Monroe County Court Grants Intervention to Environmental Organizations in Coolbaugh Township Riparian Buffer Litigation
The court decision allows PennFuture and other local environmental organizations to participate in litigation to defend the Township’s 300-foot riparian buffer requirement
This week, the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas recognized the fundamental right of PennFuture, Tobyhanna Creek/Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association, and Tobyhanna Conservation Association to defend Coolbaugh Township’s decision to require a 300-foot buffer around all streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands in the Township.
Coolbaugh Township sits atop the Pocono Plateau in eastern Pennsylvania and is home to a great wealth of pristine water resources, including the headwaters of the High Quality Tobyhanna Creek. This stream and its many Exceptional Value and High Quality tributaries are kept pure, in part, by the Township’s numerous wetlands, which filter pollutants, cool waters, and provide invaluable wildlife habitat. The exceptional quality of its water resources makes Coolbaugh Township a haven for anglers, paddlers, and wildlife enthusiasts.
Coolbaugh Township is also a prime target for development due to its location along I-380, its easy access to I-80, and its relative proximity to population centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. In recent years, development in the Township has taken the form of a rapid influx of large-scale warehouses, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers, often along the banks of the Township’s invaluable water resources.
Recognizing that the vast acreage of impervious surface generated by large-scale development of any type poses a significant threat to the quality of nearby water resources, Coolbaugh Township took action to protect its irreplaceable streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. In August 2023, the Township Board of Supervisors enacted an ordinance requiring that future large-scale development leave an undeveloped 300-foot buffer around all surface waters to protect them from degradation. This ordinance doubled the previous buffer requirement of 150 feet.
In May 2024, two industrial landowners/developers, Orchard BJK Company, LLC and Pocono Mountain Industries, Inc., sued Coolbaugh Township, claiming that the buffer ordinance is arbitrary, irrational, and improperly targeted at their developments and must be struck down. The three conservation groups quickly sought to intervene in support of the Township’s protective riparian buffer ordinance and on December 9, 2024, the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas granted the intervention petition of PennFuture, TCTCWA and TCA, giving the conservation groups the right to participate in developers’ lawsuit.
“This is an important step in TCTCWA's continuing quest to protect our watershed's most valuable streams and wetlands from ‘death by a thousand cuts,’” said TCTCWA President Geoff Rogalsky. “We acknowledge the need for economic development, but it must not be permitted in a manner where it will unquestionably degrade irreplaceable resources.”
“We are very pleased with the Court’s decision, which affirms that our members have standing in the protection of our environment, and the flora and fauna therein,” said TCA Secretary Bill Leonard. “This ruling establishes that our charter, penned in 1966, stating that conservation, a state of harmony between man and the land, and aiding nature’s species in their struggle for existence is an important aspect to be considered in distribution center development.”
PennFuture Staff Attorney Brigitte Meyer added, "PennFuture has been promoting policies and ordinances that protect the Exceptional Value headwaters of the Poconos Mountain region. We commend the Coolbaugh Township Board of Supervisors for stepping up and enacting strong riparian buffer protections and look forward to fighting alongside the Township to uphold them.”
Before the Court moves to a trial on the merits of the case, it must first decide the arguments by the Township and PennFuture, TCTCWA and TCA, called preliminary objections, that the developers’ case should be dismissed.
News Image: Coolbaugh Township, PA (2007) by Nicholas_T