Defending nature and history: Neighbors fight NJ wetlands development
Dante, Olivia, and Janice Nasisi in their back yard, with the Morris Canal and 29 acres of forest and wetlands extending behind them
About two years ago, my family was alarmed to receive a mailed legal notice of a developer’s application to destroy 29 acres of wetlands and woodlands behind my house in Montville, NJ, to erect 266 housing units. Very few households—only those within 200 feet of the proposed project—received this notice, despite the proposed development’s effect on every citizen of our town and every living thing inhabiting the 29 acres. We circulated the notice on our community’s Facebook groups, and found that countless others were equally upset that our town’s planning board had put historical landmarks and ecology in danger.
At a subsequent Town Hall meeting conducted by phone (a Covid-19 precaution) in 2021, the board heard much opposition to this project from residents. The board tabled the proposal until it could meet in person to give community members a fair chance to voice concerns. But just last week, my family received another legal notice in the mail: the proposal is under the planning board’s consideration again. So it is time, once again, to stand up for the wetlands.
Wildlife habitats would be eliminated if the proposal goes forward. These 29 acres of wetlands house an endangered bobcat species, a family of black bears, a mating pair of pileated woodpeckers, monarch butterflies, a large colony of sugar gliders, a family of fox, migratory birds, insects, and trout.
Human structures are also threatened by this proposal. Wetlands retain large amounts of water, and without the flora to soak up that water, there will be extreme flooding for the houses and roadways bordering the project. My family’s house has two French drains and four sump pumps to combat the flooding we already face each time it rains. If the whole forest behind our house were to be paved over, as proposed by the developer, the consequences could be catastrophic to our local community. (For more on the role of wetlands in preventing flooding, see this related CivicStory video.)
The historically significant Morris Canal is located in these 29 acres, as is the Henry Doremus House, otherwise known as the pre-revolutionary Benjamin Lawrence Tavern, visited by George Washington on his journey through Montville in 1780. Knowing these pieces of our town’s history are threatened is incredibly disheartening to me and other residents. The town has barred owners from repairing other buildings deemed “historical,” even as roofs cave in and foundations crumble, but for some reason, officials are now willing to consider this site for “relocation” and repurposing, as stated in the legal notice we received.
I am an environmental steward of these biodiverse wetlands. I understand their ecological value and their web of life. I’ve managed to successfully advocate for this cause in between student-teaching, speech-language pathology clinical internships, long days of graduate school classes, midterms, and hours of work after school over the past two years. I’ve found this time in my chaotic schedule to raise my voice against wetlands destruction as this is a mistake I refuse to watch happen. I’ve gratefully put my college Environmental Studies instruction to good use by researching wetlands and collaborating with other local environmental activists to protect the biodiverse habitat in my hometown. I’ve been very inspired by the sight of my community coming together for this cause, even as I see developers and local government officials pushing forward agendas that don’t consider the future of life on earth. I see both the hopeful side and the destructive side of this issue.
I composed a petition titled “Neighbors Against Destruction of 29 Acres” and posted it to change.org. In less than 15 hours, we’d already accumulated almost 250 signatures due to the support of the community and many other environmentally conscious individuals, and the signatures keep coming.
Please sign our petition: https://chng.it/G7c2TTb2bM
We hope to continue this momentum and inspire people to attend our Planning Board Meeting being held at Montville Township’s Town Hall on October 20th at 7:30PM, at 195 Changebridge Road Montville, NJ 07045.
Please join us: the future of life on Earth depends on people standing up for the ecosystems that sustain us.
Guest blogger Olivia Nasisi is a second-year graduate student of speech-language pathology at Seton Hall University. Born on Earth Day and raised up the street from a historical farm, she has an immense passion for protecting her environment.