Time to aim higher in coastal preservation

Tim
Dillingham

Last year was a year of bad reviews for the coast. The Environmental Pro-tection Agency led off with an assessment of the nation’s estuaries that found them to be "in fair to poor condition," with our own northeastern estuaries rated as poor. The U.S. Oceans Commission released a review of the health of the oceans, describing their status in stark, troubling terms. Locally, the American Littoral Society released its "State of the Coast" report on Earth Day, and gave New Jersey an overall grade of D-minus for its management of a wide spectrum of coastal resources, including water quality, wildlife habitat and land use.

The coast is becoming more crowded. Access to the shoreline is being cut off, shellfish and finfish are becoming harder to find and their health more questionable, and streams and wells are running dry.

The vehicles on the jammed roads, the boats on the bays and the houses on the increasingly private beaches are in a fierce competition to see who can be bigger, faster and louder.

The laws meant to protect the coast don’t. This has been compounded by a failure to enforce even the most basic protection measures on the books.

Protecting the coast is embodied in law only at the state level. Municipalities are under no legal requirement to protect the environment. This doesn’t mean some towns haven’t tried to do so. But legally towns are left to their own devices. Look along the coast, and it is clear what choices have been made.

There is no coast-wide plan for what should be preserved and what should be developed. Nor is there any estimation of how much development the coast can support before the water runs out (or turns salty), the last open spaces disappear, and the roads jam in gridlock.

There is still much worth saving at the coast that can be saved. DEP Commissioner Brad Campbell’s idea for a "big map" identifying growth and preservation areas throughout the state offers the chance to craft a vision for the future of the coast and bring local and state land use policies together.

It can identify where the state can stop subsidizing sprawl, rethink old sewer approvals in sensitive open spaces, and retool highway improvement plans. It can guide state and local open space programs to preserve the most critical areas.

The most difficult challenge will be infusing local land-use decision-making with protection of the environment. A clear legal requirement that coastal protection be taken into account is the first necessity.

The status quo is unacceptable. Gov. James McGreevey has set out an ambitious growth management initiative as a priority within the second year of his administration.

He has set the stage for serious reforms to land use along the coast. Given this year’s reviews, it is an opportunity to improve our stewardship of New Jersey’s coast, and strive for better marks.

Tim Dillingham is the assistant director at the American Littoral Society, Sandy Hook