Downzoning hearings to continue tonight

The meeting, which is scheduled to be held tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m., is a continuation of an Aug. 23 public hearing on the proposed zoning changes, which proponents say will protect the 58-square-mile community from overdevelopment

By: John Tredrea
   Proposed zoning changes that would affect 75 percent of the land in the township by "downzoning" – reducing the density of future development – is the topic of tonight’s Township Committee meeting.
   The meeting, which is scheduled to be held tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m., is a continuation of an Aug. 23 public hearing on the proposed zoning changes, which proponents say will protect the 58-square-mile community from overdevelopment.
   The Township Committee’s first downzoning attempt, approved by the committee last summer, was invalidated on a technicality by state Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg in the spring. The first downzoning attempt failed because the township neglected to send legal notices to all property owners who were supposed to receive such notices under law, the judge said.
   To implement the downzoning in the wake of Judge Feinberg’s decision, the Township Committee will have to adopt three ordinances, as they did last year in the first downzoning attempt. Under state law, a public hearings are required before the committee can cast adoption votes, which may come tonight.
   The three ordinances that are the focus of the public hearing are "very similar" to the downzoning ordinances adopted last year, and "the impact on homeowners is the same," the mayor said Aug. 23. "There are some minor wording changes to make them more user-friendly," she added.
   Under the ordinances, most of the northern one-third of the township would be changed from a residential zone requiring minimum 3-acre lots to a residential zone requiring lots of at least 6 acres.
   Most of the central one-third would be changed from 2-acre to 4-acre residential zoning.
   Several areas in the southern and central township would be changed from commercial to residential use, including 440 acres owned by Merrill Lynch east of Scotch Road and north of I-95, as well as a much smaller tract of land owned by Trap Rock Industries between its Pennington Mountain quarry and state Route 31. Both Merrill Lynch and Trap Rock sued the township over last year’s downzoning attempt.
   The Aug. 23 portion of the public hearing lasted several hours, and the commentary was very similar to that heard during last year’s public hearings on the downzoning ordinances that were scrapped by Judge Feinberg’s ruling.
   Proponents of the downzoning said it is needed to prevent the township from being overdeveloped and its natural resources from being overutilized. Opponents said the downzoning would be, in some cases at least, a severe infringement on property rights.