Paul Mulshine, a columnist with the Star Ledger, wrote a particularly distressing piece in Tuesday’s paper regarding the plight of one homeowner and her losing battle with the state over burdensome environmental regulatory requirements as a result of enactment of the Highlands Act in 2004.

While it is important to focus on the macro issues of preserving water quality and open space that were the driving force for many regulators and legislators who supported the Act, one must not lose sight of the burden the Act has put upon many property owners who bought property intending for it to be the nest egg for their family and who ended up with a goose egg. Furthermore, funding sufficient to compensate landowners for their losses is not yet available and, given the current economic climate, will not likely be part of the state’s toolkit for some time.