From the Oct. 18 edition of the Register-News
By:
Thanks to many
for successful event
To the editor:
The Chesterfield Hose Company would like to thank the many volunteers who made the Chicken Bar-B-Que on Sept. 30 a successful event.
There were 2,000 dinners sold and with additional donations, a check for $27,805 is being sent to the New York Fire Department UFA Widows and Children Fund to benefit the families of those fire fighters who lost their lives in the disaster of Sept. 11.
Bucky Jones
Chesterfield
He won’t vote
for Patel this time
To the editor:
Three years ago in the Mansfield Township general election for Township Committee, I voted for Dalpat Patel. I do not intend on voting for him again Nov. 6.
The reason is that he has not shown me the leadership qualities one should expect for such a public official.
I would point out two decisions that he has made as mayor this year as prime examples of his tenure.
When the Township Committee was making its choices for the various boards and committees at the end of the year, Kelly Shea, last year’s mayor and newly elected for his second term on the Township Committee, was replaced on the Planning Board by Mr. Patel.
I served on the Planning Board with Mr. Shea last year and he is extremely well-versed in land use planning and did much in his time on the board to limit rampant development.
He was, in my opinion, the most knowledgeable member of the board, yet Mayor Patel replaced him purely for political reasons. I believe that decision was not in the best interest of Mansfield Township.
The latest example of Mr. Patel’s lack of leadership was evident at a recent Township Committee meeting, in which he and three other committee members voted to request that the Planning Board remove the TDR element from the Township Master Plan, which is currently being revised. Committeeman Kelly Shea was the only dissenting vote.
TDR stands for "Transfer of Development Rights." In its simplest definition, TDR is a planning tool that redirects future development to areas where the required utility infrastructure is available.
It allows developers to buy the development rights from the other property owners, preserving open space in some areas while concentrating development in designated town centers and doers not result in any additional overall residential units in the township.
TDR programs are praised by state planners and professional planning associations and recommended by the township planners professionals who have many years experience in the planning field.
Yet Mr. Patel knows better. He voted to remove TDR from the version of the Master plan currently being proposed by the township planners, the planning and development subcommittee, and the Planning Board and no legitimate reasons were given.
Some have said that they think the TDR program conflicts with the Farmland Preservation Program, a program where farm owners are given money by the county to retire the property’s development rights and allow the owner go to continue farming the property.
I agree that farmland preservation should be the first priority in the township’s quest to preserve open space and limit development.
However, there are property owners that for one reason or another do not want to put their property into the Farmland Preservation Program.
With no TDR program in place, their only other option would be to develop their land. With a TDR program in place, these property owners would at least have the option to sell their development rights, thus preserving their property as open space.
The TDR program is merely another option available to the property owner, and a valuable tool to be used by the township to control the location of its growth.
Once again, I view this as another decision by Mr. Patel that was not made with the best interest of Mansfield Township in mind.
Tonight there is a special meeting of the Planning Board at 7:30 p.m. in the Township Municipal Building, which will be for the purpose of a public hearing on the revisions to the Township Master Plan, which is the "road map" for the future direction for this Township.
Ask Mr. Patel why he wants to eliminate the TDR option from the Master Plan, and see if you accept his reasons, whatever they may be.
And come Election Day, decide whether he possesses the leadership qualities you want on the Township Committee for another three years.
Frank Pinto
Mansfield Township
Planning Board
Mansfield Township
Environmental Committee
Mansfield Township
Recreation Committee chairman
Get to know
local candidates
To the editor:
With the general election fast approaching, there are many forums for the public to gain knowledge of the issues and learn where people stand on those issues.
The first will take place tonight when a special public meeting of the Planning Board takes place to review and discuss the revisions to the Mansfield Township Master Plan.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. If you are interested in how the future Mansfield Township may look, please try to attend.
Most Planning and Development Committee members will also be in attendance.
Of particular note is the fact that the Mansfield Township Committee recently voted 4-1 (Kelly Shea the only dissenter) to ask the Planning Board (the members whom Township Committee appointed to do the job in January) to remove the Transfer of Development Rights element from the revised Master Plan without a stated reason.
This after several years of work and a previous unanimous Planning Board vote to include this optional planning tool in the Master Plan.
There also are regularly scheduled meetings of the Planning Board and Township Committee next Monday, Oct. 22 and Wednesday, Oct. 24, respectively.
Also next week will be the first of three Mansfield Township Candidates Nights this year prior to the Nov. 6 general election.
The first will be hosted by the Homestead Civic Association and will take place next Tuesday, Oct. 23 in the Homestead at Mansfield Clubhouse.
The second will be hosted by the Four Seasons Civic Association and will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the Four Seasons Clubhouse.
The Mansfield Area Senior Citizens Group will host the final Candidates Night at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2 at the Columbus Grange on Atlantic Avenue.
This forum is open to all Mansfield Township residents. All candidates have been invited to attend all three nights.
It is important to know that during the election, not only are you voting for the people running for office, but you also are voting for the members of the appointed boards.
The planning, zoning, planning and development, environmental and recreation boards and committees are all selected and appointed by Township Committee in December and January.
Your investment of time now to get to know the people and the issues will hopefully help you select the people that will protect your invaluable investment in your township down the road.
Raymond F. Stupienski III
Independent Candidate
Mansfield Township Committee

