HLTA Acquires Key Property
The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance (HLTA) has announced that a critical property in its Lockatong Creek project area has recently been preserved, the result of years of effort. The property, known as the Harms tract, contains 326 acres, straddling Kingwood and Delaware Townships, contiguous with the Lockatong Creek, and adjacent to lands already preserved through the efforts of the Trust. In September, the property was preserved by a direct acquisition by the State of NJ. The $5,000,000 purchase price was funded through the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund's Green Acres program. The preserve will be added to the state’s Lockatong Wildlife Management Area and managed by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Designated as a Category 1 stream, the Lockatong stream valley is characterized by hemlock ravines and waterfalls. Starting in Franklin Township, the creek winds past old historic mills through Kingwood and Delaware Townships, to its confluence with the Delaware River. Because of its high water quality and relatively undeveloped watershed, the land trust has focused its land preservation activities in and around the creek since the organization’s early days.
Tree Inventory for Tewksbury
In Tewksbury, trees cover our steep slopes, form the boundaries of many farm fields and pastures, provide fruit and shade, and line our streams. They host songbirds, purify our air, prevent soil erosion, and stabilize the banks of the streams that course through Tewksbury. Among the trees that dot our landscape are fast-growing evergreens, fruit-bearers, and fine specimen trees.

As we develop our Township, making room for new households, our tree stands, orchards, and individual hardwoods can easily be lost if we do not exercise care in preserving them. We need to know what we have and where they are, if we are going to keep valuable woodlands. The North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D Council), in partnership with the County, has offered to spend a portion of its US Forest Service grant to preform a forestry assessment in Tewksbury. This will become a baseline for our own community planning for woodland conservation. The Tewksbury forestry assessment will also become a case study to be used in a handbook that the RC&D Council is preparing for other communities to use in their forestry assessments and Master Plan revisions.

The Tewksbury assessment is being performed by Lester and Andrew Alpaugh, of Foretree Consultants, based in Stockton, NJ. The Alpaughs will need permission from local property owners to access woodlands not visible from public roads, and will appreciate citizen input regarding special or unique forest resources in our community.

The Township Planning Board accepted the RC&D Council's offer for the assessment, and named Chris Teasdale, Environmental Commission representative to the Planning Board, to be the Township liaison for this project. If you have suggestions regarding woodlands that should be studied, you may phone Chris at 439-3796, or contact Township Land Use Administrator Shana Crane, at 439-0022, ext 731.
Geographical Information System
Tewksbury's Geographic Information Systems Committee is continuing to research data that will help Township residents avoid problems stemming from the development of nearby properties, transferring the County's paper records to a computerized database. County records only go back to 1979, and for the first few years contain minimal information. However, despite this lack of early information, a new housing development was recently obliged to change the position of a new septic system, due to the proximity of a stock watering well on an older adjacent property. The GIS map had recorded the stock well, as well as those which supply homes.

When the paper records are all in the new database, an effort will be made to locate the rest of the wells and septic systems in the Township by determining their location with a global positioning device which provides coordinates that can be recorded on the map. This GPS unit uses a number of satellites to accomplish this work (Cadillac automobiles use a similar device to determine your location on trips). Residents will be notified by phone when this part of the project begins.

Property owners are encouraged to inquire about the GIS maps and how they can be of use. Shana Crane, our Land Use Administrator, can give you a look at the map showing your property the next time you are in the Township Offices.
Tewksbury Land Trust, A Major Force
In May, 2004, the Tewksbury Land Trust completed the purchase of a major parcel of land, adding 49+ acres to its growing network of preserved properties.

The Christmas Tree Farm, on Sawmill Road, where generations of families have walked and searched for their perfect holiday trees, is now open to the public for all passive recreation. No motor vehicles will be permitted on the property.

Mr. John Johns, the previous owner, who is now in his mid-eighties, purchased the land in 1955, "because the land was just so pretty," Mr. Johns recalled recently. He loved the trees, particularly the evergreen, and slowly it evolved into the Christmas Tree Farm,, selling trees each holiday season for the past 25 years.

The property, located directly across from the Sawmill School, was purchased for $725,000, with 50% of the cost funded by the Green Acres division of the New Jersey DEP. Green Acres wil fund half of the purchase price of approved prop-erties or easements, up to a maximum $500,000.

In a fortunate turn of events, Green Acres provided 100% of this purchase price because last year Harris and Betts Smith generously donated 100 acres of conservation farm easement to the Tewksbury Land Trust. This created a $1,000,000 credit for the purchase of additional preservation property.

Most landowners do not realize the many ways they can benefit by preserving their land through conservation easements, farmland preservation, restrictive development, or outright bequests of land itself.

Besides the fair market price paid for land or preservation rights, there are tax benefits that make working with the Land Trust very attractive. The Tewksbury Land Trust will work with interested parties, providing counsel plus offer assistance with appraisers, surveyors, and attorneys.

For more information, please telephone Land Trust President Ted Koven, at 879-4400. The Tewksbury Land Trust is a public, non-profit organization, which is committed to the preservation of open space and farmland in Tewksbury Township.
Tewksbury's Scenic Roads
There are 33 Township roads designated as "scenic". Do you know them all? They are:

Beavers Road (upper portion)
Bissell Road
Black River Road
Boulder Hill Road
Burrell Road
Church Street
Cold Brook Road
Cold Spring Road
Deer Hill Road
Farmersville Road
Felmley Road
Flint Hill Road
Frog Hollow Road
Fox Hill Road
Guinea Hollow Road
Hill & Dale Road
Hollow Brook Road
Homestead Road
McCann Mill Road
Meadow Lane
Mountain Road
Palatine Road
Philhower Road
Potterstown Road
Ridge Road
Rockaway Road
Saw Mill Road
Still Hollow Road
Sutton Road
Vliettown Road
Water Street
Welsh Road, and
Wildwood Road

The Scenic Roads Commission was created by the Township Committee in 1997 to identify and designate Tewksbury's scenic roads, and to enlist the support of the community in preserving these beautiful byways for the enjoyment of all. The Commission reviews any requests from individuals (and from other Township boards) to consider and comment on projected development or projects that front on a designated scenic road.

The Commission meets in the new Municipal Building on the 4^th Monday of each month, and invites anyone interested to attend. Current members of the Commission are:
Lisa Stryker, Chair
J. Miller Craig
Stephanie Koven
Hank Kreuter
Larry Ross, and
Marianne McGuire
Open Space Preservation
The Environmental Commission is currently cataloguing all the Conservation Easements in our township. They were able to begin this project due to an arrangement with Lehigh University's Department of Earth Sciences, which provided an intern. Mr. Chris Shade worked to create a full description of all the Conservation Easements within Tewksbury. These descriptions, along with digital photographs, will be entered into the database of the Township's GIS (Geographical Information System).

A Conservation Easement is a legal document which is attached to a title deed to protect the property from future development. The Easement can preserve the natural environment along a stream bank, or protect a stand of trees or other natural features that contribute to the beauty of the Township.

The Environmental Commission decided to undertake the project after a look at Easements showed that the currently recorded descriptions of Easements are not comprehensive enough to protect Easements or property owners. As new descriptions are entered into the GIS database, a full representation of Easements will be produced, providing all relevant data about the easement, which a property owner could give to a potential buyer. This information is now usually only described in the deed with mathematical coordinates.

Intern Chris Shade has been inspecting every Conservation Easement to compile the information necessary for the cataloguing project. Easement holders will be sent a letter in advance of Chris' visit. Although many Easements are found at the edges of properties, there are others that can only be accessed by crossing the property from front to rear. When Chris arrives at a property, he will contact the owner and obtain permission to enter the property. Any questions may be directed to Chris, or Tewksbury's Land Use Administrator, Shana Crane, at 439-0022, ext. 731, or to any member of the Environmental Commission. (Please note, the Roseco Press has a Web policy against posting the phone numbers of individuals.)

To learn more about land preservation, check out the following books, available at the Tewksbury Township Library.

The Conservation Easement Stewardship Guide,
by Brenda Lind. An excellent resource for setting up and carrying out a conservation easement monitoring program.

Doing Deals - A Guide to Buying Land for Conservation, by The Trust For Public Land. A good overview of all factors involved in acquiring land for conservation.

The Conservation Easement Handbook - Managing Land Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement Programs, by Janet Diehl and Thomas Barrett. A very thorough review of all aspects of preserving land with conservation easements.

The Standards and Practices Guidebook - An Operating Manual for Land Trusts, by the Land Trust Alliance. An excellent guidebook covering all aspects of running a land trust.

Model Conservation Easement and Historic Preservation Easement, 1996, by Thomas S. Barrett and Stefan Nagel. Updated model Conservation Easement (supersedes model in The Conservation Easement Handbook).
All About Permits
Permits of some type are generally required for work in and around your property. For your convenience and protection, always call the municipal offices (439 0022 ext. 730) before planning or starting any project.
Did you know:

Ordinances change regularly. Always check with the Zoning Officer before starting a project. The information you may have received in the planning stages of your project may change by the time you begin work.

A zoning permit application can be obtained from the municipal offices, located at 169 Old Turnpike Road. A $50 fee, to the Township of Tewksbury, must accompany the application when submitted.

You will probably need zoning approval, even if a building permit is not required for some projects. Always check with the Zoning Officer before adding or changing anything on your property.

There are minimum distances that structures must be set back from property lines, when lots are built upon. These setback distances vary with the different zones. Setbacks do not apply to sidewalks, fences/walls and mail boxes, but other zoning regulations do.

A structure is defined as a combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy, use or ornamentation installed on, above, or below the surface of a parcel of land. You can see this includes almost anything you can think of.

The maximum area that can be covered with buildings and structures is stipulated for each zoning district. The maximum lot coverage area is a percentage of the total lot area.

When making lot coverage determinations, you must usually include the area of every structure added to a lot since it was "raw land". This includes the footprints of the house, garage, barn, shed, pool, deck, patio, walkways, driveway and parking areas (whether paved or stone), riding ring, etc.

Pools, including associated decks, patios, walkways, filters, heaters, pumps etc., need to meet setback and lot coverage requirements.

Horse riding rings must meet setback and lot coverage requirements, too.

Patios, walkways etc. require a zoning permit.

Fencing installation requires zoning approval.

Zoning regulations pertain to signs too.

A garden shed needs zoning approval even if it is of a size that doesn't require a building permit.

Garden sheds and other structures need to meet zoning regulations whether or not you consider them to be permanent structures.

If you are considering changing or extending your driveway, or adding a driveway opening onto a road, you must first obtain a driveway permit from the public works department. You also need zoning approval.

Approval from the historic commission is required for any exterior changes within a designated historic district. Always check with the Zoning Officer before considering any exterior changes to your historic property.

If you plan a project that doesn't conform to the zoning standards, you might have your project approved by submitting a variance application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The variance procedure could take three months or more, from start to finish.

Construction is restricted in locations with wetlands, flood plains, or steep slopes. The Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and/or the DEP need to rule on any development applications where these apply.

Trailers, motor homes and the like, can only be stored in residential zones within specific limitations. Call the Zoning Officer for details.

The minimum lot size for keeping horses, for the enjoyment of the residents of a property, is three acres. On three acres you can have a maximum of two horses, with one additional acre required for each additional horse.

The minimum lot size for agricultural purposes is five acres. Agriculture is land devoted to the production for sale of plants and animals including the breeding and raising of animals.

Apartments are permitted only if the Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved them, if they have been accepted into the affordable housing program or if they were legally created prior to March, 1960, when the first zoning ordinance was enacted.

Additions to non-conforming buildings can be constructed providing they don't violate any of the existing setback, lot coverage, or other requirements of the ordinance.

Remember, the Zoning Officer can be reached at 439-0022, ext. 730, to help you with any questions about your property.