Suburban Trends Guest Column 5/21/03

Sprawl: A Predictable Outcome of "Ratables Chase"

By Joane Atlas

Suburban Trends Guest Column
May 21, 2003
Vice President, Skylands CLEAN

The Trends’ special article on the “ratable chase” brings to mind an old Chinese proverb that goes: “Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome.” For over a half-century, instead of preserving land, New Jersey towns have encouraged its development. Much of this, to offset a tax system that forces municipalities to shoulder the cost of local education through local property taxes. The trade-off has been a landscape of endless housing developments and strip malls, congested roads, and pollution – the hallmarks of what we have come to call “Sprawl.”

Until recently, NJ Highlands’ towns were spared the effects of Sprawl because of their rugged, mountainous landscape and greater distance from the metropolis. But now that available land in Bergen, lower Passaic and Morris Counties has largely disappeared, builders are turning their attention to towns like Ringwood, West Milford, and Bloomingdale. And our elected officials, such as Ringwood’s Mayor Jerry Holt, are all agog, dazzled by the idea that a home in their town could bring in close to $20,000 a year in revenues. What he and others like him refuse to acknowledge is that there are costs associated with developments such as Kensington Woods on Skyline Drive. Contrary to Mr. Holt’s claim that these homes produce “few if any children,” a sizeable number of children actually live in that neighborhood. In fact, Kensington Woods’ parents recently attended a Board of Education meeting to request that a school bus be routed up to their homes. The promised $5 reduction in this year’s Ringwood municipal budget is going to be outweighed by a much larger increase in school taxes.

And there are other non-monetary costs as well, costs to our quality of life and to the environment. Is haphazard development worth it to the commuter who has to sit in endless traffic? Is it worth it to our children who have to try to learn in crowded classrooms? Is it worth it to no longer see the mountains for the houses? Is it worth it to compromise our water quality and supply?

Listen to the Mayor of Wayne who in a recent article said, “by taking property out of development we reduce our costs for municipal services and school services.” It is a bit late to come to that realization for Wayne, the quintessential Sprawl model. But there is still time for the Highlands’ towns and we could learn from Wayne’s mistakes. But if we do the same thing in the same way, we should not expect a different outcome.

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