Less than three months after environmentalists and local officials from Hunterdon and Warren counties gathered on the banks of Spruce Run Reservoir to praise Gov. James E. McGreevey, they came yesterday to sink his reputation.

In April, a small but enthusiastic gathering organized by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation stood in a drizzle to tout the governor's "leadership" in pushing the Highlands bill intended to protect water supplies.

Yesterday, even bright sunshine couldn't add cheer to a smaller and decidedly unenthusiastic group gathered under the auspices of the Sierra Club to deplore the "fast-track" bill designed to speed development outside zones protected by the Highlands bill.

The meeting was one of scores being organized around the state to highlight local impacts of fast-track approvals, which would short- circuit environmental and planning regulations, said Kelly McNicholas of the Sierra Club.

It came a day after a McGreevey spokesman dismissed a call from 27 environmental organizations to veto the bill. They said its 45-day timeline is too short to ensure proper review of toxic waste, sewage discharge, wetlands development and other sensitive permits.

"The governor wanted the Highlands to be his legacy, but if he signs this bill, his legacy is going to be pollution and congestion and sprawl," McNicholas said.

"This truly is 'pay-to-play,' 'pay-to-build,'" said Nick Corcodilos, a member of the Clinton Township zoning board.

The bill paves the way for large-scale development in southern Warren County even if local municipalities object, said Mike King of the Phillipsburg Riverview Organization.

"There are 5,000 acres outside Phillipsburg that have been reclassified" by the state into planning areas that can accommodate growth, he said. "Most of them used to be farms."

In Hunterdon County, the new bill could revive the 911-home Windy Acres development proposed in Clinton Township, as well as spur growth along Route 22, according to local residents.

Route 31 and feeder roads could be widened, because the new bill "treats putting in a new traffic light the same as putting in an expressway," McNicholas said.

Hunterdon Freeholder Director Marcia Karrow said environmentalists should have paid more attention as the Highlands bill was written to include the seeds of the fast-track process. Even if McGreevey changes his mind and vetoes the fast-track bill, the Highlands bill must be amended to remove similar language, she said.

"The whole process with all these bills has been outrageous and anti- democratic," she said.

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Joe Tyrrell covers Hunterdon and Somerset counties.

He can be reached at jtyrrell@starledger.com or (908) 782-8326.

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.