Pick up a newspaper on any given day, in any given part of the country, and the chances are good you’ll read about a group of residents opposed to a development. These stories always seem to end the same.
The local politicians, after being elected on pledges of curbing overdevelopment, do nothing. If they’re lucky, the residents might get a fence, a sidewalk, or some other weak concession from the applicant.
But not here. Not today.
The purchase of the vacant Foodtown property is, for once, a welcome victory for the average, non-politically active resident.
A year or two from now, the memory of Preit Services’ application to redevelop the site as a Home Depot will have faded. While discussions intensify on what kind of park or recreation center the township should put there, perhaps the threat the plan posed to Brick’s drinking water will be forgotten. But for now, the residents who fought for this victory should enjoy the moment.
The events that transpired to make this all happen were improbable, to say the least.
First, Gov. James McGreevey happens to choose Metedeconk River Yacht Club, Brick, to deliver the "battle against sprawl" speech that was a precursor to his "State of the State" address. On that day, he proposed Category 1 protection status for the river, a few miles downstream from the Foodtown site.
The next week, the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority entered the Planning Board process with attorney John Paul Doyle. The BTMUA’s presence lent credibility to the residents’ outcry that the project could affect Brick’s drinking water.
Mix these factors with an election year, and you have a climate that’s just right for the residents to get their way. McGreevey’s call to action, symbolically held in Brick, gave the township’s leaders the political green light — if not a mandate — to proceed. The BTMUA’s stance gave them a scientific base to lean on when it was time to cut the $6.1 million check for the property.
A Home Depot spokesman said months ago that the store’s purpose wasn’t to box in the new Lowe’s from both sides of Route 70, but to act as a reliever for its busy Lakewood store. When a group of Lowe’s and Home Depots are clustered together, he said, it creates something of a home improvement district in which they all flourish.
The idea does make sense when you apply it to other industries. When it’s time to shop for a new car, you might start your search in the cluster of dealerships on Route 88 in Lakewood. It’s convenient, and you’ll probably find what you need at competitive prices.
If this concept really motivates Home Depot, don’t be surprised to see them back before the board with another local site in mind.