One man's garbage is another man's treasure

BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBYJEFFGRANIT staff Andy Willner, executive director of the nonprofit NY/NJ Baykeeper, believes a large portion of the former Aeromarine property in Keyport should be preserved as open space, while the industrial park there could be redeveloped and become a strong tax ratable in the future. It's not easy being green, especially in Central Jersey, where sometimes the only open space left is the result of long-abandoned garbage dumps.

Andy Willner, executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, points to the old Aeromarine property as a perfect example of a dump worth saving.

The Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co., a once-busy aircraft manufacturing plant, opened shop in 1917, supplying training planes to the Navy during World War I and boasting many of aviation's early innovations.

Aeromarine Airways, the country's first international commercial airline, was established on the site. The first in-flight meals, stewards and baggage tickets were utilized by Aeromarine. Many early aviation speed records were broken on the Aeromarine landing strip, and at its peak, the company's engineering department was considered one of the best in the country.

This decaying building once housed an assembly line for the mass production of military airplanes. Eventually, it became a dump. Operated by the borough, the landfill was built atop a salt marsh next to the Raritan Bay; it collected industrial and commercial waste between the 1950s and 1970s; it is estimated to contain over 600,000 cubic yards of trash, according to one report.

But where others see a landfill, Willner sees potential.

"It's a green oasis on a quickly developing coast," Willner said last week while hiking through the mud and thick brush of Aeromarine's sprawling natural setting.

"Look at the view from here," he added, pointing in the direction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Manhattan skyline.

Since closing, the landfill has gone largely untouched. Over the years, it has become overgrown with brush and is now attracting marsh hawks, pheasants, herons and other birds, and even a few deer.

"It became a de facto preserve because of the impairments," Willner said of the site. "It's not easy to develop because of the waste, and it's not easy to sell. ... And so here we are, with this extraordinary evolving resource, with emerging forests and fields and wetlands. But it really is a dump."

The property is now dubbed by the state as "an area in need of redevelopment." The special designation means the borough has the right to choose who and what is developed there, within reason, despite the wishes of the owner.

Not surprising, lawyers representing the borough and the owners are currently battling it out in court.

Although complicated in the details, the heart of the battle is simple: both sides want to build housing on the site - the owners just want to build more. The pending three lawsuits will ultimately decide the specifics of the development, but the end result is presently a tossup between the owner's requested 569 condos or Keyport's plan for a mix of 320 various units, either condos, single-family homes and/or commercial space and other amenities.

A developer hopes to build over 500 residential units on the Aeromarine site, which was once operated as a landfill. At right, Andy Willner walks through the site's industrial park, where some businesses still operate. Below, a view of the Raritan Bay from the 62-acre tract. In its dormant state, Willner said the land has become a sanctuary for several species of birds. Willner envisions alternative uses, namely recycling the buildings that are already there and still operational.

"The uniqueness of this is that there are very few forests on the coast," Willner said last week while surveying the property. "It's astounding. You can understand why people want to build houses here. On the other hand, why shouldn't it be the public's?"

Brownfields to greenfields

Earlier this month, the Baykeeper released a pamphlet on alternative ways to remediate brownfields into greenfields. The paper's release is especially timely considering the ongoing Aeromarine litigation. Another factor to consider is the borough's recent partnership with

the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), a partnership that promises to aid the town in cleaning up the contamination without having to rely on developers for funding.

To the layman, the pamphlet is dense with information. Willner summed it up as simple economics.

"Our paper makes the point that there should be state incentives and subsidies to ensure that any brownfields project has a greenfields component," Willner summarized. "What we would like to see is a level playing field that allows the same kind of tax credits to be used for greenfields projects as for brownfields projects."

The pamphlet was sent to state and local officials a few weeks ago. In July, Willner will speak in Trenton before some of those same officials, in the hope of having new laws enacted to preserve greenways.

Aeromarine as a ratable

Willner said he is in no way advocating that the town abandon its hopes of finding new tax ratables. On the contrary, he has a plan: Why not build where there are already buildings?

"If I were in charge of the world, this is the footprint where the redevelopment would occur," Willner said, standing before a rusted-out airplane hangar once used for assembly-line production in the 1940s. "Done right, they could capture as much sustainable ratables as allowing 500 homes out here."

"The second half of that is there are 150-plus jobs here," Willner continued, standing among the property's industrial park. "The idea that you would eliminate those jobs in a blue-collar town is anathema to Baykeeper.

"They make boilers and boiler accessories here," Willner noted, pointing to one of the industrial park's businesses. "Very profitable. Very little thought given to what happens to these jobs. If there was a plan to put them out on the highway, Route 35 or 36, perhaps it makes sense to move them. But as long as they're doing well here, seems to me, they should develop a plan around their survival."

According to Willner, it all comes down to finding a balance between environmental and economical sustainability.

"If New Jersey and New York don't continue to be good places to live, it won't matter how good the economy is: people won't live here," he said.

The area's quality of life is essential for the region's residents, he added.

"Without a place to recreate and a relationship with nature, no matter what their economic [status] is, their lives are not as valuable," Willner said. "You can't live just by putting money in your pocket in a place that's truly awful. When you're rich you can leave, go to 'paradise.' When you're not, you have to create your own paradise nearby."

To view the Baykeeper's entire pamphlet on turning brownfields into greenfields, go to www.nynjbaykeeper.org.