Coastal Development

New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state and is projected to be “built out” (the point at which all available land is developed) between 2030 and 2050. In 2000, eight out of 10 New Jersey voters felt the state is running out of land, and more than three-quarters said the state should give spending priority to existing communities over new development.

Based on land use measurements, new urban, transitional and barren land grew statewide by 89,880 acres (+/- 16,530) between 1995 and 2000. Combined, New Jersey’s four coastal counties (Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May) accounted for 28 percent of the state’s growth in urban land during this time period. Of all 21 counties, Ocean County had the greatest number of new acres of new urban and barren land during this time period (10,625), followed closely by Monmouth (9,703). Ocean County is also the state’s fastest growing county in terms of population.

There is a significant impact on the groundwater that supplies drinking water. When forests, small streams, open fields, etc., are lost to suburban sprawl, the amount of area that can soak up rainfall and snowmelt shrinks. Consequently, aquifers that rely on rainfall receive less water, causing groundwater levels to drop. When this occurs in coastal areas, along with increases in groundwater withdrawals due to growth in development, saltwater is more likely to intrude into the fresh aquifer system, rendering drinking water unpotable.

Unfortunately, well-intentioned laws are failing to protect the coastal zone. The legislature approved the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) in 1973 to control development along the coast. CAFRA, along with the Wetlands Act of 1970, the Waterfront Development Law and the Public Trust Doctrine, has been integrated through a set of policies that guide the implementation of the state’s Coastal Zone Management Program, which meets the requirements of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

CAFRA recognizes that New Jersey’s coastal areas constitute “an exceptional, unique, irreplaceable, and delicately balanced physical, chemical, and biologically acting and interacting natural environmental resource.” Through this law, the legislature wishes “to encourage the development of compatible land uses in order to improve the overall economic position of the inhabitants of that area within the framework of a comprehensive environmental design strategy which preserves the most ecologically sensitive and fragile area from inappropriate development and provides adequate environmental safeguards for the construction of any developments in the coastal area.”

In reality, CAFRA is broken. It suffers from loopholes and enforcement problems that impede its effectiveness in protecting groundwater from saltwater intrusion, controlling the growth of impervious surfaces (an indicator of development), and controlling the increase in septic systems and sewer hookups. While the drafters of CAFRA had noble intentions, the act has not resulted in protection of the coast’s forests, beaches and wetlands from over-development.