State racing commission will make final call
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Opponents of an off-track wagering site on Route 206 in Hillsborough have gathered more than 750 signatures on an online petition opposing the facility in the township.
The activism follows the March 25 Township Committee meeting, when more than a dozen people expressed concern and even outrage at the possibility of the horse-track betting facility with a restaurant at 150 Route 206 in the northern part of the township.
An email and Facebook posting says the site of the former Maestro’s restaurant “may turn into an Off-Track Betting Facility. The application has been filed with the N.J. Racing Commission. It will be reviewed by the commission and a public hearing will be held sometime in mid-May.
”This type of facility has no place in our town. Both Green Book and Bridgewater turned it down! We need to do the same.
”Click on the link to sign the petition. http://www.petitions24.com/no_off_track_betting_in_hillsborough”
The petition itself says:
”Having an off-track betting facility in Hillsborough would bring in many out-of-town gamblers. Gambling has a negative impact on society. This would create safety and traffic problems. This would put a strain on our municipal resources as well. Off-track betting facilities are currently in Vineland, Toms River, Woodbridge, Bayonne. Do these towns resemble Hillsborough? I think not! Hillsborough is a family town.
”I demand the New Jersey Racing Commission reject off-track betting in Hillsborough immediately.”
Darby Development, which proposes the “Favorites at Hillsborough” restaurant and wagering site, gave a slide presentation detailing its plans at the March 25 meeting. Its lawyer and a principal in the firm answered the public’s questions for more than two hours.
Darby will make a more detailed presentation at the Racing Commission hearing, and perhaps at a preliminary meeting organized by the township before the state hearing.
Near the end of the March 25 three-hour meeting, the governing body approved an ordinance establishing a $32,000 annual payment in lieu of taxes (often shortened to the acronym PILOT) on the site.
Resident Michele Eilbacher said a core group of 10 to 15 people are working to publicize the possibility of the proposal being located in the township.
She said members of the group, including herself, had gone to the company’s Woodbridge facility and were disturbed by “images” they saw outside the site.
She said she spoke March 26 to the deputy director of the Racing Commission and learned more about the process. She said she was told Darby had filed an application, and that it would be reviewed before a public hearing is advertised. The hearing would probably be in mid-May, she said.
She said, regardless of how people might feel about a local off-track wagering facility, “there should be an awareness this is coming and we should have a say in it.” She said there was a feeling that “this is not the right fit for this town.”
On March 25, the committee faced requests — and even challenges — from residents that the governing body lead some action to oppose the horse-betting facility in the township. On a few occasions, speakers said the facility would undermine Hillsborough oft-touted status as “one of the best places to live in America,” as a sign on the front of the dais reads.
Some residents questioned what they said was a lack of publicity about this application, and the relative speed of approval of the PILOT. People asked why the application couldn’t be slowed down, and possibly even put to a public referendum.
A couple of speakers referred to Green Brook’s successful fight in 2008 against an off-track wagering site. Mayor Douglas Tomson said that after that experience the Legislature changed state law to supercede local zoning and approval powers and authorize wagering sites in any commercial or industrial zone in the state.
Ms. Eilbacher, noting that the legal to bet is 18, said at the meeting that the prospect of a gambling site was “scary” to her as a threat to the township’s youth. “It’s not the type of establishment where I would take my three children,” she said.
Darby Development, based in Oceanport, described an operation in which there would be a room with carrels and simulcast screens, a bar area with large-screen TVs featuring all types of sporting events and a restaurant area.
Robert Kalina, a principal in the firm, said Darby has spent $1.3 million to buy the former Maestro’s restaurant property and was putting another $500,000 in renovations. He said they would employ about 50 people, have in-person and round-the-clock video security and have an bar and restaurant similar to a successful facility in Woodbridge Township.
Operational details (hours, operation, security, lighting, noise, parking, etc.) would be fair game for public comment at a hearing that the state Racing Commission must schedule in Hillsborough once the applicant files a complete application.
The PILOT, or some tax payment plan, is one necessary item that must be filed with the application, Township Attorney Eric Bernstein said.
Mayor Tomson said the township basically had two choices: To negotiate a PILOT, or to demur and more than likely see Darby seek a tax abatement, in which normal property taxes (the property paid $41,564 in 2013) would be phased in over six years.
The negotiated agreement would bring the township about $60,000 more over the six years.
Township leaders have said that off-track wagering was made legal by a bipartisan action by the state government in 2011 as an economic measure to save a flagging horse racing industry.

