Local Isolationism May Cost Bernards in the Long Run
It seems from the latest edition of the Bernardsville News that our Township Committee has rejected the idea of joining other towns in implementing the Highlands Regional Master Plan. (See article here.)
In what has clearly become a pattern of “going it alone,” the TC turned down the offer to “opt in,” even though merely sending a nonbinding “letter of intent” would have given the town an additional year to come up with a viable COAH plan. It did however apply for a $15,000 grant to study the implications of joining.
This led to the following bizarre exchange, as reported in the newspaper:
Committeeman John Malay suggested sending a letter of intent as a way to buy the township time. Committeewoman Mary Pavlini agreed.
But Committeeman Scott Spitzer said he did not wish to send a letter if the committee had no intention of opting in.
“We shouldn’t act on a loophole but on what we think is right, instead of going along with this ruse,” Spitzer said.
Committeewoman Carolyn Kelly agreed. “I just don’t trust everybody,” she said. “Every time we discuss this, we hear different things. I don’t think anything that comes out from COAH or Highlands has any credibility.”
After Carpenter joined Spitzer and Kelly against sending a letter of intent, the committee briefly discussed the fate of the $15,000 grant from the state, which the township has yet to receive.
Carpenter said he wasn’t necessarily in favor of giving the money back. Spitzer joked that it could help fund the litigation against COAH.
This seems to me to make it pretty clear that none of the Committee members are really looking at this with an open mind, from the standpoint of long term benefit to Bernards Township, or even in some cases with any degree of integrity. Since the Committee has seemingly already made up its mind – based on some questionable arguments by Township Engineer Pete Messina – it seems disingenuous to continue to go after the grant.
So Malay and Pavlini were not above sending a clearly misleading letter in order to buy time to avoid dealing with COAH, and Carpenter is not above keeping the money even though he has no intention of honoring the intent of the grant. It may even be, given Spitzer’s wry comment, that one or two of the members are starting to wonder whether suing to avoid the town’s COAH obligations is really worth it.
If the COAH formula is truly flawed, as the town’s lawsuit alleges, then why not go back to the Council with a recommendation for a better one? The idea of trying to settle intergovernmental affairs – especially a dispute over rules designed to bring about a minimum of equity and housing assistance to the needy in each area – through the courts seems, on the face of it, a poor one, and likely to produce the worst possible outcome.
In an adversarial relationship, each side hardens its position and seeks to defeat the other by any possible. Only one side can win. The winning side then risks hubris, while the losing camp loses self-respect and translates this into an enduring resentment, which is readily returned. The TC feels COAH is trying to foist more low-end development on the town; the Council feels that wealthy towns like Bernards are simply irresponsible. And both are at least partly right.
But to reject both the town’s responsibility for more affordable housing (or try to find “technical” ways around it) and the opportunity to join in an environmentally-responsible regional master plan, is indicative of the knee-jerk, head-in-the-sand attitude of our local politicos. Because there is one-party rule, the level of debate never rises much above snide comments and backroom deals. Whether these help or harm the community may not be apparent for a while, but the lack of transparency and of accountability will always produce negative outcomes in the long term.
Jonathan Cloud, November 22, 2008
Postscript: We received a number of comments on this via email, which we’re posting into a single entry following this post. Julia Somers, Executive Director of the NJ Highlands Coalition, has agreed to speak at our meeting on December 17 (6:30 p.m. at the Public Library, 32 South Maple Ave., Basking Ridge) – all are welcome.
What seems clear is that the Township Committee has thus far reacted irrationally, based on faulty information, and we would like to see them reconsider their position.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
We received a number of comments on this topic via email, which we’re posting into a single entry here.
From Ryan Szuch (11/22/08):
Did you know that your township’s committee voted not to opt into the Highlands Council Regional Master Plan? I think its time to start next year’s campaign. You need to flood your local paper, and even the Courier News, criticizing this decision. You might also consider a petition, and take it to one of the upcoming committee meetings.
It’s truly a very bad decision. Bernards could have filed a Notice of Intent to opt into the Preservation Area… and the Notice of Intent is NON-BINDING… and that would have given them an extension to file their COAH housing plan in 2009 rather than by December 31, 2008. Instead, Bernards is part of a law suit against COAH, which has already failed in court, and now they are up against the December 31 deadline to file their housing plan. (Seems like 2 months is not enough time to prepare a high-quality, cost-effective plan…. ) A non-binding Notice of Intent would have extended that deadline an entire year. Your leaders would rather spend tax dollars on litigation, and bet the townships future on the outcome of a court appeal. Furthermore, opting into the Planning Area under the Governor’s current Executive Order… would call for COAH and the HIghlands Council to recalculate Bernard’s COAH requirement. It’s a great big carrot that the Governor has put in front of municipalities to entice them to opt in.
Basically, the Executive Order is an admission that there are conflicting goals between COAH’s call for X number of affordable units, and Highlands Council’s call for controls on development and use of water (and other) resources. And so the two agencies rejigger the COAH numbers to something much more reasonable. The period to take advantage of the Governor’s Executive Order ends at the end of this year, and so Bernards will miss out on a non-litigation opportunity to reduce its COAH obligation. Again, they’d rather spend tax dollars on litigation than back out of the litigation and take advantage of a clear, legal pathway to more reasonable COAH numbers that are good for the Bernards economy and protective of Bernards’ natural resources. I also heard that the vote was not unanimous, but was split 3-2. Lets use these dissenting voices and the County Committee to get you some input from neighboring towns that ARE opting in to the Preservation Area. My understanding is that Bernards may be the only Township in the County to be going this foolish route.
This is really big. It’s a great opportunity for Democrats to take a better and vastly different policy position than the controlling Republicans. And honestly, the Republicans are wrong here. A big mistake on their part.
From Ryan Szuch (11/22/08):
You should check out http://www.highlands.state.nj.us/njhighlands/images/noi_big.jpg“>this map.
The light blue areas are in the Preservation Area of the Highlands. Those municipalities are required to conform with the Highlands Regional Master Plan by law. I mis-typed (in my original message), in that the municipalities in the Planning Area can opt-in to the Regional Master Plan, not into the Preservation Area. Returning to the map, the dark blue municipalities are those in the Planning Area that have already filed a Notice of Intent (which is non-binding) to conform with the Regional Master Plan. You’ll see that several of Bernard’s neighbors have indicated a preference to opt-in. So again, you should be able to get some informative and persuasive quotes/comments from nearby leaders.
The Highlands Council works very hard at being transparent, so you should be able to find a lot of helpful info on its webpage. Anyone is allowed to stop and visit the Council’s office in Chester at any time, and the Council will also answer any constituent’s questions on the phone. All you have to do is call the office: 908-879-6737, and you will speak to a very informed person on these issues (i.e., not just administrative staff). Perhaps you could discuss this issue at a Democratic committee meeting, formulate a list of questions/concerns, and then have someone call the Council to get some answers… before organizing a well-informed criticism of what Bernards Township is doing (both the litigation, and the “fake” acceptance of the grant).
From Ryan Szuch (11/22/08):
There was an informative presentation/meeting by the Highlands Council within the last couple weeks, provided for the League of Municipalities and open to elected officials and Planning staff for all municipalities in the Preservation and Planning Areas. I do not know what Bernard’s representation, if any, was at that meeting. But just FYI, that it occurred.
I want to point out, for clarity, that there are two organizations, with similar names, in play here. The NJ Highlands Coalition annd the NJ Highlands Council. The Coalition, that Bill has contacted, is an advocacy group focused on regulatory and planning actions in the Highlands. The Coalition generally is supportive of natural resource protection and strict implementation of the Highlands Act. An example of a group at odds with the Coalition in regards to the Highlands would be the NJ Builders Association. The NJ Highlands Council is the element of NJ Dept of Environmental Protection that creates and implements planning and regulatory policies in the Highlands (and in fact, NJDEP itself retains some of that authority, particularly in the Preservation Area). I think Bill’s step to getting the Coalition’s input is very good. To get both sides of the story, you might also ask the builders for comment. And my suggestion in my last message was that you eventually go straight to the source – the Council – for confirmation of facts. For a government agency, I think you will find the Council unusually open and receptive to questions. Maybe everyone knew those distinctions (Coalition vs Council), but I wanted to be certain for those that might be less familiar with the Highlands issue.
From Ryan Szuch (11/24/08):
Article about Bernards about 1/3 of the way down. Your Township Engineer is providing very poor advice and inaccurate information to your Committee.
Also note within this summary of articles…
1 – the first article about how many towns have filed a notice to opt-in
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/17_towns_resolve_to_follow_hig.html“>17 towns resolve to follow Highlands master plan, by Paula Saha/The Star-Ledger, Thursday November 20, 2008, 5:09 PM
2 – an article on Bernardsville opting in
http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2008/11/21/bernardsville_news/news/doc4920b13e3c25d440046046.txt“>Bernardsville to seek extension on affordable housing plan
3 – an article stating that Clinton (one of the leading municipalities in the law suit against COAH) has decided to opt-in!
http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2008/11/21/hunterdon_review/news/doc492339ea39636710954341.txt“>Clinton Twp. to study whether to opt in to Highlands plan
Bernards practically stands alone.
Note: Bernards has until December 31, 2008 to send the letter declaring Notice of Intent to Opt-In. How many Township Committee meetings occur between now and December 31? We need to develop a strategy for each one. My recommendation would be that for the last or next to last meeting, we organize a flood of public advocates to attend and speak during open comment period that they vote to send the Notice of Intent. We can outreach to environmental organizations to assist in gathering people to attend the meeting.
From Jonathan Cloud (11/30/08):
Ryan has done a great job in compiling both informative articles and compelling arguments against our Township Committee’s shortsighted decision not to keep the door open to opting in to the Highlands Master Plan. As he states, it does not commit the town to following all of the Council’s preservation guidelines. What it does do, however, is seek to balance affordable housing goals against environmental ones; to give the township more time to come up with its plan; and to give the town greater tools for managing development.
The Township Committee’s casual dismissal of these opportunities is clear evidence of arrogance, ignorance, and irresponsibility. Even if one disagrees – as I do – with the town’s efforts to limit more affordable housing, it’s better to take advantage of an extension of the planning period than to pursue a misguided and costly lawsuit. It also seems likely to be better to be a part of the Highlands regional planning effort than to be left out of it.