To the editor:
I attended the N.J. Racing Commission’s recent hearing regarding the proposed off-track wagering site in Hillsborough. I knew the following going into the meeting:
1) The developer had already spent considerable money visibly upgrading the facility on Route 206 prior to receiving approvals.
2) The Township Committee approved a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the developer 16 months earlier for about 30 percent less than the prior property owner paid.
3) Legislation had been drafted by our Assemblyman soon after that PILOT was approved in March of 2014 to restore home rule and allow municipalities to deny the establishment of OTW facilities but in over a year it had never made it to the Assembly floor.
4) The township to date did not have a copy of the developer’s application and presumably could not obtain one from the Racing Commission.
I fully expected that the public would receive handouts of the application or at least a detailed summary. This did not happen. Without an application, there were serious questions as to why the hearing was being conducted at all. Indeed, Laurie Poppe, a Democratic candidate for Township Committee, asked how the commission can conduct a hearing to determine whether the application is in due form and meets the requirements of law when the application is still in review and is not available. She suggested the hearing was premature.
Later, members of the Commission stated that they were not able to make the application available because so much information had to be redacted that it wouldn’t have satisfied the public. There are rules for redaction under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Since when is the Racing Commission above the law? Why did the township agree to let them to ride in on their horses and do a dog-and-pony show without even having an application in hand? (Note: Now that the comment and investigation period is over, the Commission is uselessly releasing the application.)
During the hearing, it was revealed that the township had to sign a new PILOT because somewhere along the line the contracting entity changed from Darby Development to the N.J. Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association. But it was the same shabby PILOT for less money than the prior owner, even though the estimate is that the OTW will gross $20 million per year. And the developer has invested $3.6 million on the property, all before this hearing to determine if the site will even be approved as an OTW.
Our township government failed our residents. Negotiating a poor PILOT, allowing a switcheroo on a PILOT recipient, telling residents that the public hearing is just “window dressing” and failing to obtain open public records is not the way to protect our town. Because of this, we are now on the clock to become only the 6th OTW location among New Jersey’s 565 municipalities.
We need to continue to implore not only the Racing Commission, but also our elected officials that the process has been flawed and it’s time to hit the reset button.
Meryl Bisberg
Hillsborough
