the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, this week’s devastating floods in New Jersey aren’t just a freak weather event—they’re Mother Nature’s warning. The Garden State’s relentless overdevelopment, fueled by Governor Phil Murphy’s affordable housing mandate, is paving the way—literally—for environmental disaster.
The Mount Laurel Doctrine, reinforced by Murphy’s 2024 law, forces municipalities to meet aggressive housing quotas—over 80,000 new units by 2035. But at what cost? Farmland, woodlands, and natural flood buffers are being bulldozed to make room for high-density developments. And now, the consequences are flooding our streets.
When You Pave Paradise, You Pay the Price
This week’s storms hit from Jersey City, Camden, and Asbury Park hardest—urban areas already drowning in concrete and asphalt as well as suburban all though Bergen , Somerset and Middlesex areas with massive “affordable housing” over development . With fewer natural surfaces and turf fields lining every flood zone there is nothing to absorb rainfall, floodwaters have nowhere to go.
On social media, frustrated residents called out the obvious:
“Razing woodlands and increasing pavement causes flooding.”
And they’re right. Every acre of forest cleared and every farm replaced with condos reduces New Jersey’s ability to handle extreme weather—weather that’s only getting worse with climate change.
The Affordable Housing Mandate: Noble Intentions, Dangerous Reality
Let’s be clear: affordable housing is important. But Murphy’s one-size-fits-all mandate is forcing towns into unsustainable development that ignores ecological limits.
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Rutgers researchers found 1,640 affordable units already flood-prone, a number set to quadruple by 2050.
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The Highlands region, which supplies 900 million gallons of water daily, is losing its ability to manage resources due to unchecked construction.
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Farmland and open spaces—natural flood defenses—are being seized, like the recent 175-year-old farm taken in Cranbury for new housing.
Meanwhile, urban areas like Trenton and Passaic are exempt, leaving suburban towns to shoulder the burden.
Towns Are Fighting Back
A coalition of 26 suburban towns, led by Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, has taken legal action against the state, arguing that the mandate:
✅ Strains local infrastructure
✅ Disregards environmental constraints
✅ Pushes unrealistic construction quotas
Even Republicans like Assemblymember Paul Kanitra warn the policy will bring traffic gridlock, school overcrowding, and worsening flood risks.
Murphy’s Flood Fix? Too Little, Too Late
The DEP’s proposed Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) rules acknowledge the state’s flooding future, projecting 5.1 feet of sea-level rise by 2100. Yet they don’t address the root problem: overdevelopment that destroys the natural flood buffers we desperately need.
Sure, raising new construction four feet above FEMA standards helps, but it doesn’t stop the loss of wetlands and forests that absorb water.
A Smarter Way Forward
New Jersey doesn’t have to choose between affordable housing and environmental sustainability. But it must:
🌱 Prioritize building in less flood-prone areas
🌱 Invest in green infrastructure like living shorelines and rain gardens
🌱 Preserve farmland and open space as natural flood barriers
🌱 Let municipalities tailor housing plans to local ecological realities
Wake-Up Call for Governor Murphy
This week’s floods prove what critics have said all along: You can’t pave your way out of a housing crisis without drowning in the consequences.
If New Jersey keeps ignoring the environmental costs of overdevelopment, the Garden State will become the Floodplain State—and the people Murphy claims to be helping will pay the highest price.
It’s time to rethink the housing mandate before the next storm hits.
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When you pave over the hill, the flood plain gets your water.
When you direct your gutters to the street, the flood plain gets your water.
That water you see rushing down the street, ends up in the flood plain.
Democrats put lives at risk in every way every day!
Both political parties do. Most of them are not concerned about the people who voted them into office. They’re concerned only about their own personal interests and political futures.
We’re almost ready to wave goodbye to Governor Horseteeth !
NJ is the most densely populated State in the entire Nation and what’s the solution???
KEEP BUILDING! Bergen County has over one million people and what’s the solution???
KEEP BUILDING! Here’s how this finally ends. Bergen County is on the flight path to all three airports. EWR TEB and LGA. It is only a matter of time where there is going to be a horrific and catastrophic plane crash (1985 two collided over Hudson River) and getting the emergency vehicles to the crash site will be massively hindered because of the grid locked traffic. Only then will they start pointing fingers and maybe, MAYBE put a moratorium on building! Common sense tells you NJ cannot withstand this magnitude of development but it’s all the morons who only know how to get rich by building – that is now pure garbage – cheapest labor and building materials.