Proposed Sewer Connection Prohibition Threatens Real Estate Development
Based upon good, albeit unconfirmed, information, we understand that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) has drafted and is floating possible new regulations that would prohibit all property in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (“State Plan”) located in Planning Areas 3, 4 and 5 from connecting to sanitary sewer systems, even if the property is located in a sewer service area and sewer lines were already constructed, in the ground and available for connection. This means that any development in those areas would be forced to rely upon septic systems, draining wastewater and sewerage from toilets, showers and sinks, for instance, into the soils utilizing a ground (soils) based or alternative filtration system. Indeed, with the possibility of limited or no grandfathering, approved developments could be at risk. The proposal would likely affect thousands of properties around the state. One stark example is that under the currently approved State Plan property owners with projects in several counties would almost all lose the right to connect to existing sanitary sewer systems. The number of properties that would lose the right to connect to existing sanitary sewer facilities will only increase under the State Plan currently pending review by the State Planning Commission.
Public sanitary sewer systems discharge to sewerage treatment plants as opposed to the ground. The to be proposed regulatory change would not only impact groundwater, but where sewerage treatment facilities have been built and sized anticipating additional development and connections, residents would be forced to absorb substantial additional costs arising from the elimination of intended users for these systems. These regulations would limit development in many areas, possibly even where such development was intended as part of “smart growth” that the State Plan and NJDEP have touted, but would also have negative environmental impacts. While it must be noted that the regulations have not been released by the NJDEP or seen by this author, even the limited information available suggests that such a proposal would have various adverse impacts, intended and unintended. Indeed, anyone owning or under a contract to purchase property in Planning Areas 3, 4 or 5 and located in a sewer service area, would be wise to consider the impacts of the regulations on their ability to develop and use their real estate and the likely downzoning that will result in the event such regulations are adopted by the NJDEP.
Anyone having questions about the new regulations and whether their property is located in Planning Areas 3, 4 or 5 as well as a sewer service area should contact the Real Estate or Environmental Group at Stark & Stark at (609) 895-7250.
Reader interactions
2 Replies to “Proposed Sewer Connection Prohibition Threatens Real Estate Development”
Comments are closed.
What is the status of these regulations? Are they available on the web. I have searched high and low and can not find them. I am trying to determine how they will impact development in my area, we are currently trying to get a PA3 designation.
As predicted, a proposed amendments to the water quality and wastewater management regulations were proposed. However, due at least in part to the tremendous opposition to the regulations, Acting Governor Codey extended the existing water quality management regulations until May. The water quality regulations, as opposed to the wastewater management regulations, were set to expire this month. Indeed, Codey appears poised to allow Governor-elect Corzine to address the issues by virtue of the extension. However, one portion of the proposal, in the form of a proposed amendment to the wastewater management regulations, are still pending, have not been withdrawn and can be adopted at any time after December 15, 2005, unless withdrawn.
The proposed wastewater management amendments affect sewer connections and septic systems throughout some 80% of the state, notably in State Planning Areas 3, 4 and 5. Brad Campbell, Commission of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, had intimated that the comment period may be extended, in which event adoption of the amendment would be likewise postponed, but as of this writing, we have not been advised of any formal decision on whether to extend the comment period, adopt or withdraw these amendments, or to simply let them languish for some time.
In the first few weeks after these amendments were proposed, Commissioner Campbell had received some 10,000 emails objecting to the proposed amendment and that was at the outset of a email and write-in campaign initiated by some 15 industry groups opposing the regulations. In addition, many municipalities have objected to the proposed amendment as being a overly burdensome unfunded state mandate. Given the heavy and diverse opposition to these problematic regulations, it would not be surprising if the adoption of the amendment were similarly postponed until Governor-elect Corzine takes office or if the amendment were to be revised in wholesale or scrapped altogether.
Treating the regulations as an amendment as opposed to a new adoption abbreviates the comment and adoption process. Needless to say, these are potentially critical and obviously problematic regulations in some views that deserve far more attention than the DEP has thus far given. Perhaps one reason the comment period has not be extended may be that the DEP has no intention of acting on the proposed amendment, at least for the time being. While Acting Governor Codey’s extension to the water quality management regulations suggest the concerns about this set of regulations have been noted, the issue is still open until and unless the pending amendment is also withdrawn. Regardless, we might well hear more about these proposals in the early months of the Corzine administration given that the water quality regulations are now set to expire in May.
Gary Forshner