7:40 Flag
salute
Open Public Meetings Act: This meeting was
advertised in the designated official newspapers (Today’s Sunbeam and the Daily
Journal), and was also advertised in the Bridgeton Evening News and the Elmer
Times. The required notice was filed
with the Township Clerk and was posted on the Public Notice Bulletin Board in
the Municipal Building. In addition,
flyers were posted in numerous local businesses
Herb informed guests of our meetings scheduled
for October 25th and November 22nd.
Minutes: Moved by Greg Hickson; seconded by Bob
Morse. All approved.
Introductions – Herb Wegner introduced himself,
Mayor Voros, Township Committee members Maxine Hargus, Jeff Ridgeway, and Ken
Martin; Planning board members Greg Hickson, Christine Seeney and Nick
Messiano; School District Representatives Larry May and Bill Rump; also Tricia
Aspenwall (MLC), Dennis Miranda (Go Native), and Members of the EC.
(Township Committee person and Planning Board
member, Linda DuBois, arrived after the introductions.)
Environmental Commission Members present were:
Regular Members Meghan Hack, Greg Hickson, Bob Morse, and Herb Wegner;
Alternate Members Kevin Garrison and Trish Jankauskas; and Associate Members
Barry Glogau, Deloris Glogau, David Hunt, Christine Seeney, and Robert
Widdifield. Also present was Pittsgrove
Township Planner Harry Dare.
Mayor Peter Voros welcomed everyone to the
meeting. He stated that we want to hear
from everyone in the auditorium. The
State of NJ designated Pittsgrove Township as environmentally sensitive; soils
are designated as high for farming and waterways (Maurice River, Muddy Run)
important watershed areas. Thanked all of the many volunteers for the Township:
planning board, economic development (businesses that accent agriculture), the
environmental commission, and the shade tree commission.
Dennis Miranda: Overview and Long Term Goals –
Dennis discussed how volunteers are many in Pittsgrove, and that we are lucky
to have such great support. NJ most densely populated state in the
country. Salem County still has a
chance to preserve South Jersey as is for today and generations to come. Pittsgrove has embarked on a path to grow
sustainability. This journey began when
we passed the tax for open space (200 municipalities in 20 counties in NJ also
did this). Our OSP and NRI (ERI) are in
the works. We will then pursue Green
Acres funding. We need support - it’s
an elastic process.
Herb: We have an opportunity in Pittsgrove that
many municipalities do not have.
Currently we have 3500 homes/residences/dwellings. Open Space in Pittsgrove is still vast; we
could still probably build another 5,000 homes in Pittsgrove. This could cause a four-fold increase of
students. We need to act now - smart
development. Input tonight is
critical. ANJEC is proud that we have
stepped out quickly in creating an OSP.
Tricia L. Aspinwall, Planning Manager from Morris
Land Conservancy: Forum on Open Space and Recreation Plan Goals and Objectives:
Background of MLC and OSP document/planning
process.
Presentation of draft Open Space Map: explanation
of key and color-coding.
Explanation of Public Comment and Participation.
Natural Resource Protection
Mike Reeves; Middle Drive: State development/redevelopment plan
includes Pittsgrove as environmentally sensitive rural: include as an overlay.
Dennis Miranda explained planning area 4 and
5. This exercise builds on that “meat to
the sandwich”.
Mary Kramer Steinberg; 468 Almond Road: The
Savannah ran from Almond Rd. to Crystal Rd.
It used to freeze over, turtles in summer. South side shallow running water, stony bottom through the woods
toward Landis Avenue. Mosquito commission
dug a trench that dried it up years ago.
Would like to see it restored.
Marceline Eachus; 1127 Rainbow Circle: Will there be a study on neighboring
communities on our waterways? We could
create a goal to look into this issue (regional coordination).
Dennis: We first need to know the status of our
resources so that we can interpret the impact on them in the future.
Bob Morse; Cedar Road: NR protection most important thing. Maybe have development pushed toward center away from the
water.
Daniel Sauder; 184 Almond Road: Retired property manager of Cumberland Cape
Atlantic YMCA owns 80-acre camp on Jesse Bridge Road. Concerned that it is maintained.
Dam and lake/nitrates sometimes cause a problem for the bathing areas
Unidentified guy: Does this commission have power to enforce cleanups of natural
resources?
Herb: We can exercise influence, not force. We need money and volunteers.
Dennis:
Preserving open space does not conflict with that concern. Local ordinances should be able to help.
Nick Messiano:
Maurice River is federally protected.
Willowgrove lake area is 5 acre zoning.
Along the same river further down, we have smaller zoning - zoning
should be larger/consistent with the other areas. Would like to see scenic byway on Almond Road: Connect the dots Maurice/Parvin and
onward. We have had problems getting
land preserved there because people say soil is “no good” but all the soils are
good there. State and County say it is
environmentally sensitive - so let us keep it up and expand it.
Kevin Garrison; 659 Porchtown Rd: More buffers along Green Branch and other
streams. Vernal Ponds are the main
production of lots of reptiles and amphibians.
It also helps keep water clean.
The buffer zones should be increased around all of these.
Bob Morse:
If we sacrifice any part of the stream then we sacrifice all of the
waterways downstream.
Charles Cole; Mill Road: Old Railroad Bed runs out of Elmer and hits
a lot of open country and crosses two bodies of water. Along old train trestle: seen fox and hawks,
waterfowl, etc. It is beautiful and
would be a shame to see it disappear.
Marcie Eachus:
Will there be ordinances, like against non-impervious driveways near
waterways/watersheds areas?
Tricia: Passive
ordinances perhaps will be created to help with this.
Dennis: Important point because a lot of times
towns do not study that stuff. Storm
water regulations now govern some things, but a lot is not clarified yet. Towns can adopt stream corridor buffer
regulations.
Herb Wegner 820 Willow Grove: A priority is preservation of forests that
hold sensitive wildlife; inner forests as well as those along the roads (stop
ribbon development).
Risa Rogers, 1167 Gershal Avenue: Would like to
see Gershal Avenue and Jesse Bridge Road considered for the Scenic Drive. Somewhere in District 3 open space and
farmland could possibly be preserved there to prevent more development.
Tom Moran; Issacs Avenue: Concern is Gershal Avenue area for a
different reason. Garden Road seems
like potential bottleneck. ¾ acre lots
right now- should be bigger. Savable
beautiful areas are there - lots of area to restore and protect.
Recreation:
Active, Passive
Christine Seeney, 56 Alvine: Looking for more passive recreation areas -
something to help keep the wildlife area more in tact.
Bob Morse: County Roads could have bike lanes
when they are redone. It could be
possible to create a path from Parvin to Green Branch right through golf course
area.
Tom Hayes 74 Margarete Drive: Strongly in favor
of bike paths/walking path, especially on railroad bed. He referenced a similar rail path in
Linwood.
Tina Messiano:
Would like horseback riding trails; could possibly go along with walking
trails. Could maybe bring in more horse
farms to help preserve farmland.
Greg Hickson ; Fork Bridge Road: Would like to connect passive areas by
walkways and bikeways. It could
possibly be done by purchase or easement.
Barry Glogau: Dark skies are important to an
astronomer. Possibly, restrict use of
floodlights/ public policy goal.
Herb Wegner;
820 Willow Grove:
Canoeing/boating on lakes - further explore how to make these lakes
usable by passive recreationists.
Historic Preservation
Max Hargus; 15 Tiverstock: Prime area is Norma/Brotmanville area. Beginnings go to 1880s. Beach at Alliance, etc. Willow Grove/Porchtown used to have a school
on it. We must preserve historic
places.
Bob Morse:
Pennytown Farm is old.
Herb: 15,000 year old spung on Buck Road between
Route 40 and Willow Grove Road at site of Broad Pond.
Greg Hickson:
Historical Society has records of old farm homes. Perhaps we could have a public listing and
maybe signs to designate.
Herb:
Comment on Greg’s idea.
Historical Society and Schalick High School have been working on taping
people who can tell stories of ancestors in Pittsgrove. See Dave Mulford if you know anyone who has
stories to tell.
Greg:
Areas in Norma/Brotmanville area.
Settlement patterns could be interesting to investigate.
Farmland Preservation
Nick Messiano:
350 acres across from Parvin is ready to be settled. We need to push the county to approve more
of the land that we have; we need our fair share. We need more money per acre paid to the farmer up front as an
incentive. Then we can show them how to
invest and use the money for their retirement.
We need to lobby the representatives to designate more money for
preservation. Ron Ruckinstein showed
him a map that proves soils are good.
Kevin Garrison:
Need a bigger push with Jersey Fresh program for the farmers. Maybe we could have something closer to
encourage farmers to get involved and citizens to buy local.
Susan Whitehouse; 304 Buck Road: I would like to keep it beautiful/avoid
Washington Township syndrome. Farms
keep the feeling of Pittsgrove. On map,
she would like to see brown turn light brown (preserved).
Dave Hunt 451 Olivet: We do not want to look like Mullica Hill
Linda Dubois; 400 Greers Lane: We need to keep agriculture: agriculture is
business/ economic development. We also
need to remember that Open Space keeps our aquifers and allows water to enter
the land. By preserving farms, we allow
bird watchers to have birds to watch.
As a mom, it allows her sons to return to Pittsgrove and have a
livelihood.
Dennis:
Six species of grassland birds breed here that are threatened and
endangered because of habitat loss. Audubon Society is putting together a
document about Important Bird Areas.
Pittsgrove has a transparent economy.
Birders support local economy (diners/food places). Ecotourism can be the result of preserving
farmland and forestland.
Greg: The amount of homes that Pittsgrove could
potentially create is high. We need to
prevent large tract style housing.
Kurt Craver; 182 Garden Road; Increasing lot size
could cut number of possible homes in half.
Tina Messiano:
mentioned cluster option: would like us to check out the preservation
option so it’s not just active recreation area for that small development. Keep it farmable.
Herb:
Must maintain critical mass of farms.
One will not do it. Farms and
woodlands create recharged water. Push
for mandatory clustering for any parcel of land (not just farmland) for 20
acres or more.
Christine Seeney: Another benefit of farmland is that it does not require extra
public services.
Stewardship of Existing Open Space/Other items of
Open Space interest
Bob Morse: Possibly use recycled materials for
roads in new developments. Also,
possibly vacant lands could require Environmental Commission opinions before decision is made.
Mike Reeves; Middle Dr.: Stopping sprawl is a
main goal. Potential of growth because
of Route 55 is frightening.
Dave Hunt:
A main goal is remembering the question: What are we going to leave for
our kids?
Risa Rogers: Perhaps provide places for people to
stop along roadways and observe.
Dennis:
Important birding trail circuit could be developed for Pittsgrove. Develop local plan of action with DOT/
signage and egresses. This type of
thing is popular in Vermont and New York.
There could be an economic study about nature watching and passive
recreation.
Greg: Great that we are cataloging things. Once this happens it is important that the
ordinances work with State statutes so that important places have regulatory
capacity to enforce these needs.
Bob Widdifield; Greenville Road: Proposes enforcing on new construction an
additional 2% tax to help preserve land.
It works in Martha’s Vineyard and it could work here.
Tom Moran:
Been to auctions where land has been auctioned off and it is always a
developer. Township should have first
right to preserve that land, rather than out-of-towners getting it for
dirt-cheap. Look at Buck Road. At Garden Road, there is an amazing
potential for sprawl to happen. Let us
look at these areas and protect them.
Herb: Building along roads - it is going to
happen, but we need to be careful that we do not ruin all of our views. We need ordinances to help prevent ribbon
development.
Tricia: It is time to vote. All residents please vote. Use all three stickers.
9:45 Conclusion
- Attendees voted for their priority goals.
Meghan Hack made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Greg Hickson seconded the motion. All approved. Meeting was adjourned.