Yes on Question 3
Thursday, November 1, 2007
THE RECORD EDITORIAL
PRESERVING open space in this overdeveloped state has wide bipartisan political and public support.
A yes vote on Public Question No. 3, concerning the Green Acres, Farmland, Blue Acres and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 2007, is a short-term but necessary solution to a crisis. Open-space funds are running out.
Approval will provide an infusion of $200 million for open space, farmland and historic preservation, and conservation in flood-prone areas.
This is a stopgap measure, and a more permanent source of funding is badly needed. But the Legislature and Governor Corzine couldn't agree on what that source should be last summer. The ballot question is a compromise that will keep the Garden State Preservation Trust from going bankrupt for a year or two.
It is one of the most successful programs in state history, which is why it is running out of money. But the need is greater than ever. Dozens of North Jersey towns are counting on open-space funds to help them fend off developers and preserve wetlands, parks, recreational areas, historic sites and other open space, or buy out frequently flooded homeowners. The state funds can be used to match local open-space dollars.
The Keep It Green Campaign, an environmental coalition that includes Hackensack Riverkeeper, the Passaic River Coalition and Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network, is lobbying for ballot approval. The matter is urgent, since development continues unabated, green space is shrinking and land prices only increase.
The open-space clock is ticking, and the answer to this public question should be yes.
