Land development, zoning regulation plans postponed

Discrepancies cited as cause for delay

By: Stephanie Brown
   JAMESBURG —The Borough Council postponed plans to bring land development and zoning regulations into compliance with its Master Plan, Wednesday.
   The ordinance, which was written by the Land Use Board, was tabled after the council found discrepancies within the document. Council members said they will try to have it adopted before the end of the year, but it must first go back to the Land Use Board.
   The ordinance is meant to replace the existing land development/zoning map ordinance, which is inconsistent with the present Master Plan, said Councilman Christopher Maloney. In addition, the updated ordinance is more specific than the Master Plan, which doesn’t touch on things like noise levels, for example, said Mr. Maloney.
   "We have a set of ordinances that governs how Jamesburg is run," said Mr. Maloney. "There’s also a Master Plan of how we want things to be. This is intended to bring our ordinances in line with the Master Plan, because right now — if there’s a conflict — then it can go to the courts and there’s all kinds of mess. It’s much easier for everybody if the Master Plan and the ordinances are aligned."
   Rather than remove the problematic sections and adopt a partial version of the 151-page proposal, the council decided it would be wise to re-examine the whole document with the Land Use Board in case anything else was missed.
   "This is the largest ordinance that we’ve passed since I’ve been on the council," Mr. Maloney said. "So it makes sense that it’s going to take a lot of discussion."
   Councilman John Longo, who is also on the Land Use Board, said the delay could affect board applications. Any project that comes before the board would be required to follow the old ordinance.
   However, no major applications are scheduled to come before the board within the next month or two, he said.
   "It has no implications at this point," Mr. Longo said.
   The council found several sections under the ordinance that need revision, including those that deal with signs and noise levels.
   The ordinance contains a section that defines signs, but excludes political signs from the definition. However, political signs are discussed in the section.
   The ordinance also contains a clause prohibiting the placement of political signs on borough right-of-ways. The council members thought the phrase "borough right-of-way" should be clarified to prevention confusion.
   For example, they questioned whether the strip of lawn in someone’s front yard between the curb and the sidewalk is considered a borough right-of-way.
   Zoning Officer Bernie Long said that if a person takes care of that part of the lawn, it should be considered that person’s property.
   "The land a person maintains is their land," Mr. Long said, adding that if the area were unkempt, he would give the homeowner — not the borough — a violation.
   The ordinance would also have prohibited putting up political signs along East and West Railroad avenues, which are borough right-of-ways.
   "It’s very arguable one way or the other whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing," said Mr. Maloney. "I’m happy to have that discussion or that debate."
   The noise level ordinance restricted noise to specific decibel, rules that Mr. Maloney said are too objective.
   The decibel listed in the ordinance would make it illegal to run a lawn mower or snowblower.
   "No one wants to tell people that they can’t use their snowblowers or leaf blowers; that’s not the intent," Mr. Maloney said.
   Members of the council and the Land Use Board will review the ordinance, and said they hope to adopt it by the end of the year.
   "We do want to get it done as soon as possible, but as we said tonight, we do want to get it done right," said Mr. Maloney. "If we have things that we think are inconsistent or not in the borough’s best interest, we want to make sure we address it."