Open space a key issue in race for 3 Monroe seats
Two incumbents are among the six seeking election to council seats
MONROE — On Nov. 6, Republicans will once again try to break the one-party rule that Democrats have held on the Township Council for more than 10 years.
In Ward 1, Republican Mary Margiotta will run against Democratic incumbent Henry "Hank" Miller, who has held office since 1989.
Voters in Ward 3 will again choose between Councilwoman Joanne Connolly, 58, who has held office for nine years, and Republican Audrey Cornish, who ran unsuccessfully against Connolly in past elections.
In Ward 2, Democrat Jerry Tamburro, 65, is running for the seat now held by Councilwoman Leonora Farber, who is not seeking re-election, and he will face Republican Ken Chiarella, 34, who first ran for office in 1999.
"I was an independent, but I just got fed up with all the development going on," Chiarella said, explaining why he first ran in 1999. "I went to council meetings to speak my mind, and I felt like no one was listening. So I decided to become a Republican and fight development."
Now that he’s retired, Tamburro, a former senior lender for the now-defunct National State Bank of Elizabeth, said he has the time to devote to public office.
"I’m a retired executive," Tamburro said. "I’ve been on the Planning Board. I feel that my business background and my experience on the board will contribute toward my time on the council."
Miller, Connolly, Tamburro and Chiarella all agreed that maintaining open space is a key issue, but Chiarella said he feels the Democrats have allowed the type of zoning laws that will ultimately enable too much development.
"They’re allowing development after development to be built," Chiarella said. "People moved here because they wanted less stress and less traffic, and now it’s following them. We need to take a look at the zoning laws. It’s zoned now so that someone can buy a parcel of land and build 40 houses on it. We need to change the zoning laws."
Tamburro said, however, that the current zoning laws are part of the township’s master plan, which carefully lays out future plans for commercial development, housing and open space acquisition.
"The main objective is to maintain as much open space as possible," Tamburro said. "The master plan currently in place allows for various areas in the township to be developed according to the zoning laws. Some areas are zoned for adult communities, some for single-family homes. The primary commercial development is along the Route 33 corridor. This is where commercial and business development will take place."
Connolly, who is employed as an administrative assistant for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service of Middlesex County, said the township’s approach to development over the years has led to a blending of single-family homes, retirement communities and a limited amount of commercial and industrial development.
"Everyone would like to wish away development, but the reality is that without a comprehensive open space acquisition plan, landowners are free to develop," Connolly said. "Farmland preservation, open space purchases and the clustering of single-family homes has resulted in the permanent preservation of thousands of acres of land."
Miller, a retired executive, who, like Connolly, has worked in the past as a teacher, also emphasized the importance of continually updating the master plan, which he believes will continue to keep the township a rural-suburban community.
"We should strive to accomplish the following: To [add] more 1.5- and 3-acre zoning to protect our semi-rural areas, and to rezone and plan to protect residential housing from commercial development," Miller said.
Chiarella, who is employed by CVS Pharmacy as a regional loss prevention manager, said he doesn’t think the current council is doing enough to curb sprawl.
"I think the master plan is the major problem," Chiarella said. "[The current council] keeps saying only one-third [of Monroe] will be developed. Mayor Richard Pucci keeps saying 43 percent will be developed. We should be saying we’re done."
Tamburro said the exact amount of future development cannot be pinpointed.
"There is no percentage to what is going to be developed," Tamburro said. "If the township is developed up to 40 percent, it’s a lot."
While all three Democratic candidates agree with Chiarella on the need to control growth and to avoid overdevelopment, Chiarella said he fears that it may be too late.
"It’s becoming another East Brunswick with all of the development and traffic," Chiarella said. "I don’t want to see [discount department stores] built all over the place. These companies will make their money and leave, and we’re going to be stuck with the noise, the traffic and the taxes."
Tamburro, a former resident of East Brunswick, said the current council has no desire to build strip malls or malls of any kind.
"They bring problems; they don’t solve problems," said Tamburro, who lived in East Brunswick for 25 years.
"If I’m [elected to] the council, I would guarantee it [Monroe] wouldn’t become another East Brunswick," Tamburro said.
Margiotta and Cornish could not be reached for comment for this story.