TELL US: Is Going Green Nixing Rights?

Everyone’s going green. It’s considered the ecologically responsible thing to do. And in some cases, as with municipalities, going green pays off in the form of grants.

Working in partnership with NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Planning and Sustainable Communities and other academic and government agencies is a program dubbed Sustainable Jersey, which is affiliated with The College of NJ. 

It’s a “certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, save money, and take steps to sustsain their quality of life over the long term,” the program’s Web site homepage explains.

In other words, as Middletown officials explained, when a municipality signs on to the program and implements certain green initiatives, such as solar power installations, it earns points. The points accumulate and then the municipality gets awarded grants for “green” projects on its “to do” list. 

In order to register for the program, municipalities must pass a resolution "stating your intent to seek Sustainable Jersey Certification and designating an entity to be in charge of the process. Refer to our sample resolution to help you with this process," it says on the organization's Web site. 

Suggestions on how to best earn "points" toward funding are provided in detail.  

The program has benefitted in several ways. For instance, recently the township got a $10,000 grant for improvements to Poricy Park.

Officials are thrilled with that. However, a recent suggestion of Sustainable Jersey to garner the township more points and grant money was considered a bit over the line to them.

The program’s administrators asked, via their program points/grant guidelines, that Middletown adopt an ordinance placing a mandatory restriction on certain types of plantings (a list was provided) on properties where landscape architecture is part of a development plan before the Planning Board. 

It was a suggestion; but, one that would garner the township favor for help with more of its green initiatives, such as with the improements to Poricy Park. And saying "thanks, but no thanks" to it means that Middletown will be placed lower on the green initiative help list, then so be it, most of the committee members on the dais said.

So, the governing body unanimously struck this Susutainable Jersey idea down. "They wanted us to ban certain plants and promote use of certain native growth," Mayor Tony Fiore said. “I just don’t feel comfortable with imposing a restriction like this — having the government tell people what they can and cannot plant on a property. We have a landscape architect for that purpose. I’m much more comfortable with that.”

"We have a small grants program, and Middletown applied got a grant to do a program that included this ordinance," Sustainable Jersey Co-Director Randall Solomon said. "It was their idea. If they changed their minds, that is fine with us. But I have no idea why they are acting like we put them up to it. They pitched it to us."

And officials did change their minds.

Committeeman Gerard Scharfenberger added that he had a problem with the word “mandatory” in the language of the ordinance Sustainable Jersey suggested the township impose.

“The word mandatory just bugs me,” he said. “Now, I’d be in favor of an ordinance banning (a nuisance like) stink bugs, but this is something that I think just takes what was meant to be advisory to an uncomfortable level.”

Committeewoman Stephanie Murray echoed Scharfenberger’s sentiment, saying, “I just don’t think the government (the township adopting an ordinance — which is, effectively, a law) should be in the business of telling people what they should be planting.”

So, what do you think? Do you think that it crosses the line from ecological responsibility to invasion of rights for the local government to adopt an ordinance telling people what type of plants they need to ban and/or plant on private properties? 

Or do you think the initiatives of the program have beneficial long-term ecological goals to meet for the greater good of the environment? Do you think telling people what they can and cannot plant is a good thing for the environment, along with the grant incentives for the township?

Tell us in the comments section below.