Municipalities line up against county over Green Acres funding

Last Updated on Thursday, 17 November 2011 11:29 Written by Alex Davis Thursday, 17 November 2011 11:28

Several municipalities are pushing the county’s Board of Freeholders to apply for state dollars that could improve and increase open space for recreation and conservation.

Millions of dollars could be available to Cape May County, said Jessica Daher, the conservation coordinator of the Delaware Bayshore Program, American Littoral Society.

But the county is holding back in getting involved with the Green Acres Program, according to county administrator Stephen O'Connor. He says the program is restrictive.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, Dennis Township Committee became the latest board to adopt a resolution to encourage the county to apply for funding.

Besides Dennis, the other municipalities include Upper Township, Lower Township, Cape May City, Cape May Point and Wildwood. Others are expected to adopt resolutions as well, including Middle Township, according to supporters of the move.

Municipalities “have an important role to play,” Daher said. So does the county, she said.

O'Connor said the county’s response will be sent to municipalities, laying out why the county doesn’t apply for Green Acres Program funding.

“The county’s response will demonstrate the potential negative impacts to the county if it were a direct applicant for Green Acres funding,” he said in an email. “The impacts relate to both lands purchased by direct taxes as well as lands purchased through the open space program. Certain unrestricted county lands that were purchased by direct taxes could become restricted by Green Acres regulations. Properties that were purchased by the Open Space Program could lose flexibility in recreation uses based on Green Acres’ narrower view of recreation.”

He was at work on the response Tuesday, Nov. 15, and other county departments are involved, including the county attorney.

O'Connor said the Green Acres Program comes with restrictions on what the land could be used for. That’s why the county buys land with taxpayer dollars, he said earlier this year. The county sets aside about $5 million a year for such purposes through the county open space fund.

“Since 1996, the County has passed up nearly $16 million that could have been used to leverage open space tax funds that generate $5.5 million annually,” Daher said.

She said the Green Acres Program funding could create small parks, build fishing piers and protect important wetland habitats. It could also boost the county’s ecotourism, or nature-based tourism.

“All we’re asking is that they submit a simple application,” Daher said. “What this is really about is that the county is trying to avoid state oversight and safeguards that have been established to protect the public’s investment and to ensure that the lands that the county designates as open space are not later developed.”

The Green Acres Program is administrated through the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“For some reason, the county has a problem with the state’s rules,” Daher said.

This isn’t the first time the American Littoral Society has brought the issue to the freeholders.

Time could be of the essence, she said.

She said this could “be the last opportunity for Cape May, as well as other counties and towns to take advantage of this funding until a future stable source is secured…”

The last time the county has tapped into Green Acres funding was 1995, O'Connor said.

A problem emerged at the site that is now the Atlantic Cape Community College Cape May County campus along Court House-South Dennis Road in Cape May Court House, according to O’Connor. The county had to get a diversion approved by the state for the driveway to the college, he said. The campus opened in 2005.

In the end, that property had to be put into the Green Acre Inventory, although the county did not buy the land with Green Acres Program money, O’Connor said. The 4-H fairgrounds, which is near the college, had been bought with Green Acres money.

With the college site, he said earlier this year, the county had to designate “an additional 117 acres of ground plus commit to purchasing another $500,000 of land…”

“Keep in mind the county works with municipalities to secure Green Acres funds as long as the specific municipality is the applicant,” O’Connor said. “This way the towns benefit from the funding without other county lands becoming part of the Green Acres Recreation and Open Space Inventory.”

According to the 2006 Economic Impact of Ecotourism Resources study, the county helped municipalities buy lands, with the largest swaths in Woodbine with 266 acres and 180 acres in Upper Township.