at Rt. 33 environmental zone
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Councilman Joseph DiBella said he wants the Route 33 corridor developed, and to that end he is seeking to have environmental constraints now in place overturned. Speaking on the issue at the Township Council’s Aug. 4 meeting, DiBella said he wants the environmental constraints removed and accused "unwarranted objectors" as having "an agenda" to not see the area developed.
"My concern is if it stays Category 5 (environmentally sensitive), we run into some potential inappropriate and unwarranted objectors who have an agenda and don’t want that area developed," he said.
The roadblock to development of the area that includes the Route 33 corridor from approximately Fairfield Road to Yellowbrook Road is that a previous township planner determined the area to be environmentally sensitive and changed its designation from a suburban development area.
DiBella asked the present township planner, Michael Vena, "How do we get out from under that designation which makes no sense? I don’t want to get far down the road with Route 33 development [only] to find out there’s a designation that says, ‘Hah, we’ve got you. It’s rural and environmentally sensitive, and you can’t do that.’ "
Vena said the designations were contained in a report he submitted to Mon-mouth County and state officials for their review to determine if the environmentally sensitive designation could be changed.
"If we want to develop, it doesn’t make sense to have it [designated] environmentally sensitive," DiBella said.
Speedy Verosloff is a resident of Fairfield Road who has lobbied to have the area’s designation changed from Category 5 (rural and environmentally sensitive) to Category 2 (suburban development).
Verosloff, who owns 17 acres on Fairfield Road, confirmed to the Tri-Town News that he has donated 3 of his 17 acres, which includes his house, to the Adelphia Fire Company. In return, he said, he is receiving life tenant rights for his home.
Verosloff is also a member of Howell’s Economic Development Committee.
Speaking from the dais at a previous council meeting, DiBella said, "It was explained to me by several independent sources that there really was no substantial justification" for the redesignation of the area from suburban development to environmentally sensitive.
Asked after the meeting who the several independent sources were, DiBella could provide no other sources but Verosloff.
At that same July 21 meeting, DiBella had said, "I want to publicly acknowledge Mr. Verosloff, who has given me a tremendous amount of background information on the regional plan and these category designations. I have a great deal of respect for his knowledge in these issues. Clearly his information was helpful."
DiBella said on Sunday that he was not aware Verosloff had donated some of his property to the fire company.
In 1998, then-Township Planner Fred Heyer, along with then Planning Board Chairwoman Maria Portilla, were authorized by the board and Township Council to define or outline for the county’s Cross Acceptance Plan, the township’s environmental designations.
At that time, Heyer said any land that was not developed residentially or commercially by that point, he had designated as Category 5 (environmentally sensitive). Heyer said he did this because much of Howell is wetlands and because this designation would ensure that any future development would be done with the proper environmental constraints being put in place.
Speaking to a reporter this week, Portilla said also that the Route 33 area had been removed from the sewer master plan to control density and planning.
Portilla explained that the state Council On Affordable Housing determines a town’s obligation to allow for the construction of affordable housing according to projected density. Portilla said sewers in that environmentally sensitive area would have meant an increase in the town’s overall affordable housing numbers.
Speaking to a reporter this week, Bonnie Goldschlag, assistant planning director for Monmouth County, confirmed that the Category 5 designation was applied to the area based on the information provided by Heyer.
Goldschlag, who was in attendance for a June presentation to the council regarding the county’s plans for a western Monmouth County development plan, said this week, "When we complete the western Monmouth development plan we will submit the plan to the state Office of Smart Growth. All of these issues will be looked at as part of the endorsement process for the state planning commission."
Goldschlag said even though a particular designation exists, "things can change," as they did when the state mitigated wetlands in that same area for the construction of the Route 33 bypass.