On NJ Highlands Act's 20th anniversary, lawmakers recall bitter fight over landmark law

MORRIS TWP. - Much has been accomplished since the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act was approved in 2004 to protect the critical water supplies northwest New Jersey holds for 5.4 million state residents.

Twenty years later, with new environmental risks emerging − including a statewide affordable-housing mandate, eroding shorelines and a wave of warehouse construction − much is left to do, past and present members of the New Jersey Highlands Council agree.

"There is a strong possibility within the next 25 years that nations will no longer be fighting over oil − they will be fighting over water," council Chairman Carl Richko said on Friday, as he opened the organization's 20th-anniversary summit on Friday at Frelinghuysen Arboretum.

He was citing a 2018 study commissioned by the United Nations, but the difficult decisions to be made in balancing growth and conservation have been evident right here in the Garden State.

Richko, a former mayor of West Milford, was named in 2018 to chair the state-appointed council, which consists of 15 members tasked with implementing the land-preservation requirements of the Highlands Act. In the interest of protecting the region's water supply the law imposed limits on development in a region that cuts through 88 towns in Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties.

Since 2004, the restrictions have survived numerous court challengers and vitriol from critics, including developers and farm owners who saw their land values plummet. But supporters say the Highlands Act − and the council − have saved vast regions of biodiverse land from falling to the bulldozers.

Conservation victories

"Hamburg Mountain, Sterling Forest, Sparta Mountain, Schooley's Mountain, Pyramid Mountain, Musconetcong Mountain, Wildcat Ridge," Michelle Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, ticked off at Friday's summit.

"These are just a few, but these were all major battles [where] the Highlands Council and local citizens worked very hard to stop development and get those lands into permanent preservation, whether it was through Green Acres, federal funding, county funding, what-have-you."

Panelists at the gathering included two state senators who are credited with building support for the act in Trenton, leading to its overwhelming bipartisan passage in the Assembly and Senate. Then-Gov. James McGreevey signed it into law on Aug. 10, 2004.

State Sen. John McKeon, a Democrat who represents the 27th District in Essex County, said the Highlands Council has been effective in protecting sensitive, water-bearing lands. While about two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water, "only 1% is potable," McKeon noted.

"Think about what we have accomplished," he said. "I think we've stopped 52 major developments."

Fierce opposition

His Democratic colleague, Sen. Bob Smith, appeared via remote video and recalled that while the Legislature eventually supported the Highlands Act, there was fierce opposition from special-interest groups.

"When people started paying attention, Holy God! It was one of the most intense legislative processes I have ever seen," said Smith, who represents District 17 in Middlesex and Somerset counties. He recalled one heated meeting in Ringwood. "We had a large auditorium and it was primarily filled by developers, Realtors and construction people," he said. "And they all had signs on stakes basically saying, 'Death to the Highlands Act.' And whenever we spoke they would bang the stakes of their signs on the floor. A 'drumbeat' is not even the correct word."

At the next meeting, at Voorhees High School in Hunterdon County, security was stepped up, including a New Jersey State Police helicopter. "There were rows of bulldozers in the parking lot," Smith recalled. "There were State Police with automatic weapons and dogs."

Years later, the Highlands Act and council came under fire from Gov. Chris Christie, whose administration branded it “a disaster on multiple levels.” Christie said provisions to protect the wilderness deprived landowners of their property rights and slowed economic growth.

Gov. Phil Murphy, elected in 2017, has been more supportive. "He is a very green governor," McKeon said.

More: Businessman cut down hundreds of trees above North Jersey reservoir, DEP says

Higher ground

Environmentalists say the region now faces new challenges, including the state's mandate for municipalities to build more affordable housing and the impacts of climate change on heavily populated Jersey Shore towns. With sea levels rising, Smith said he worries about a mass migration of Monmouth and Ocean County residents "to higher ground" − including, possibly, the Highlands or the Pinelands region in South Jersey.

"New Jersey needs to mobilize in the same way the United States mobilized in preparation for the Second World War," Smith said of potential climate impacts. "It's that serious an issue."

McKeon cited another relatively new potential threat springing up along interstate highways in the region, including routes 80 and 78.

"Keep in mind, everybody, the area of the Highlands are perfect areas for these mega-warehouses," he warned.

"When the Highlands Act was passed we thought everything was done, and in reality, it's not," added Ben Spinelli, a former Chester Township mayor who was appointed as executive director of the Highlands Council in 2022. "It's a challenge every day to keep up the good work and make sure the purposes of the Highlands Act are being brought forward and its master plan is having its desired effect."

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ Highlands Council's 20th anniversary marked as conservation victory