Open Space Projects - Save Hamilton Open Space

Aerial Photo of Rolling Acres Neighborhood

Residents of Rolling Acres are concerned over two planned developments on five acres of woods along Rt. 33 between Crest Ave and the Nitti Subaru dealership.

Neighbors waged a successful battle against a Super Wawa planned for the site. Now the 100 year old woods, the last remnant of eastern hardwood forest along Rt. 33, are threatened by two strip malls and a bank. The neighborhood would like to see the woods preserved as a native species arboretum and neighborhood park. That will require public acquisition of the threatened woodlands. At a minimum the neighbors seek to preserve as much of the existing woods as possible.

They fear that the developments, which will destroy the vast majority of the forest, will cause flooding, devalue property, create more traffic on Route 33, and degrade the quality of life of the area by taking away this last small bit of open space on Route 33.

Also, that section of Route 33 is more residential / office in character vs. the endless string of strip malls west of Yardville-Hamilton Square Rd. and east of the Nitti Subaru dealership. Residents also contend that with adequate retail outlets and services and many vacancies along Route 33, the town does not need another string of stores.

The application for the first strip mall is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2007.

Camden & Amboy Rail Trail (Updated August 28, 2006) -
Chartered in 1832, the Camden and Amboy Railroad was the first in NJ and the third in the U.S. The nation’s first steam engine, the John Bull, now in the Smithsonian, operated on the line that runs from Camden to South Amboy, NJ. Conrail, the current owner, is seeking to sell 5.7 miles of right of way they no longer use. Part of it goes through Hamilton. SHOS favors preservation of the right of way as a bike-hike “rail trail” and as a possible passenger or freight line should the need ever arise in the future. The current Trenton to Camden River Line uses part of the original line.

The entire length of the line is eligible for historic preservation.

Washington Township has plans to create a redevelopment zone along Rt. 130 and favors abandonment of the land by Conrail. The right of way would be sold to a developer(s) and become part of adjacent properties. That would be the end of the rail corridor. At a August 23, 2006 meeting with the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that rules on rail line abandonments, Hamilton stated support for Washington’s efforts.

SHOS favors preservation of the right of way and transforming it into a bike-hike “rail trail”, essentially a linear park. This could be incorporated into Washington’s development plans and become an attractive recreational feature and even contribute to economic development and increased property values. It is adjacent to the new Washington Town Center and would be a valued recreational amenity for those residents.

Hamilton’s Historic Advisory Commission, the NJ Sierra Club, the C&A Trail Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society all support preservation of the right of way. Mercer County may be interested in preserving it.

Further, via a “rail banking” option, if the need ever arose, the right of way could be converted back into a passenger or freight rail line.

There are many such “rail trails” around the country. The Rails to Trails Conservancy is a national organization that supports this type of re-use of abandoned railroads.

The current ruling by the Surface Transportation Board provides 180 days (until June 5, 2007) for someone to purchase the 5.7 miles of the right-of-way.

Braghelli Farm (Updated April 6, 2005) -
Photo of Braghelli Farm sign

Success! After many years, Hamilton closed on the property March 28, 2005. The 84-acre farm will be added to adjacent Veterans Park. Hamilton had wanted to buy the property for several years and it was an issue in the 1999 mayoral campaign. The high price tag was a stumbling block. Residents gathered over 2,000 signatures on petitions, wrote letters to the Mayor and newspapers, ran ads in newspapers, and spoke at council meetings. The amount of buildable land was challenged due to the presence of wetlands on the property. Money came from the state, county, township and the D & R Greenway Land Trust, a non-profit organization.

Klockner Woods (Updated May 22, 2006) -
The woods is a 90 acre tract between Klockner Ave, I-295, E. State St. Ext, Nebraska Ave and the George Dick softball fields. Ownership is divided between five entities. The largest parcel, 50 acres, was purchased by Fieldstone Associates in 2001, and a plan to build rental housing was filed with the township, but was never presented to the Planning Board.

Hamilton's Open Space and Recreation Plan recommends preservation of the entire parcel for passive recreation - meaning walking trails and natural habitat.

Local residents organized to convince Hamilton to acquire the land, and Hamilton began negotiations with owner/developer Fieldstone Associates. The two sides couldn't agree on a price and Fieldstone refused to sell. Hamilton then began the condemnation process (use of eminent domain) since the proposed use would be beneficial to the general public. After negotiations Hamilton agreed on a price to buy the land - $4.1 million. The price was based on an assumption that each of 41 buildable lots would be worth $100,000.

The price formula was disputed.

Since NJ DEP disputed the earlier Fieldstone wetlands study and never issued a final Letter of Interpretation (LOI) specifying the extent and type of wetlands, a new wetlands delineation to determine the actual market value of the land was required. Hamilton hired a firm, Van Note Harvey, to complete the new wetlands study. The Van Note-Harvey study has been completed. The NJDEP must now verify the study and issue a LOI to officially designate the boundary and type of wetlands on the property. When that's completed, we will know the exact amount of buildable land.

See for yourself how the old vs new wetlands studies compare. Our conclusion is that there's not much difference between the studies if you assume the houses will be built where the original apartments were proposed. The major change in wetlands is in the upper right portion of the tract where no construction was originally proposed.

To be fair, when you look at the two studies, please keep in mind the following:

* The old study includes the original plan to build apartments, not the newer plan to build houses. We don't know exactly where the houses are proposed to be built, since, to our knowledge, Fieldstone has never submitted a plan for single family houses.

* The old study includes a 50 foot buffer from the wetlands line. The new study does not include a buffer. (Wetlands are graded from "ordinary" to "extraordinary" with different buffers for each gradient. "Ordinary" is most common and includes a 50 foot no-build buffer. We anticipate Klockner Woods will ultimately be determined to be "ordinary".)

Old Klockner Woods Wetlands Study

New Klockner Woods Wetlands Study

Two footnotes:

* The date on the new study is August 9, 2005. We understood that the new study had to wait until the spring of 2006 to be completed due to some unique environmental factors. Hamilton's application for NJDEP verification was dated April 2006. The dates are obviously out of sync. We invite an explanation.

* On Oct 25, 2005, Hamilton announced it had changed its position from one of preservation to one of working with Fieldstone to develop the property. The announced plan was for 100 age-restricted townhouses and possibly ball fields. Hamilton's Open Space and Recreation Plan calls for preservation as a passive recreation (natural habitat) tract. To our knowledge that plan did not progress beyond the initial discussion stage.

News stories:

A Nov 10, 2005 news story in the Trentonian said Mayor Gilmore "acknowledged it (the October 2005 deal) may now be in doubt".

A Nov 10, 2005 news story in the Trenton times quoted newly elected Council member Dave Kenny as saying "...all three of us would like to preserve (Klockner Woods) but at an appropriate price."

Columbia Group Housing - Located in the Cornell Heights section of Hamilton along Princeton Ave., across the railroad tracks from the NJ Transit Hamilton station. 680 units of apartments, condos and townhouses. Cornell Heights residents rallied against the hi-rise, hi-density Columbia Group housing plan. Residents lost in a bitter fight when the Planning Board approved the Columbia project. The neighborhood group filed a lawsuit to stop the development, but Judge Linda Feinberg ruled in favor of the developer. The group has appealed the judge’s decision.

American Metro - Located in the Cornell Heights section of Hamilton, across the railroad tracks from the NJ Transit Hamilton station. This is the former American Standard plant, which is being rebuilt as the American Metro office complex. Part of the complex is already occupied. Cornell Heights residents' concerns are focused primarily on traffic issues. Most want the development isolated from the neighborhood to keep cut-through traffic from inundating the quiet residential area. Also, there is a tax issue associated with the development. Hamilton granted American Metro a tax break called a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program, with virtually no money going to schools or open space. Hamilton's School Board has sued the township to gain some of the PILOT money for schools. SHOS would like a portion of the PILOT funds to go to the Mercer Co. open space fund in the same proportion as "normal" taxes.

Transit Village - The next stage of the train station development will be a true transit village on the station side of the tracks. That land is owned by New Jersey Transit who will award contracts for hi-density housing, offices, commercial space, a hotel and parking facilities. The first contract has already been awarded for a parking garage.

Stream Buffer Ordinance - This ordinance would protect streams and ponds by requiring a no-build buffer around them. The ordinance was passed by Council and signed by the mayor, then recalled due to improper public notice. Changes to weaken it were subsequently proposed. This is an extremely important ordinance as floods during April demonstrated. As more impervious surface is built, runoff into streams and rivers increases. The result is more flooding and pollution.

This ordinance was scheduled to be reviewed by the Planning Board at the Sept 8 meeting but was postponed. It will come before Council soon.

SHOS urges Hamilton to make the ordinance stronger by reinstating original language that forbade development on floodplains. Most surrounding townships have had similar ordinances for several years. All include the floodplain in their no-build buffers. It makes sense to prohibit building in flood prone areas.

Contact Council members and the Mayor to urge them not to weaken this ordinance.

Downzoning/Clustering Ordinance - The new Rural Resource Conservation zone creates development density and lot size requirements on farmlands that will help preserve open space. A second (final) reading is scheduled for the the Sept 20, 2005 Council meeting. Go to the News page for the latest update.

Revision of Highway Commercial Zone - An addition to the existing Highway Commercial Zone rules was passed by council and signed by the Mayor on March 16, 2005. It took effect April 4. It creates a 500 foot buffer between residences and auto-intensive businesses and helps keep inappropriate development out of residential neighborhoods.



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Save Hamilton Open Space P.O. Box 2594 Hamilton, NJ 08690 Send Email (609) 587-0160 Klockner Woods Photo Gallery	Open Space Projects Save Hamilton Open Space Projects Below is the SHOS project list with the latest status of each one. Latest revision dates are noted for each project. Rolling Acres (Updated February 15, 2007) Camden & Amboy Rail Trail (Updated August 28, 2006) Braghelli Farm (Updated April 6, 2005) Klockner Woods (Updated May 22, 2006) Levin Properties Shopping Center (Updated August 28, 2006) Super Wawa (Updated Sept 13, 2005) Laura Ave (Updated August 28, 2006) Eagle Group Bank (Updated Mar 8, 2005) Train Station (Updated Sept 13, 2005) Skeba Farm (Updated Jan 31, 2006) Dey Farm (Updated May 10, 2006) Schoenholz Property (Updated July 16, 2005) Shrimp Farm (Updated Mar 8, 2005) Shisler Farm (Updated Mar 8, 2005) Zoning and Ordinances (Updated Sept 13, 2005) Rolling Acres (Updated February 15, 2007) - Residents of Rolling Acres are concerned over two planned developments on five acres of woods along Rt. 33 between Crest Ave and the Nitti Subaru dealership. Neighbors waged a successful battle against a Super Wawa planned for the site. Now the 100 year old woods, the last remnant of eastern hardwood forest along Rt. 33, are threatened by two strip malls and a bank. The neighborhood would like to see the woods preserved as a native species arboretum and neighborhood park. That will require public acquisition of the threatened woodlands. At a minimum the neighbors seek to preserve as much of the existing woods as possible. They fear that the developments, which will destroy the vast majority of the forest, will cause flooding, devalue property, create more traffic on Route 33, and degrade the quality of life of the area by taking away this last small bit of open space on Route 33. Also, that section of Route 33 is more residential / office in character vs. the endless string of strip malls west of Yardville-Hamilton Square Rd. and east of the Nitti Subaru dealership. Residents also contend that with adequate retail outlets and services and many vacancies along Route 33, the town does not need another string of stores. The application for the first strip mall is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2007. Camden & Amboy Rail Trail (Updated August 28, 2006) - Chartered in 1832, the Camden and Amboy Railroad was the first in NJ and the third in the U.S. The nation’s first steam engine, the John Bull, now in the Smithsonian, operated on the line that runs from Camden to South Amboy, NJ. Conrail, the current owner, is seeking to sell 5.7 miles of right of way they no longer use. Part of it goes through Hamilton. SHOS favors preservation of the right of way as a bike-hike “rail trail” and as a possible passenger or freight line should the need ever arise in the future. The current Trenton to Camden River Line uses part of the original line. The entire length of the line is eligible for historic preservation. Washington Township has plans to create a redevelopment zone along Rt. 130 and favors abandonment of the land by Conrail. The right of way would be sold to a developer(s) and become part of adjacent properties. That would be the end of the rail corridor. At a August 23, 2006 meeting with the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that rules on rail line abandonments, Hamilton stated support for Washington’s efforts. SHOS favors preservation of the right of way and transforming it into a bike-hike “rail trail”, essentially a linear park. This could be incorporated into Washington’s development plans and become an attractive recreational feature and even contribute to economic development and increased property values. It is adjacent to the new Washington Town Center and would be a valued recreational amenity for those residents. Hamilton’s Historic Advisory Commission, the NJ Sierra Club, the C&A Trail Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society all support preservation of the right of way. Mercer County may be interested in preserving it. Further, via a “rail banking” option, if the need ever arose, the right of way could be converted back into a passenger or freight rail line. There are many such “rail trails” around the country. The Rails to Trails Conservancy is a national organization that supports this type of re-use of abandoned railroads. The current ruling by the Surface Transportation Board provides 180 days (until June 5, 2007) for someone to purchase the 5.7 miles of the right-of-way. Braghelli Farm (Updated April 6, 2005) - Success! After many years, Hamilton closed on the property March 28, 2005. The 84-acre farm will be added to adjacent Veterans Park. Hamilton had wanted to buy the property for several years and it was an issue in the 1999 mayoral campaign. The high price tag was a stumbling block. Residents gathered over 2,000 signatures on petitions, wrote letters to the Mayor and newspapers, ran ads in newspapers, and spoke at council meetings. The amount of buildable land was challenged due to the presence of wetlands on the property. Money came from the state, county, township and the D & R Greenway Land Trust, a non-profit organization. Klockner Woods (Updated May 22, 2006) - The woods is a 90 acre tract between Klockner Ave, I-295, E. State St. Ext, Nebraska Ave and the George Dick softball fields. Ownership is divided between five entities. The largest parcel, 50 acres, was purchased by Fieldstone Associates in 2001, and a plan to build rental housing was filed with the township, but was never presented to the Planning Board. Hamilton's Open Space and Recreation Plan recommends preservation of the entire parcel for passive recreation - meaning walking trails and natural habitat. Local residents organized to convince Hamilton to acquire the land, and Hamilton began negotiations with owner/developer Fieldstone Associates. The two sides couldn't agree on a price and Fieldstone refused to sell. Hamilton then began the condemnation process (use of eminent domain) since the proposed use would be beneficial to the general public. After negotiations Hamilton agreed on a price to buy the land - $4.1 million. The price was based on an assumption that each of 41 buildable lots would be worth $100,000. The price formula was disputed. Since NJ DEP disputed the earlier Fieldstone wetlands study and never issued a final Letter of Interpretation (LOI) specifying the extent and type of wetlands, a new wetlands delineation to determine the actual market value of the land was required. Hamilton hired a firm, Van Note Harvey, to complete the new wetlands study. The Van Note-Harvey study has been completed. The NJDEP must now verify the study and issue a LOI to officially designate the boundary and type of wetlands on the property. When that's completed, we will know the exact amount of buildable land. See for yourself how the old vs new wetlands studies compare. Our conclusion is that there's not much difference between the studies if you assume the houses will be built where the original apartments were proposed. The major change in wetlands is in the upper right portion of the tract where no construction was originally proposed. To be fair, when you look at the two studies, please keep in mind the following: * The old study includes the original plan to build apartments, not the newer plan to build houses. We don't know exactly where the houses are proposed to be built, since, to our knowledge, Fieldstone has never submitted a plan for single family houses. * The old study includes a 50 foot buffer from the wetlands line. The new study does not include a buffer. (Wetlands are graded from "ordinary" to "extraordinary" with different buffers for each gradient. "Ordinary" is most common and includes a 50 foot no-build buffer. We anticipate Klockner Woods will ultimately be determined to be "ordinary".) Old Klockner Woods Wetlands Study New Klockner Woods Wetlands Study Two footnotes: * The date on the new study is August 9, 2005. We understood that the new study had to wait until the spring of 2006 to be completed due to some unique environmental factors. Hamilton's application for NJDEP verification was dated April 2006. The dates are obviously out of sync. We invite an explanation. * On Oct 25, 2005, Hamilton announced it had changed its position from one of preservation to one of working with Fieldstone to develop the property. The announced plan was for 100 age-restricted townhouses and possibly ball fields. Hamilton's Open Space and Recreation Plan calls for preservation as a passive recreation (natural habitat) tract. To our knowledge that plan did not progress beyond the initial discussion stage. News stories: A Nov 10, 2005 news story in the Trentonian said Mayor Gilmore "acknowledged it (the October 2005 deal) may now be in doubt". A Nov 10, 2005 news story in the Trenton times quoted newly elected Council member Dave Kenny as saying "...all three of us would like to preserve (Klockner Woods) but at an appropriate price." Levin Properties Shopping Center (Updated August 28, 2006) - A concerted effort by residents convinced Hamilton to oppose the original Levin plan to build a 200,000 square foot shopping center on 30 acres of woods at Klockner Ave and Nottingham Way next to the largely vacant Suburban Plaza center. The Planning Board denied Levin's application. Levin appealed and the court ruled in their favor. The Hamilton Township Planning Board and Save Hamilton Open Space appealed the judge's decision. The NJ Appeals Court sided with the lower court in favor of Levin, thus opening the way to build the center. At Mayor Gilmore’s urging, the Hamilton Planning Board voted on July 13, 2006, to appeal the decision to the NJ Supreme Court. SHOS has joined the Planning Board as an intervenor in the case. SHOS’s argument is that traffic impact on the surrounding neighborhood should be a legitimate reason for denial of the application. Current law prohibits that. Super Wawa (Updated Sept 13, 2005) - Success! Wawa wanted to build a 24 hour store with 16 gas pumps on four acres of woods along Rt. 33 near George Dye Road. Local residents and some businesses opposed the plan for two years citing traffic congestion, an adequate number of gas stations already in the area, and the likelihood that four existing stations would be driven out of business. Wawa needed zoning variances from the Zoning Board in order to build. Hamilton Council changed zoning rules to forbid businesses that created heavy traffic volume to build within 500 feet of residential neighborhoods. It appears that Wawa will look elsewhere for a store site. Laura Ave (Updated August 28, 2006) - Gres Kaluzny LLC filed an application to build 16 houses and a retention basin on 7.7 acres of a former farm at the corner of Laura and Evelyn Avenues. Local residents opposed the type of development saying it was too dense and out of character with the neighborhood. They predict flooding and traffic in the quiet neighborhood will increase along with similar impacts from the nearby train station development. The developer submitted an inadequate stormwater management plan that was "conditionally" accepted by the Planning Board, and the Board approved the application. SHOS sued twice to overturn the approval, but Judge Linda Feinberg ruled in the developer's favor. SHOS appealed the ruling and lost. Now SHOS has asked the NJ Supreme Court to hear the case. The issue is whether or not the Planning Board rather than NJDEP must decide if the storm water management plan is in compliance with state regulations. The property is adjacent to Assunpink Creek, and is recommended as a site for a park in "Closing the Missing Link on the Assunpink Creek Greenway". Eagle Group Bank (Updated Mar 8, 2005) - The Eagle Group (the developer) wants to build a drive-through bank on a few acres of woods at the corner of Quakerbridge Rd. and Sloan Ave. A zoning variance is needed since the corner is zoned residential. This is one of the busiest intersections in Hamilton and will become busier with the nearby train station development. Local residents adamantly oppose the bank. Hamilton's NRI (indicates that nothing should be built on the site. The Zoning Board denied the applicant's request for a variance. The Eagle Group has sued to overturn the Board's denial. Train Station (Updated Sept 13, 2005) - This project is really three adjacent, but separate developments: American Metro Center, Columbia Group Housing Project, and the Transit Village. They are in Hamilton's Redevelopment Zone. Together they will bring 1,000 housing units and 1 million square feet of commercial space to Hamilton. The developments are located on both sides of the rail tracks around the NJT station and former American Standard factory. Columbia Group Housing - Located in the Cornell Heights section of Hamilton along Princeton Ave., across the railroad tracks from the NJ Transit Hamilton station. 680 units of apartments, condos and townhouses. Cornell Heights residents rallied against the hi-rise, hi-density Columbia Group housing plan. Residents lost in a bitter fight when the Planning Board approved the Columbia project. The neighborhood group filed a lawsuit to stop the development, but Judge Linda Feinberg ruled in favor of the developer. The group has appealed the judge’s decision. American Metro - Located in the Cornell Heights section of Hamilton, across the railroad tracks from the NJ Transit Hamilton station. This is the former American Standard plant, which is being rebuilt as the American Metro office complex. Part of the complex is already occupied. Cornell Heights residents' concerns are focused primarily on traffic issues. Most want the development isolated from the neighborhood to keep cut-through traffic from inundating the quiet residential area. Also, there is a tax issue associated with the development. Hamilton granted American Metro a tax break called a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program, with virtually no money going to schools or open space. Hamilton's School Board has sued the township to gain some of the PILOT money for schools. SHOS would like a portion of the PILOT funds to go to the Mercer Co. open space fund in the same proportion as "normal" taxes. Transit Village - The next stage of the train station development will be a true transit village on the station side of the tracks. That land is owned by New Jersey Transit who will award contracts for hi-density housing, offices, commercial space, a hotel and parking facilities. The first contract has already been awarded for a parking garage. Skeba Farm (Updated Jan 31, 2006) - Mercer County today announced the purchase of the 93 acre Skeba Farm for $6.6 million. Included in the purchase price is an adjacent 18 acres along Crosswicks Creek to bring the total to 111 acres. The farm is on Sawmill Rd. near the intersection of Sawmill and Old York Roads and abuts Crosswicks Creek. The creek, along with its tributary, Doctors Creek, is the subject of "Crosswicks Creek/Doctors Creek Watershed Greenway Plan". It is one of the few remaining streams in the area without significant development along its banks and was considered by the National Park Service for classification as a Wild and Scenic River. CJS Investments' plan to build Sawmill Estates, with 27 houses and a retention basin on the property was approved by the Hamilton Planning Board several months ago. At the same time Mercer County had expressed interest in buying the farm, began negotiating with the owner, and today the purchase became official. County Executive Brian Hughes said the county could lease or sell the property to a farmer or possibly let it revert to its natural state. Whatever the disposition, it will remain as open space. Preservation of Skeba Farm and others like Ellis and Lengyan farms help ease burdens on local streams, school capacity and taxes, and preserve Hamilton's farming heritage, wildlife habitat and qualtiy of life. News story Dey Farm (Updated May 10, 2006) - Construction has begun on 43 houses by Orleans Builders on the 232 acres of the former Dey farm on Old York Rd. The application was approved at the Jan 13, 2005 Planning Board meeting. The land abuts Doctors Creek, a stream that feeds Crosswicks Creek. Like Skeba Farm, Dey represents another loss of farmland, and more pressure on schools and taxes. In addition, Hamilton's Master Plan calls for construction of a road to connect Iron Bridge Rd with Merrick Rd. It would run next to this development and would open up the area to even more housing -- a bad idea for a township that wants to preserve its farmlands and hold down taxes. Schoenholz Property (Updated July 16, 2005) - Located near Skeba and Dey farms on Yardville-Allentown Rd., this rural property was slated to become a tree farm and horse pastures. That changed and a plan to build approximately 15 houses was approved by the Planning Board on March 23, 2005. Nearby residents tried to stop the plan in order to keep the rural character of the land. Like Skeba and Dey, this development will add pressure on taxes and schools. Shrimp Farm (Updated Mar 8, 2005) - This farming "factory" is proposed for preserved farmland on Yardville-Allentown Rd. Three large buildings would house large saltwater tanks used for raising shrimp. NJ Dept of Agriculture says it's OK because acquaculture is classified as farming. Local residents, Mayor Gilmore and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein disagree. The League of Municipalities passed a resolution opposing such factory farms but it may not affect this development. The development application is stalled. SHOS recommends moving the operation to a brownfields site or other non-farmland location. Shisler Farm (Updated Mar 8, 2005) - The farm is located on Sawmill Rd adjacent to Dey Farm. Due in part to citizen action, the Planning Board denied this application. However, the developer appealed and Judge Linda Feinberg ruled in their favor. The tract is slated for 52 single family houses. Development of Shisler, along with the Skeba, Dey and Schoenholz farms will add 127 single family houses to Hamilton. Zoning and Ordinances (Updated Sept 13, 2005) - Stream Buffer Ordinance - This ordinance would protect streams and ponds by requiring a no-build buffer around them. The ordinance was passed by Council and signed by the mayor, then recalled due to improper public notice. Changes to weaken it were subsequently proposed. This is an extremely important ordinance as floods during April demonstrated. As more impervious surface is built, runoff into streams and rivers increases. The result is more flooding and pollution. This ordinance was scheduled to be reviewed by the Planning Board at the Sept 8 meeting but was postponed. It will come before Council soon. SHOS urges Hamilton to make the ordinance stronger by reinstating original language that forbade development on floodplains. Most surrounding townships have had similar ordinances for several years. All include the floodplain in their no-build buffers. It makes sense to prohibit building in flood prone areas. Contact Council members and the Mayor to urge them not to weaken this ordinance. Downzoning/Clustering Ordinance - The new Rural Resource Conservation zone creates development density and lot size requirements on farmlands that will help preserve open space. A second (final) reading is scheduled for the the Sept 20, 2005 Council meeting. Go to the News page for the latest update. Revision of Highway Commercial Zone - An addition to the existing Highway Commercial Zone rules was passed by council and signed by the Mayor on March 16, 2005. It took effect April 4. It creates a 500 foot buffer between residences and auto-intensive businesses and helps keep inappropriate development out of residential neighborhoods.
Save Hamilton Open Space P.O. Box 2594, Hamilton, NJ 08690 \| 609-587-0160 \| Info@SaveHamiltonOpenSpace.org