America's first National Historic Park, the Jockey Hollow Unit of Morristown National Historical Park, is threatened by development of the adjacent St. Mary's Abbey/Delbarton property. A proposed Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) would house 500 new residents and would require 130 full-time employees. The development consists of 200 apartments, 40 cottages, a nursing home, an assisted care living facility, associated dining, spa, and banking facilities, ball fields, a hermitage, parking lots, a new access road... and that's only phase one!
According to the National Park Service:
* "Allowing the zoning change for the CCRC or the subdivision, could have significant and immediate negative impacts on the safety of park visitors."
* "Allowing the zoning change for the CCRC or the subdivision, could have significant immediate and cumulative negative impacts on the quality of the park experience for visitors."
* "Construction and operation of the CCRC in particular would introduce large modern facilities to the historic scene."
* "Allowing the zoning change for the CCRC or the subdivision, could have a significant impact on resources related to park themes."
* "Construction processes could destroy archeological and natural resources."
* "The few measures offered by the proponents to mitigate impacts, such as the 250-foot greenbelt and conservation easement are felt to be inadequate and ineffectual."
More Reasons to Oppose the St. Mary's Abbey Development:
* The parcel is at the headwaters of the Whippany River Watershed. It is an area of very high ground water recharge and also flows into the Upper Passaic River, that provides drinking water for approximately 1,000,000 people. The area includes an FW-2 Trout Production stream, which is extremely sensitive to environmental degradation.
* The parcel is on the State and National Historic Registers.
* The parcel is located in Planning Area 5 of the State Plan. Lands in PA5 are protected because they are especially environmentally sensitive.
What You Can Do:
St. Mary's Abbey has filed a Wastewater Management Plan (WMP) Amendment with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, requesting approval for a sewer extension to service the site. A decision by the DEP is expected shortly.
Remember, without the sewer extension, the project cannot go forward!
You can click on the link below to send an e-mail to the Governor.
http://sierraactivist.org/jockeyhollow.html
Since the Governor uses "web-mail" and does not have a public e-mail address, I've coded a suggested message into a replica of the Governor's web-mail page. You must add your name and address.
Thanks very much for your help,
Dennis W. Schvejda, Conservation Co-Chair
NJ Chapter Sierra Club
For More Information:
