Variances debated by two parties in E. Bruns.

By vincent todaro
Staff Writer

Variances debated by two parties in E. Bruns.

By vincent todaro

Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Drawing near to the close of the election season, township Republicans and Democrats continued to face off on policies during Monday night’s Township Council meeting.

Democratic Mayor William Neary took the opportunity to note that his administration has not granted relief to development applications and will not do so in the future.

He was questioned by Robert Tagliente, a Republican council candidate who said during a recent televised candidates’ debate and again Monday that he does not believe the township’s new 6-acre zoning law will work to control development in the township.

Tagliente said developers will simply get variances to build more homes than they could have even under the previous zoning that permitted greater densities of homes. He asked Neary if he would support an ordinance banning developers from getting variances to develop anywhere in the zone.

Neary responded that, under New Jersey state laws, the township could not place a ban on granting variances.

Tagliente acknowledged that, to date, no variances had been granted by the township to developers who seek to build more than one home per 6 acres.

"As a member of the Planning Board, I would vote against it," Neary told Tagliente, who spoke during the public portion of the meeting.

Township Administrator James White said however that variances exist to provide a type of checks-and-balances system so that people are not prohibited from making reasonable requests that conflict with ordinances.

The township was unable to enforce the 6-acre law until last year when a state Superior Court judge lifted an injunction against it that had previously resulted from a lawsuit brought by a group of property owners affected by the new zone. The land owners said the rezoning unfairly decreased the value of their properties.

Tagliente claimed that developers could go to the Planning Board, whose members are appointed by the mayor, and receive building variances. The Republican hopeful added that Neary will not be mayor forever, and said future boards could allow developers to get around the 6-acre law by granting variances.

David Stahl, a Democrat running for the council along with Catherine Diem and incumbent Saul Fink, said that, as a former lawyer, he realizes it would be illegal to ban variances.

Larry Sachs, a resident, said he welcomes the 6-acre zoning because it helps to stabilize not only growth, but also school taxes.

"In the time period it has been in place, the 6-acre zoning has had a chilling effect on development in the 25 percent of the town (that it applies)," he said. Sachs said that, since the 6-acre zoning has been in effect, there has not even been one Planning Board application asking for a variance to get around the law.

Sachs called the zoning "a model of planning for land-use throughout the state."

During the campaign, the two parties have argued over which side has allowed more development. Council Vice President Saul Fink said that in the six years prior to the Neary administration, more than 1,200 new homes were approved by the Planning Board, as opposed to 377 in the six years since.

However, Anthony Riccobono, who is running with Tagliente and Christi Calvano, served on the council and Planning Board during some of those years prior to the Neary administration and has denied that the board and Republican administration of the early 1990s were responsible for all of those homes.

Neary disputed another claim made by the Republican candidates during the recent televised debate. Riccobono had said that the council changed the zoning of a commercial property on Milltown Road to allow for 21 homes. The mayor said that change actually occurred around 1988, which he noted was well before he was involved in East Brunswick politics.