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Please help stop pending wetlands construction in West Windsor!
Water drainage in West Windsor has become a major problem. On August 6, 2024, the flooding in West Windsor was so severe it was covered by CBS News. A developer is planning to fill valuable wetlands to construct large single family homes on Block 16, Lot 24, which is a 22-acre parcel of land adjacent to the West Windsor Little League Fields, between Penn Lyle and North Post Roads. We live next to this property on the same block and we experienced heavy and dangerous flooding on 8/6. You can view a 13-second video of what we experienced at tinyurl.com/wwflood. Our car was totaled and we are grateful to be alive.
In an area with such severe storm drainage issues, should a developer be allowed to fill in the wetlands adjacent to our homes? The property and wetlands in question border several neighborhoods, including Indian Run Road, Sunrise 1 and 2, and Birchwood Estates, as well as the Ward Road Little League Fields.
Why would we choose to exacerbate this water drainage problem? If the wetlands are filled, where will that stormwater drain to? Who benefits from destroying our homes and reducing our town’s property values? The letter from the developer’s engineer says the plan is to fill in the wetlands to build a single family home. In actuality, their construction plans show 6 large, single family homes and a road that would increase impervious surfaces and runoff. Can the township or the developer guarantee no negative impact to the surrounding neighborhoods?
Rainfall studies conducted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in 2021 confirm an increase in storm intensity, duration, and rainfall amounts. A 2021 NJ.com article indicates that 2018 was the wettest year on record for New Jersey, with record rainfall 10 out of the 12 months.
In addition, this property is part of the Duck Pond Run Watershed, which feeds into the Delaware and Raritan Canal and is a source of drinking water for a million NJ residents. These wetlands act as a natural sponge, facilitating drainage, preventing flooding, and maintaining water quality. By filling the wetlands, we cover more of West Windsor’s precious open space with impervious material that prevents water from percolating into the ground. This alters flooding patterns and increases pollutant loads to streams. Wetlands construction makes systematic stormwater control extremely difficult and also fragments forests and other habitats, leading to a decline in ecological health and water quality.
Please do not build on these wetlands. We are already experiencing flooding and water management issues, and this new construction will exacerbate them. We ask the NJDEP and our town leadership to please protect our wetlands and remedy, not worsen, our water drainage issues. To date, we are not aware that our town leaders have made any attempt to contact the developer to discuss viable options or alternative solutions. Township records indicate that in March of 2020, the developer’s lawyer contacted West Windsor’s land use manager to ask if the Township would be willing to make an offer to buy the land for open space preservation. Public records show the land use manager responded by suggesting that the land be sold to another developer, never addressing the open space option.
We, and our undersigned neighbors, ask that the NJDEP protect our existing wetlands and that NJDEP not approve this construction project.
We received a new letter from the developer that was dated 11/5/24.
We are sending another letter to NJDEP in response and are bringing their attention to the outdated stormwater management plan they have on this property. The engineer is using concrete low flow channels, which are not allowed in 2019, and concrete stormwater basins have not been approved since the 1990s. Using such outdated standards will increase flooding, which is already an issue in this area as evidenced by this video tinyurl.com/wwflood of the 8/6/24 flooding on Indian Run Road, which is adjacent to the property.
We have some strong concerns about this project. The stormwater management plan is outdated. It was planned 9 years ago and the stormwater regulations have been updated extensively since then. The engineer is using concrete low flow channels and concrete stormwater basins. Using such outdated standards will increase flooding, which is already an issue in this area. Currently, one of the stormwater basins for this property is designed only for a rainfall depth of 3.5 inches of rainfall during a period of 24 hours, which is inadequate for our town's needs given that Post Road frequently floods, climate change and the occurrence of increasingly severe rainstorms.
We have spoken with Ariana Tsattialos from NJDEP, the West Windsor Environmental Commission, Francis Guzik, West Windsor Township Engineer, Michael Pisauro, Policy Director at The Watershed Institute, Susan Bristol, Municipal Policy Specialist at The Watershed Institute, and lawyers Rob Simon, Esq and Stuart Lieberman Esq.
We have been advised to hire professionals if we want NJDEP to take our concerns seriously. We are interested in hiring Mary Paist-Goldman and Stuart Lieberman who both come highly recommended and are skilled in these types of cases. We will only do so though if we have enough community support.
Would you be willing to contribute to this gofundme for our expenses for this case? https://gofund.me/c3c871b7
Right now, the developer is seeking permits—from the Department of Environmental Protection—related to disturbance of wetlands on the site as well as a flood hazard area. All residents adjacent to the property were notified of this on November 6th and we have the option of sending in a response to the DEP before November 21st. If and when the permits are granted, the project would be presented to the West Windsor Planning Board for final approval.
Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods have formed chat groups to discuss the project, express concerns, and keep everyone informed with the latest news—there is an email listserv and a WhatsApp group. If you would like to sign up for one of those, just let us know what email address or phone # you’d prefer, and we’ll make sure to forward those to the proper contacts. And if you have any questions about the project that we can help answer, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Would you be willing to contribute to this gofundme for our expenses for this case? https://gofund.me/c3c871b7
Would you please sign this letter and spread the word to your neighbors?
Please also cosign this group letter to NJDEP
If you want to write an individual letter, here is a template letter you can use at https://tinyurl.com/njwetland
We encourage you to send the letter both by mail and also online as a complaint https://dep.nj.gov/contact-form/
We also ask you to please help by spreading the word as much as possible and questioning NJDEP and town leadership about this plan, their plans to address water drainage issues in West Windsor, and the need to protect our existing wetlands.
Thank you for protecting West Windsor from flooding.
Sincerely,
Kani Ilangovan
Angiras Arya
Poorna Ashok
Ashok Padmanabhan
