How Much of Mahwah Should Be Open Space?
The township is 'Bergen County's Parkland,' and according to a document planning for Mahwah's future, the town wants to continue growing areas of open space. But, residents questioned how open space should be balanced with future development.
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The new Master Plan, which lays out the future planning and development goals for the township, is almost complete. The document outlines goals for the future of Mahwah – promoting designs that will ease traffic, improving the aesthetics of various areas of the township, encouraging business development in certain areas of town and discouraging it in others, and continuing to preserve open space - are all mentioned as future aspirations in the township.
At a public hearing on the document Monday night, residents questioned just how much open space “Bergen County’s Parkland” would eventually have. The answer from the Planning Board, which has been overseeing the document’s creation, was that there is no end-goal amount of open space the township is striving for. But, the plan does recommend adding more of it to the township.
According to the current draft of the Master Plan, about 35% of the land in Mahwah is open space or parkland. Another 16% is vacant public land.
Table from the current draft of Mahwah's Master Plan, based on Mahwah Township tax records
|
Land Use |
Acres |
Percent |
|
Vacant |
1,245 |
8 |
|
Residential, detached single family |
3,599 |
23 |
|
Multifamily (Apartment, townhouse) |
581 |
4 |
|
Commercial |
297 |
2 |
|
Office |
338 |
2 |
|
Industrial |
377 |
2 |
|
Agriculture |
444 |
3 |
|
Education |
383 |
2 |
|
Quasi-Public |
323 |
2 |
|
Public |
152 |
1 |
|
Public-Vacant |
2,538 |
16 |
|
Park/Open Space |
5,682 |
35 |
|
Total |
15,959 |
100 |
Most of Mahwah’s open space is on the west side of the township. The document outlines several goals related to the preservation and expansion of open space in Mahwah:
- “The Township seeks to...[establish] a series of greenbelts throughout the community. Specifically the Township encourages a pedestrian trail to extend along the River that may be connected to mass transit facilities and other Township amenities.”
- "Preserve and maintain the current open space and recreational facilities."
- "Annually review for opportunities to create additional parks and recreational facilities in Mahwah."
- "Promote continued improvements to the community’s recreational facilities to encourage greater recreational activity for all ages of the population. Recreational activities should include improvements to sport courts and fields and also the advancement of alternative recreation opportunities. Alternative recreation opportunities include such features as community center games and social activities, hiking and mountain biking trail opportunities."
In an earlier iteration of the document, it recommended the township should look to add 5% more open space every year. Planning Board Chair Todd Sherer explained Monday night that the board removed this clause from the document, saying that it was uncomfortable creating a specific open space acquisition requirement.
Resident Robin Larsen questioned what impact continuing to grow open space would have on the community, and future developments in it.
“Half the town is already off limits to developers,” she told the board Monday night. “And the other half is pretty much fully developed. The call for more open space would mean [that eventually open space might replace] our business developments, which would have an adverse effect on the taxpayer.”
Sherer responded that the document seeks to strike a balance between the desire to keep open space in the township and the want to encourage “intelligent development. We have already done that in Mahwah, and [what the Master Plan] is saying is that we want to continue doing it.”
While the Master Plan is just policy guidelines, not laws, it does provide a basis for the development of future land use laws and ordinances in the township. Sherer said at Monday’s public hearing that the board is nearing the end of its review process of the document, and hopes to adopt it in the near future.
So, Patch wants to know, how much open space do you think should be in Mahwah? The town has a mix of county, state, and local open spaces - the Ramapo Reservation, Darlington County Park, Campgaw Montain, and several recreation parks like Commodore Perry and Continental Soldiers Field.
Do you think that's enough, too many, or too few? Let us know in the comments section below.
Submit your questions or news tips to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. And, remember to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter, and get updates on Facebook and Twitter.
In This article
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Ramapo Valley County Reservation
Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202), Mahwah, NJ -
Darlington County Park
600 Darlington Ave, Mahwah, NJ -
Campgaw Mountain Reservation
200 Campgaw Rd, Mahwah, NJ -
Commodore Perry Field
70 E Ramapo Ave, Mahwah, NJ -
Continental Soldiers Park
550 Ramapo Valley Rd, Mahwah, NJ
Hank
11:52 am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A large portion of the Ramapo cannot be accessed by humans. A path will be very popular and well used and that includes garbage,noise and vandalism. I say no to any path along the Ramapo. Let whatever animals are left in those areas live in peace.
If you want to see the Ramapo,rent a canoe.
Rick Martinez
12:25 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
I agree with Hank.
Mahwah Resident
3:52 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
I also agree with Hank!!!! No paths leave it alone!
JP
6:17 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
This may be a dumb question, but how do you add more space to the open spaces we have already? Are we advocating buying up properties and demolishing anything that might be on them and letting them grow wild (adding to taxes)? We already had our town borders established long ago, so I don't see how our open spaces are going to grow unless there's some transition on the inside from developed to undeveloped, and that certainly doesn't happen very often (or we take over Ramsey or Suffern and flatten them).
Glenn Murphy
10:17 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
It's Called: BUYING Development Rights of Undeveloped LANDS and STop The Damn MALL PROJECT ONCE AND FOR ALL!!
Mona Lot
10:10 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Hey Andrew stop being self serving,we do not need anymore Bike paths just so you can ride to oakland,if you would only concentrate on the important things your Mayor might appoint you to travel consultant for Mahwah,you could peddle your bike around town and not wear out your SHOE leather minding everyone else business
WHAT?
12:12 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Just a clarification of the point I made at the Planning Board meeting on Monday night. I had stated that about half of Mahwah is preserved land. According to the NJ Highlands Environmental Resource Inventory report, Mahwah has 8,453 “preserved” acres. Mahwah’s total acreage, as quoted above, is 15,959. This means that around 53% of Mahwah is preserved land. Preserved means that the land must remain, in general, as is and/ or as open space. The above chart breaks down Mahwah’s total acres into land use categories. The 35% listed as park/open space does not give a complete picture of how much open space/preserved land there actually is in Mahwah. This is because some of the other land use categories, residential and quasi-public for example, contain some preserved acreage as well.
So, since Mahwah is already more than 50% preserved, how much more land is to be preserved/open space? How will acquiring more open space be accomplished? Generally speaking, a town (a.k.a. the taxpayers) has to purchase land to add open space. Once purchased, a town no longer collects tax revenue on that property. This decreases the town’s tax base and would probably need to be made up by higher taxes for the remaining tax paying citizens.
Therefore, my question was more one of the long-range goals? If Mahwah is over half preserved, how much more open space is envisioned and what will be the short and long term cost of continuing this trend for the Mahwah taxpayers?
JP
5:40 am on Saturday, January 19, 2013
Thank you for clarifying that. It's what I was trying to indicate in a couple of sentences up above. I don't see how Mahwah can possibly gain MORE open land (within it's borders) unless significant purchases are made or someone donates the land to Mahwah. In either case, it costs us more money in taxes, both in purchasing and in the lost revenue. Not seeing why anyone would make this suggestion and actually be serious about it. It defies logic, unless you have enormous surplus funding and the means to invest in demolition if necessary.
JP
5:40 am on Saturday, January 19, 2013
Didn't Mahwah just dispose of two lots at the top of Cragmere just last week? That could have been left open.
WHAT?
5:41 am on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thanks JP, you did makes those points clearly, I just added more info.
I don't know about the lots in Cragmere but I would be interested in learning more.
Whether logical or not, the Planning Board is serious about making a statement in the Master Plan about adding more open space. The draft I saw originally called for adding 5% every 5 years. Fortunately that is out. Mahwah is pretty much fully developed on the side of town that can be developed, generally east of 202. So you are right. The ways to add open space is for the town to be gifted land or for the land to be purchased and any structures removed. $'s to do and less tax revenue on top of that.
The Planning Board has explained that a Master Plan is vision, not a commitment to do something. However, Mr. Roberts from Maser (the planning consultant for the town) has said that master plans have been used in legal proceedings and are therefore important and legal documents.
I just don't understand what the "vision" is for Mahwah in terms of open space.
JP
6:33 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
I have the feeling that the planning board, under pressure from the Mahwah public, is using this "growing open space" proposal for the master plan as "lip service" at board meetings. They know that the mall is going to be built, so they have to throw a bone out there for complainers. Anyone who thinks logically about it would know that Mahwah can't possibly add 5% per year of new open land to their books. First of all, we'd go broke, second, there isn't that much land available. The idea is not only preposterous, it's impossible.
JP
6:33 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The story about the lots that were sold is somewhere here on Patch Robin. There was only one bidder for them (a developer), and they sold for the minimum bid of $500,000.
WHAT?
1:18 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thanks, I will try and search for it.
I am not sure about the open space connection to the mall.
I think it has more to do with the mantra, "green is good." Who on the surface can argue with that - unless you think it through, which you have, and realize the reality of what it will mean for the town long term.