Those Woods You Love May Not Be Woods Forever

(apartments, condos).

Just because it’s zoned a certain way, that doesn’t mean there’s a plan. It just says what the town officials want it to be some day. They might think “This area near the highway is a good place for businesses, but not for houses.” So that’s how they zone it. Then, one day, a developer comes along and says “I want to built a strip mall here.”

Every so often, the zoning changes. Sometimes it’s done piecemeal. Sometimes it’s a huge undertaking.

Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL/N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28) requires every town in New Jersey to adopt a comprehensive plan or master plan, and to revisit it every ten years. This would be an entire town’s plan.

It’s why I have to laugh when politicians are sur- prised at overdevelopment. At some point, within the last ten years, someone decided that hundreds of homes should go over here, and businesses should go over there. Years later, a developer does just that and people are surprised?

If the politician thinks that there’s too much development, they can make changes in the zoning to fix that before a plan gets proposed. If they try to change the zoning after a plan gets proposed, it’s called spot zoning, and it can open them up to a lawsuit.

Sure, a politician can’t know everything that’s happening in their town, especially larger towns. And they can’t control what was done by officials before them. But they suffer from the same object permanence issue that the rest of us have – we think that once something is there, it will always be there.

Every election year, politicians promise they’ll fight overdevelopment. They really can’t do that once a plan is proposed. Further, they can’t meddle in the affairs of the land use boards that approve or deny developments. But they can change zoning. And they should.

Property owners have the right to use their property as they see fit, providing it’s legal. Town officials can tell you what’s allowed.

Some towns have an open space tax. It’s separate from your property taxes, but it all gets paid at the same time. It might be a penny on every $100,000 of valuation for your property. Ocean and Monmouth counties both have open space trust funds that make purchases that towns can’t afford.

Letters To The Editor

some kind of ban in effect right now.

Following the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, states are now able to make their own minds up about abortion, making the choice for you rather than letting the woman decide.

Republican-led states, mostly in the south like Alabama and Arkansas, are

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A state like Florida, where Ron DeSantis signed a 6-week ban, is a de facto ban. Most women don’t know they’re pregnant 6 weeks in. 6 weeks is one missed period. A woman might just think she’s late. By the time she learns she’s pregnant, it’s too late to get an abortion.

Two states, Wisconsin and North Dakota don’t even have clinics right now, according to news reports.

If your child is going to college in one of these 24 states that have a ban, what’s going to happen if they have an unwanted pregnancy? Mistakes happen, so the smart thing to do is look ahead at the state politics where the college is. Idaho even enacted a law that prevents women from traveling to other states to have an abortion. So, they won’t even be able to come

Politicians can negotiate as long as they have a willing property owner. They can buy the land and preserve it as open space. And they should.

I’ve been to a lot of town meetings where people are upset that they will suddenly be living near an apartment complex, strip mall, or something like that. I don’t blame them. All of the woods I played in as a kid are gone now. All of it. There is a way to be proactive, though.

If you love an area of woods, find out who owns it and what it is zoned. Some towns have this information available online. You might also have to look at county records for deeds. Sometimes, the solution is to reach out to someone at the town.

Ask your town leaders to preserve it. Many of the pol- iticians I’ve talked to love having more open space in their towns. It saves them money on things like road maintenance and garbage collection. It also lowers the number of kids in the school district so school taxes don’t go up. It’s actually cheaper to buy land and keep it open space than to let it fill with 2.5 kids per household.

I oversimplified this extremely complicated process throughout this editorial, but the point is that every strip of land in town is going to be built upon unless it’s specifically saved. So, if there’s a section of pristine land that you love, and you want it to stay that way, start working now to keep it open space forever.

Chris Lundy News Editor

home for it.

Don’t think that this applies only to your daughters. It’s not just their lives that will forever be impacted. Your sons need to be protected, too.

This doesn’t even enter into all the medically necessary abortions, and pregnancy from rape (which happens in college dorms of course).

So please, if you want your daughter or son to have a career, follow their dreams, and build a family when they are ready, don’t send them to college in a state where abortion is illegal.

Teresa DeRosa, Brick

Support Bacchione & Team In Berkeley

I am writing this letter in reaction to a January story in The Berkeley Times announcing the candidacy of Council President John Bacchione for the mayoral position in Berkeley Township. This is fantastic news! Although it saddens me that Mayor Carmen Amato is stepping away from the mayoral position, I am happy that Councilman Bacchione is seeking the job.

Among the many reasons I feel John is the right person for the job is his quote to The Berkeley Times when he said he doesn’t want to change the recipe (referring to Carmen Amato’s leadership).

Berkeley Township is a great place to live. We have beaches, clean parks, and extensive recreational facilities. Our Berkeley Township Schools are safe, and they provide a quality education. Under John’s leadership there is more to come to make our community even better.

Councilman Bacchione’s business experience in the mortgage industry is also a plus. Our residents deserve knowledgeable candidates and especially for homeowners where property values are concerned and their relationship to assessments and ratables and to the community. To me, this strikes a needed balance of private sector and public sector expertise.

Councilman Bacchione does not act like a politician in public...he is a member of the community who cares about the progress being made in town. He is truly “all in” for Berkeley Township. My message to all Berkeley Township voters, vote for John Bacchione for mayor and the Republican team in 2023.

Continue Moving Forward with Bacchione and Republican Team.

Fred Bekiarian Bayville