Somerville: Environmentalists tell Borough Council to wait on Brookside rezoning

SOMERVILLE - The borough's Environmental Commission has told the Borough Council to take its time in developing new zoning regulations for the Brookside Gardens apartment community along Peters Brook.

Geraldine DeSapio, a member of the borough's Green Team, read a letter from the commission at Monday's council meeting, urging the governing body to delay action on any possible rezoning until the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) adopts new rules for developments in flood areas.

"What's the rush?" the letter states, adding the council should develop an ordinance "in the best interests of the town, not the developer."

New zoning of Brookside Gardens arose after sections of the decades-old community were devastated on Sept. 1 by floodwaters of the Peters Brook during the remnants of Hurricane Ida, displacing more than 150 residents.

The East Cliff Street portion of Brookside Gardens is uninhabitable after flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
The East Cliff Street portion of Brookside Gardens is uninhabitable after flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

Representatives of Edgewood Properties, owner of the community, met with the borough's development committee early last fall to draft new zoning to guide the reconstruction of the apartments.

However, the zoning ordinance, which called for apartments to be built on stilts with a higher density, ran into opposition from some residents, prompting the Borough Council to delay action and form an ad hoc committee to to study the issue.

Councilman Roger Vroom III, who heads the ad hoc committee, said residents care invited to attend the committee's next meeting at 7 p.m. May 23 in council chambers at police headquarters.

After the storm: Closed since Ida, American Legion in Middlesex Boro ready to reopen

Vrom said the committee members will discuss what they have done so far, including walking through the properties, and what their next steps will be.

Once the committee finishes its work, members will make a presentation to the Borough Council.

The Environmental Commission's letter to the council says the higher buildings and more dense construction proposed by Edgewood Properties would lead to the loss of many large trees and increase flooding in the basements of neighboring homes.

With climate change, the letter states, flooding will get worse, noting there has been a more than 70% increase in precipitation in the Northeast since 1958.

"Ida was a disaster," the letter says, bringing with it "destruction that people couldn't have imagined."

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Somerville: Environmentalists tell Borough Council to wait on Brookside rezoning