Denville to Knock Down 11 Homes, Return to Open Space

This is at least one very good thing to come out of Hurricane Irene's fury last year!

This article originally appeared in The Citizen:

DENVILLE – It’s been about a year since Tropical Storm Irene lashed out on Denville and the surrounding areas, not to mention a good portion of the East Coast.

But on Tuesday, Aug. 14, residents of Riverside Drive finally saw some light at the end of a dark, stormy tunnel.

 

The council passed an ordinance that allows the township to purchase eleven residential properties for a total of $3.7 million through funding from the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, the state Green Acres Program and Morris County.

With the grants the township will buy the homes, knock them to the ground and create an open space area.

“We have to have the properties restored to their natural state,” Denville Business Administrator Steven Ward said on Monday.

Denville was hit hard during last August’s tropical storm, experiencing unprecedented damage. But Riverside Drive was one of the worst hit areas.

“The (eleven) properties were just decimated,” Ward said.

“Five were abandoned.”

During the storm the surge from the Rockaway River was 9.5 feet, far surpassing the previous high of 6.22 feet, according to Department of Public Works (DPW) Supervisor John Egbert in August 2011.

“We have been declared a disaster area,” Michael Feravolo, the township’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) coordinator said, immediately following last year’s tropical storm.

Seventy-five businesses and 350 homes were affected to some degree, Ward said, which made choosing how to use the funding a bit of challenge.

“We had a rough idea of how many homes we could acquire,” Ward said.

Ward and other Denville officials then mapped out where Tropical Storm Irene and other storms hit the hardest, perused Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) data and identified a group of neighboring homeowners who were interested in the buyouts—Riverside Drive.

The area of Riverside Drive suffers from even moderate storms, Ward said.

“This is one of the worst areas in town,” Ward said.

The purchases will likely be closed on in the first or second week of October,

“Once the closings take place, we'll be bringing in a contractor to demolish the properties and restore them to their natural state,” Ward said.

Hopefully, the entire process will be done by the end of the year, he added.

Five More Flood Prone Homes to Return to Open Space

They should never have been built there in the first place. Glad to see something good done about it.

Story originally on DailyRecord.com

PEQUANNOCK — Five homes located in the floodplain of the Pompton River have been purchased and will be demolished with the land returned to its natural condition.

The Land Conservancy of New Jersey and the township announced the purchase Friday that was made in partnership with Morris County and the state of New Jersey’s Green Acres program, according to a prepared statement from the Conservancy.

These acquisitions will aid the community’s efforts to remove residents and their personal property from harm’s way during the onslaught of heavy rains and storms, the statement read.

“This has been an exciting year both with the massive flooding and the continuing buyout of homes for the Riverwalk,” said Frank Spizzirri, chair of the township’s Open Space Advisory Committee. “Phase 5 of the Riverwalk projects is almost concluded with contracts on 6 homes, of which 5 have been purchased and the last one in the wings and ready to set a closing date.”

The purchase and preservation of the five homes was coordinated by the Conservancy working with the township’s governing body and Open Space Advisory Committee.

Homes around the banks of the Pompton River have long suffered from flooding. The Pompton Riverwalk program provides space for flood storage, while creating new public recreation opportunities in the community, the statement read.

These five recently acquired properties bring the total to 21 lots that have been acquired under the Riverwalk initiative during the first five phases of the Riverwalk project. Once purchased, the properties have subsequently been cleared to provide flood storage and parkland, the release said.

During the most recent flooding, the water level reached 2 feet above the second floor of two of these five houses and all five of the structures were severely damaged. Each property is less than a third of an acre and averaged approximately $253,000 to purchase and preserve.

Two-thirds of the funding was provided by the Morris County Open Space Trust Fund and the balance was provided through the New Jersey Green Acres program. The township covered all of the due diligence costs of the transaction and will immediately begin the process of demolishing the structures and clearing the property for open space, the statement read.

“The successful transition of these areas from flood-ravaged residences to preserved parkland has been remarkable,” said Greg Collins, land preservation specialist with the Land Conservancy. “It makes great sense to see a dilapidated structure that was a headache for the homeowner and a burden on taxpayers converted into a park serving as a buffer against future flooding.”

Since its initial grant request for this project, the township has used $2,511,050 in grant funding from Morris County for the Riverwalk project and has matched this with funds provided through Green Acres totaling $2,330,150. Since 1999, the Land Conservancy of New Jersey has helped Pequannock preserve 27 properties, including the 21 properties which comprise the highly successful Pompton Riverwalk project.

Bravo. When something gets developed, it really can feel like that's the way it always will be. For much of our lifetimes, that is likely the case. Buying up flood-prone properties and returning them to their natural states is a very real way to keep preservation efforts going.

This originally appeared in The Star-Ledger.

Flood-weary Pequannock gives land back to the river

PEQUANNOCK — Pequannock is plagued by the Pompton River overflowing its banks almost every March. It is becoming as certain as spring, and the river flooded again last summer after Hurricane Irene.

But a project meant to protect homeowners from flooding is one step closer to completion. The fourth phase of the Pompton Riverwalk was finished last week, according to a statement from the Land Conservancy of New Jersey.

"This open space and flood mitigation project protects residents and provides flood storage, open space and public access to the Pompton River for future generations," a statement from the conservancy said.

The strategy is to buy the land near the river and return it to open space to try to slow the floodwaters.

The preservation has created a new community park, known as the Pompton Riverwalk.
"This program has also provided homeowners the opportunity to be removed from the floodway, which just recently had waters in excess of 10 feet high on the property," said Frank Spizzirri, chairman of the Pequannock open space advisory committee. "Irene was the worst in town since 1902 and worse than 1984, to say the least. The owners are very excited about the buyout and are searching for a new place in town to settle."

The fourth phase of the project preserved six properties: the Gidi property on North Pequannock Avenue, the Shudtz property on Riverside Drive, the Berkshire property on Harrison Road, the Hunt property on Riverside Drive, the Soldatenkov property on Pequannock Avenue and the Weir property on Pequannock Avenue.

Last November, Morris County freeholders approved the fifth and final phase of the project. Pequannock will receive $988,000 to buy the land portion of six properties totaling 1.2 acres.
"The first four phases of this project were funded with assistance from the county open-space program, and most of the properties in these phases are now preserved," Freeholder Ann Grossi said at the time. "This latest acquisition will fill in the gaps between existing preserved lands and further Pequannock’s goal of creating a linear park along the Pompton River."

Since its initial grant request, the township has received more than $1.8 million from Morris County and more than $1.7 million from the state’s Green Acres program for the Riverwalk project.

"The success of the Pompton Riverwalk project is the result of a well-planned strategy to convert these flood-prone residences to an interconnected park system along the river for the enjoyment of current and future township residents, and will also reduce the township’s emergency and cleanup costs following future major flooding in the area," said Gregory Collins of the Land Conservancy.