies that put our communities – including Peapack-Gladstone — at the very forefront of national land-use management and preservation practices.

Communities fight back

Most home owners are familiar with the functions and statutory authority of their local Land Use Boards, municipal bodies charted with the regulation of zoning and other restrictive public covenants. Land Use boards guide municipal officials in adopting desirable zoning plans and then weigh individual development proposals against their likely impact on a community through the negotiation of variances. A significant characteristic of this system is that whatever is not explicitly prohibited by ordinance is deemed permissible. So, both changes to a municipality’s zoning regulations as well as the applications of those restrictions to particular properties require careful jurisprudence. Determining whether grounds exist for a variance or whether an application has been heard fairly is an adversarial process that often results in expensive litigation. With multi-million dollar properties at stake and in a real estate market undergoing hyper-growth, small communities like Peapack-Gladstone are often overmatched.

Recently, neighboring Bernardsville successfully defended its imposition of ten-acre residential zoning against a property-owners’ lawsuit. In upholding Bernardsville’s policy, state courts gave further encouragement to community efforts to regulate sprawl. Nevertheless, it is a truism that public policies won through litigation only inspire more litigation, and that boards of voluntary regulators are ill-equipped to administer booming markets from a defensive perspective.

Enter the Offense

An increasingly popular alternative is to control endangered property by acquiring rights proactively via open market competition. This is where Open Space Trusts excel.
Open Space Trusts, those tax-funded capital accounts earmarked for acquisition of undeveloped real estate, conservation easements, and other restrictive land-use covenants, are now in use in over 200 New Jersey municipalities. They are very popular with voters. According to Princeton University’s Policy Research Institute:

From 1996 through 2004, 320 local open space initiatives appeared on the ballot in New Jersey and 271 were approved, allocating around $6 billion for land acquisition and preservation. No state had more such questions on the ballot and only California voters approved more conservation funds. Since New Jersey’s first program began in 1961, state efforts and more than 200 local trust funds (mostly at the municipal and county level) have protected 1.1 million acres.

A primary vehicle for this effort is New Jersey’s Garden State Preservation Trust, a financing authority that provides the funds to preserve forests, watersheds and wildlife habitats, parks and sports fields, working farms, agricultural landscapes and historic structures. Supported by state Sales Tax receipts, the Trust will generate $341 million in fiscal 2005 alone. Through its combination of dedicated funds and bonding, it will average nearly $200 million a year for open space (with $80 million dedicated to farmland) over the program’s lifetime.

Localities like Peapack-Gladstone participate in the Trust’s mission by establishing a qualified local tax authority and raising money that the trust matches through grants administered by its three primary funding agencies: the NJ Green Acres Program, the Farmland Preservation Program, and the Historic Preservation Program.

At present, Peapack-Gladstone has $637,639 in its Open Space Trust and expects to raise an additional $226,000 in 2005 tax receipts. These amounts represent direct investments by borough taxpayers in preserving our community’s open spaces, currently $.03 per $100 in assessed valuation. Three cents is a drop in the bucket of what’s required, but thanks to aggressive solicitation of matching grants, our story doesn’t end there.

When you add the $1,069,219 in our Borough’s Green Acres Planning Incentive Account plus another $575,000 that has been awarded for 2005, our modest $.03 contributions qualify us to compete much harder in the fair market for developable properties. In fact, this year our taxpayers will benefit from additional grants including $500,000 from the Morris Land Conservancy, a non-profit regional preservation group, and potentially another $1,000,000 from Somerset County’s Open Space Partnership program. All of this money will be used to preserve open spaces that would otherwise sprout new subdivisions, school bus stops, and more traffic.

What do these matching grants mean in terms of your leverage? To command the same purchasing power using local tax receipts alone would require another $.42 per $100 in 2005 assessed value! For a median homeowner assessed at $500,000, that’s nearly $2,100 in additional property tax obligations! Clearly, leveraging our Open Space kitty by tapping available matching sources is tax-smart program management.

Since 2000, the Borough’s Open Space tax authorization and matching resources have enabled the retirement of 29 acres of residentially-zoned property from the market, with further projects on the horizon. This accomplishment may seem unremarkable until you understand the tax implications of eliminating over 100 new houses from our public school enrollments. Calculate future tuition costs to educate those new neighbors year after year and the program’s $.03 share of property taxes is indisputably a municipal bargain!

Despite these signs of progress, New Jersey’s 45-year battle against sprawl will be waged for decades to come and nobody forecasts an easy road ahead. Just as surely as there will be new people who cherish our friendly neighborhoods and green valleys, it is not unrealistic to look ahead to a day when there is no more open land in Peapack-Gladstone to subdivide. If they’re very, very fortunate, voters who repeal the borough’s open space taxing authority on that future date will assess how well our “tax-smart Offense” did its job by how little else changed here.

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• One member currently serving on the Borough Land Use Board;
• One member currently serving on the Environmental Commission;
• One member currently serving on the Recreation Commission; and
• Three members at-large who are residents of the Borough.

Current membership of the Open Space Advisory Committee includes:

• William F. Horton, Mayor
• John L. Sweeney, Borough Council Representative
• Irv Wiehe, Chairman 
• Kevin Auerbacher
• Bob Sutton
• Mike McNamara
• Bob Hoskinson
• Susan Wagner

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Prior to its acquistion under Open Space auspices, this property constituted the largest remaining non-agricultural tract in the Borough that could accomodate homes on small lots. Designated by municipal zoning as ‘R6′ (a medium-density residential zone), the Borough and cooperating seller narrowly averted construction of some 100 new residential units.

This successful market-rate transaction was made possible by a grant from Somerset County’s Municipal Greenways Partnership Program and demonstrates how public/private cooperation leveraging local tax receipts and grants can serve as a model for sprawl abatement.

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Taking an inventory of our natural resources is one of the best investments a community can make when making planning decisions. The final product not only ties in with the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, it will enhance and preserve our community and potentially ensure that areas of historic, cultural, scenic, and recreational potential are protected.

The Environmental Commission has been hard at work to raise funds for this project, and the Borough has supported the ERI project by matching funds. To date, funds from the Environmental Services Program have facilitated Phases I and II of the ERI project which are slated for completion this fall.

In an effort to share and improve upon the Phase I data that has been prepared by the Upper Raritan Watershed Association (URWA), the PGEC would like to invite anyone who is aware of easements on their property to contact the commission to ensure an accurate inventory.

The stream monitoring workshop took place May 1 and was hosted by the Americorp Watershed Ambassador’s program. Participants spent the morning learning how to assess the health of a stream, and in the afternoon applied their knowledge in the field. Members of the Kenny family identified a stewardship project that he or she could manage. Picking up trash flowing downstream in Peapack Brook, weeding and mulching native plants along the brook, and sanding down benches were all tasks that will benefit everyone who enjoys the Preserve, including the wildlife.

Most recently, Diane Becker asked if the Recreation Commission could improve the appearance of the newly built retaining wall at the municipal complex. Thanks to a number of enthusiastic volunteers, a strip of sod was removed at the base of the wall and 30 Virginia creeper vines were planted in its place while the deer may ultimately determine the success of the project; the vine selected has been known to resist browse.

The commission would also like to thank those who have invested their time in protecting our natural resources with introduction of the Environmental Honor Roll. Members in the community who have contributed to a better environment in Peapack Gladstone will be listed in each publication of the Gazette. Volunteer efforts, such as participation in the stream monitoring workshop and the spring clean up in Rockabye Meadow, inspired Anita Smith and Lilibet Clarke to propose this honor roll.

Environmental Honor Roll

• Jeannie Gilbert
• M. Atkinson
• Anne Terril
• Richard Rampinelli
• Chris Kenney
• Tim Kenney
• Sean Kenney
• Bridget Kenney
• John Duffy
• Tabby Krier
• Madison Taylor
• Stephanie Samuelson
• Brianna Cook
• Rachel Ussery
• Holly Lallis
• Jackie Perotti
• Grace Henderson
• Cassidy Dixon
• Gabriella Perez
• McKinley Taylor
• Paige Webb
• Katie Haugh
• Sara Finn
• Jamie Lin Moschetto

There are a number of ways you can help be a steward of our environment. You patrol the litter in your neighborhood (that includes picking up after your dog), plant a tree in memory of a loved one, or offer to help with the number of projects that the Environmental Commission operates at Rockabye Meadow. Efforts will be recognized in every publication of the Gazette. Please contact the Commission if you are doing something to benefit the environment and in turn your community.

Thanks to a grant from the Garden Club of Somerset Hills and countless hours of labor donated by PGEC Vice Chairman John Kappler, a kiosk has been installed along the entry path on the Church Street parking lot. We hope to use the kiosk to share information about Rockabye Meadow and its rich and unique history. In recent years, activities along the Peapack Brook with Natural Resource Conservation Service have led to some interesting observations and taught us a great deal about the challenges in natural resource protection. We welcome your experiences, photos, and observations by submitting them for display so we can continues to learn as the Preserve evolves.

Management of the Preserve, however minimal, still requires more man hours than our budget allows. We would like to thank stewards such as the Kenny Family for all the extra time spent in the Preserve. Tim Kenny put in over nine hours of community service over Memorial Day weekend, removing invasive thistles from the warm season grass meadow, tending young seedling trees, and removing debris from the streamside. We truly appreciate his enthusiasm and support of this important project!

There have been 802 trees inventoried in the village area of which 412 trees are between 0″- 12″ caliper, 307 trees are between 13″- 30″ caliper and 81 trees are greater than 30″ caliper.

There is an interesting variety of species composition :

The remaining species vary from native black cherry, green and white ash, gray birch, red cedar and mulberry which tell a story of our town’s agricultural heritage.

Of the total trees inventoried, 206 were found to be in good condition, 391 in fair condition, 143 in poor condition, and 8 on their way to compost.

Those figures comprise 88.5% tree cover with only 10.5% vacant planting sites and 1% stump removal sites.

52.5% of our street trees do not conflict with utility wires.

This data is very important to determine how to protect our tree resources in the future. While we may have good forest cover, many of our trees are in a state of decline. The Environmental Commission has been charged with the protection and replacement of these resources. To that end, we have created a Tree Sub-Committee within our Commission that needs your help. One of the projects we continue to work on is a Tree Ordinance, and while we are already half way there, we cannot do it alone. If you are interested, please contact us through the Borough Clerk’s office.

Along our periphery, busy thoroughfares yield to woodlands that yield in turn to pastures and views of distant hills, discrete farmhouses, suburban enclaves, and — abruptly — a village center, gathering itself beside a brook. From every approach, travelers descend into this center and, joining the Peapack Brook, their rate of travel slows noticeably in the embrace of our hills. This experience stands in stark contrast with the endless sprawl of commercial frontage punctuated by municipal boundary signs that characterize that other New Jersey — the state of perpetual motion where The Sopranos and Weird NJ reside. What the Borough lacks in suburban conveniences, architects and residents alike applaud in the humane scale of places like this one.

It should come as no surprise then that a key objective of Peapack-Gladstone’s 1998 Open Space Master Plan — a free-market blueprint for municipal land preservation — was securing undeveloped "greenways" at strategic entry-points to the community. Greenways are streetscapes that are dense in tree canopy, buffering adjacent areas from noise, from traffic congestion, and from the visual oppression of unrelieved sprawl. Present in wooded parks, cultivated boulevards, or even undeveloped land, such collars promote and preserve our sense of arrival, of demarking what is and what is not Peapack-Gladstone Borough.

Last year, with help from Somerset County and state conservation authorities, our community took steps to preserve two major approaches to our suburban village. Thanks to a $22 million Somerset County Open Space initiative, Natirar, the former Kate Macy Ladd estate, will be preserved indefinitely as green space defining and burnishing our unique municipal border with Far Hills. Accounting for approximately 9% of the Borough’s land area, Natirar is a regional treasure preserved by aggressive, "tax-smart" Open Space planning.

Also in 2003, a separate project initiated by the Borough’s Open Space Advisory Committee brought public funding from three sources to bear on the busy intersection of Pottersville Road and Route 206. There, in December, we completed acquisition of almost 12 acres of wooded property belonging to the Brady family’s Millhouse Partnership. This parcel, which will be preserved as woodlands, includes a small wetland area that is believed to be habitat for endangered turtles as well as home to a portion of the original roadbed of the Rockabye Railway.

Topographically, the Brady parcel presents a continuation of the Borough’s Gateway Park acreage, acquired in 1999, and its purchase marks a key acquisition in the Borough’s strategy to link its existing parks and recreational facilities with public foot-, bicycle-, or equine trails. Merely a vision today, open space proponents foresee a rare opportunity to preserve a passive recreational corridor stretching from Liberty Park south to Gateway Park and then west and north to Rockabye Meadow. The implied trail yields a variety of terrains and will afford residents a unique appreciation of our vanishing New Jersey countryside. Originally zoned for new subdivision with a street and four houses, the Brady property was a strategic link that will be followed by others as we work to implement this vision.

Tax-smart Open Space purchases are a free-market response to developmental pressures and the consequent implications for our municipal tax rates. Residential development costs taxpayers money in higher schools tuition, demand for public services and municipal infrastructure costs. Yet, until recently, a community’s only remedies for these pressures were long-range planning and land-use regulation, including up-zoning, regulatory takings, and litigation.

In contrast, Open Space programs allow communities to re-purpose potential building sites through negotiated easements, free-market purchases or tax-advantaged gifts. Supporting these activities are an array of private, county, state and federal matching-grant programs that work in tandem with our local Open Space tax to create capital for new acquisitions and to pay down bonded indebtedness. Such programs can provide extraordinary leverage on taxpayer dollars, frequently multiplying our purchasing power many times above your Open Space tax contributions. The Brady property, for instance, cost Borough taxpayers just 5 cents on the dollar versus its appraised value, yet it eliminated a proposed subdivision that could have added more than 2 cents a year to our municipal tax rates. Buying this property was "tax-smart."

So, the next time you travel out of the Borough and are privileged to return, try to imagine how differently our community would feel without its distinctive sense of place, without those green entry-ways and open spaces that mark our firm and tax-smart resolve in a vanishing landscape.

URWA’s new Director of Natural Sciences, Melissa Almendinger met with members of Pack 236 on a beautiful Sunday in August in Liberty Park to demonstrate the effects of pollution on storm water. A number of scenarios were proposed in which a scout was asked to correctly identify the pollutant. Many were surprised at the variety of pollutants that can affect the health of our water. Afterwards the pack broke up into three teams to mark the drains and to distribute educational materials informing residents on how they can prevent storm water pollution. We are truly grateful that these young stewards and their parents who lent a hand in this important mission.

You Can Make a Difference in Your Own Backyard!
Managing storm water in your own backyard is important. As an integral part of the watershed that you live in, what you do in your backyard makes a difference. Here are some examples of what you can do at home:

• Reduce impervious surfaces by using pavers or bricks rather than concrete for a driveway or sidewalk.
• Divert rain from paved surfaces onto grass to permit gradual infiltration.
• Landscape with the environment in mind. Choose the appropriate plants, shrubs and trees for the soil in your yard; don’t select plants that need lots of watering (which increases surface runoff), fertilizers or pesticides.
• Maintain your car properly so that motor oil, brake linings, exhaust and other fluids don’t contribute to water pollution.
• Keep storm water clean. Never dump litter, motor oil, animal waste, or leaves into storm drains or catch basins.

Why do we need to regulate storm water? The answer is water quality. Everyone relies on clean water to live! Pollution from any source harms our water supply. In the coming months, Borough officials will review the new state requirements and establish a time line for compliance. The implementation of the Municipal Stormwater Regulation Program will take place over the next five years. While the Borough complies with the new regulations in many respects, more is required. Some changes which could affect residents include:

• Establishment of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SPPP)
• Address Post-Construction Stormwater by implementing:
1. A stormwater management plan
2. A stormwater control ordinance
3. New storm drain inlets
4. Ensure long term operation and maintenance of Best Management Practices (BMPs) on municipal property
• Local Public Education through workshops and brochures
• Address Improper Disposal of Waste by updating existing ordinances
• Address Solids and Floatable Controls by storm drain retrofitting, road erosion control and outfall pipe remediation.

The Environmental Commission will oversee the Public Education component and will identify ways that you can make a difference. For starters, the New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors Program has scheduled a presentation on May 1 at the Borough Hall to raise awareness about water issues. The Watershed Ambassadors monitor the rivers of New Jersey through river assessment and biological assessment volunteer monitoring programs. This interactive program will be open to the students and citizens of Peapack-Gladstone to cultivate a stewardship ethic toward our town’s most valuable assets.

If you are interested in these issues or live near a small creek, the Peapack Brook, or Raritan River, the Environmental Commission invites you to share in this opportunity. Not only will you help safeguard this precious resource, but you can assist the town to comply with the new statewide basic requirements. For more information contact the Environmental Commission or Mitch Klasky at the Upper Raritan Watershed Association at (908)234-1852.