2005 - LAND USES IN BOROUGH OF WENONAH,
GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ
HOUSING UNITS 866, POPULATION 2,265
The following is a comprehensive review of all land uses
in the Borough of Wenonah back to 1871. The entire land area of Wenonah is 639
acres (27,834,840 sq. ft.) or about 1 sq. mi.(0.998 sq. mi)
For zoning and planning purposes sections of Wenonah are
identified as follows:
CONSERVATION AREAS: A calculation was made of
all the current Conservation areas, connecting Wetlands, Streams, Ponds and
Lakes, which amounted to 134.6416 acres (21.0706%). Included in this
calculation is the Wenonah Swimming Lake 5.0309 acres (0.7873%) listed as a
Park. All these lands are linked together and reserved for perpetuity by
ordinance as Conservation Areas. The Wenonah Environmental Commission has
recently accurately measured 5.9 miles of existing trails throughout the “Ring
of Green” Conservation Area.
TWO SPORTS RECREATION AREAS: Hayes Ave. 2.066
acres & Cedar Ave. 3.375 acres amount to 5.441 acres (0.8185%) and border on the
Conservation areas. These tracts are reserved as Sports Recreation Areas.
POOL RECREATION AREA: It is a privately funded
association. The pool facilities and parking are located on 6.1480 acres, with
an additional 2.788 acres undeveloped. Total tract is 8.936 acres (1.3984%)
within woodlands.
FORMAL PARK: The central Formal Wenonah Park is
located on 3.099 acres (0.4849%). The original covenants conveying this tract
to the borough forbid development of this site for perpetuity.
RESIDENTIAL AREAS: They are Single Family 326.04
acres (51%) and Multi Family 8.96 acres (1.393%). (Note. The shade trees in
this area along each street cover 14.77 acres).
STREETS & PARKING AREAS: They amount to 109.1
acres (17.0735%)..
INSTITUTIONAL AREAS: School, Library, Churches,
Train Station, Municipal Building, Police, Fire Department, Professional
Offices, etc. They are comprised of 11.89 acres (1.8529%). This includes the
1.29 acres of land acquired 12/2000 from the railway for the new Municipal
building & parking areas.
AGRICULTURAL AREAS: The Greenhouse area amounts
to 2 acres (0.3129%).
COMMERCIAL AREAS: Realty Office, Hair Salons,
Food Store, Dance Studio, Bank, Shops, etc. They are comprised of 5.5 acres
(1.1737%).
TRAIN RIGHT OF WAY – This amounts to 9.669 acres
(1.5131%).
WENONAH UTILITY AREAS: Public works, Wells,
Water Tower, etc. Total 4 acres (0.6259%).
VACANT LAND AREAS: They are
comprised of 9.7835 acres (1.5310%). This is based on all the existing deeded
lots and lots that could be considered for conservation areas or subdivided for
additional dwellings. This
includes the 2.82 acres of the LMR Overlay Area reserved in the Wenonah Master
Plan for Senior/Affordable Housing on Glassboro Road.
prepared by - Charles R. Forsman, Land Use Study January 12, 2005
Return to Top of Page
*********************************************************************
CLEAN, SPARKLING DRINKING WATER
A PRECIOUS RESOURCE WE NEED TO CONSERVE
WE MUST CONTINUE TO TAKE ACTION IN WENONAH
TO PROTECT OUR WATER SUPPLY
FACTS
There are three viable aquifers of water below the surface
in our region. Many towns use a combination of water from several sources. The
best water quality is from the restricted Potomac Raritan Magothy (PRM)
aquifer. Above that is the Mt. Laurel aquifer (limited use) and closer to the
surface are the Englishtown, Wenonah Sands and Cohansey aquifers that are
influenced by rainfall. The NJ American Water Company has constructed a water
pipeline from Delran into our area, which is available and has a combination of
the three water strata’s as well as water from the Delaware River.
Wenonah owns and operates two water wells in the deepest
and best PRM aquifer. #1 drilled 1944 @ 275 gal/min is 320 feet deep and #2
drilled 1951 @ 375 gal/min is 310 feet deep. They are in a strata of pristine
glacial water millions of years old. Confirmed by tests, it’s the best quality
water in South Jersey and it tastes great! Wenonah is using this precious water
at an average rate of approx. 70 million gallons a year. Excluding several
larger consumers of water (Greenhouse, fire hydrant use, etc), with 866 housing
units that’s an average of 80,831 gallons per dwelling per year. Or based on a
population of 2,265 that is 30,905 gallons per person per year.
PROBLEM
Because the PRM is the best aquifer, towns for decades have
increasingly pumped water from it. As a result, the aquifer has been overused
to such an extent that the levels had dropped dramatically and NJDEP declared
new wells could not be drilled into it. Towns that were already using the PRM
have been mandated by law to reduce their usage by 22%, which includes Wenonah.
So where does that leave us? We have two alternatives:
1. Conserve enough water to make up the difference of 22%
reduction & continue to use only our PRM water wells where we are satisfied with
the high quality and are able to control our own lower costs (Note: exceeding
the imposed State limit of 72,070,000 Gallons per year for Wenonah would cause
the NJDEP to impose severe fines).
2. We would need to buy a mixture of water from the
American Water pipeline to handle the excess usage. Their water does meet all
NJ drinking water standards, but may have higher costs that we cannot control.
MYTH
It’s been raining steadily, reservoirs are full and the PRM
must be filling up. Wrong, rainwater has little or no effect on the PRM. It is
a confined aquifer with a non-permeable surface above it that prevents surface
rain, streams from getting to it.
BEST SOLUTION FOR WENONAH
It’s now your choice, but we suggest that conservation on
the part of all Wenonah citizens, can preserve and protect our own Wenonah PRM
water supply operated and controlled by our personnel. If you agree with this
solution, we must join together to educate our children so they too and future
generations can enjoy the wonderful water we have in Wenonah.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? HERE’S A FEW IDEAS
-
Repair all water leaks in faucets, hoses and especially
in toilets. One toilet can leak up to 200/gal/day.
-
Use low flow toilets (1.6 gal/flush Vs 5.5 gal/ flush) or
install water displacement devices in your tanks.
-
Use low flow shower heads and reduce time in showers to
five minutes.
-
Use a broom instead of a hose to clean the sidewalk and
driveway.
-
Wash dishes in a full dishwasher.
-
Use rain & soil sensors on lawn sprinkling systems to
prevent them from operating during rain & wet periods.
-
Water lawns at night to minimize evaporation losses.
Obey the odd/even house # and date watering ordinance.
-
Don’t let the water run while brushing your teeth.
-
Use garbage grinders as little as possible.
-
Use a bucket of water to wash your car not 50 gal by
spraying the hose or take it to a car wash using recycled water.
-
Keep a bottle of cold water in your refrigerator. Don’t
run water until it’s cold.
-
Keep swimming pools covered when not in use to prevent
evaporation & water loss.
-
Decrease lawn size and use drought resistant grasses.
-
Increase garden areas with drought resistant plants,
shrubs and flowers.
-
Place instant water heaters on water pipes at sinks and
showers to reduce running the water to get it hot.
As you can see there are many things we can do to reduce
our water consumption. The Borough Council has instituted a variety of
conservation efforts with municipal services that has also helped us to lower
water usage. In 1996 24% of Wenonah dwellings used over 100,000 gal/yr, which
dropped to only 5% in 2000. Conservation is working! Since all towns have been
required to reduce usage of the PRM, levels have begun to rise in that aquifer
which will also insure that the high quality of the water will be maintained.
Wenonah water beats all bottled water quality standards.
Enjoy it, but don’t waste it!!!
(Chuck Forsman 3/9/05 - Member Tri-County Water Quality
Management Board)
*********************************************************************
The State of New Jersey
requires that the Borough of Wenonah
post its Storm Water Control Ordinance and the
Borough's Municipal Storm Water Management Plan
Therefore in compliance, these two documents are now available for downloading
below.
Just right click on the document's title below and choose "save target as".
(Remember where you saved the document!)
Borough's Municipal Storm Water Management Plan
Storm Water Control Ordinance
Please note that you will need to have the free Adobe Reader in order to open
these files on your computer.
You can download the free Adobe Reader
here.
Return to Top of Page
