August 23, 2011
U.S. transportation secretary moves to protect $450 million in Northeast Corridor upgrades (Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“As a longtime — meaning long-suffering — commuter on America’s busiest rail line, John W. Nabial Sr.’s trip to work depends on a chain of events outside his control.”
Court upholds board’s decision to deny pumping station (Schwartz, Pascack Valley Community Life) Mahwah, Bergen County
“The appellate division the Superior Court of New Jersey has ruled that United Water did not establish sufficient reasons as to why Montvale’s Zoning Board should allow the utility variances to construct a pumping station in a residential neighborhood.”
Planning Board Rescinds Re-Zoning of Crossroads Property (Smith Jr., Mahwah Patch) Mahwah, Bergen County
“The council chamber rang out with applause at the Planning Board meeting Monday night, as nearly 100 residents cheered the Planning Board’s decision to overturn the Council’s three ordinances that allowed property near the Shearton Mahwah Hotel to be rezoned as retail space.”
Monday, December 20, 2010 (Morning)
County planning board approves waterfront plan for Edgewater (Almenas, Edgewater View) Edgewater, Bergen County
“The Bergen County Planning Board has voted unanimously to adopt a plan that will develop the Hudson River walkway in Edgewater.”
Bound Brook Planning Board OK’s Urban Design Plan (Levoy, mycentraljersey.com) Bound Brook, Somerset County
“The Bound Brook Planning Board has incorporated a Downtown Urban Design Plan into the Master Plan, laying the foundation for the borough to think concretely about its future, while also inviting surrounding communities to get involved in their economic futures.”
Monroe zoning board considers allowing homemade amusement park to remain open (Stirling, The Star-Ledger) Monroe, Middlesex County
“In what could be a protracted battle, the Monroe zoning board is weighing whether to grant the owner of Greek’s Playland and the Stone Museum a variance that would allow the quirky landmark to stay open.”
Roseland introduces two rezoning proposals (Burke, The Progress) Roseland, Essex County
“The Borough Council introduced an ordinance change Tuesday, Dec. 14 that would rezone two parcels — one on Eagle Rock Avenue, the other along Eisenhower Parkway — in response to recommendations from the Planning Board.”
Monday, December 13, 2010 (Afternoon)
NEWS
N.J. Assembly approves bill abolishing Council on Affordable Housing (Friedman, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“The state Assembly has passed a controversial bill that would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing, but neither Republicans nor affordable housing advocates are happy with it.”
Roselle council members say they support apartment at Roselle Golf Course (Caroom, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“Roselle’s council member pledged this week to support an ambitious development on the city’s largest open plot of land at the Roselle Golf Course, a project that has encountered vocal opposition from residents.”
A 40-story building for Newport (Kaulessar, Hudson Reporter) Jersey City, Hudson County
“Newport residents will probably see a new 40-story building rising in their neighborhood next year.”
Cell tower project can move forward after Lakeland Regional High School district receives letter of approval from DOE commissioner (Kolton, Suburban Trends) Wanaque, Passaic County
“Lakeland Regional High School’s planned cell phone tower is ‘ready to rock and roll,’ said Chief School Administrator Anthony Riscica at the Tuesday, Dec. 7 meeting of the Board of Education.”
JOB
Principal Planner — Borough of North Wildwood, Cape May County
Thursday, December 9, 2010 (Morning)
N.J. environmental groups say ‘urgent action’ is needed for Jersey Shore pollution (Mascarenhas, The Star-Ledger) Ocean County
“As the Legislature considers sweeping changes to the state’s environmental policy, leading green groups warned in a report today that “urgent action” is needed to address a rising tide of pollution and ecological damage along the Jersey Shore.”
DOT gets behind move for Dinky (Knapp, The Times of Trenton) Princeton, Mercer County
“The commissioner of the state Department of Transportation has expressed support for Princeton University’s plans for an arts and transit neighborhood on the western edge of its campus.”
Honeywell development plan discussed; experts layout concept for 147-acre tract (Lent, Morris NewsBee) Morris, Morris County
“Honeywell International Officials came before the Planning Board Monday night to outline concept plans for the redevelopment of its headquarters that would include a hotel, office buildings and options of either townhouses or senior housing.”
Proposed zoning revisions modified, public hearing on Dec. 15 (Zimmer, Suburban Trends) West Milford, Passaic County
“A significant component of the township’s planned rezoning effort was recently scrapped. However, the Township Council is moving to enact some changes that will eliminate unsupported high-density zoning in the town center area before the year’s end.”
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Legal wrangling over athletic center ends (Miller, The News Transcript) Howell, Monmouth County
“A state Superior Court judge has cleared the way for the eventual construction of the Monmouth Athletic Center, five years after the principals purchased the site on Fairfield Road.”
OPINION
A death blow for prosperity (Staff Editorial, mycenterljersey.com) Statewide
“In a short-sighted, hubris-tinged decision, Gov. Chris Christie officially ended NJ Transit’s ambitious second Hudson River Tunnel project last week, saying he supported the project philosophically, but New Jersey could not afford it.”
Monday, October 25, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Phillipsburg, Alpha apply for Highlands law conformance, center designations (Staff, Warren Reporter) Phillipsburg/Alpha, Warren County
“Two Warren County municipalities have submitted petitions to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council for Plan Conformance and have asked for Highlands Center designations, according to a press release issued this week by the New Jersey Highlands Council.”
Robbinsville: Council OKs redevelopment resolution (Degnan, The Messenger-Press) Robbinsville, Mercer County
“The Township Council has declared 90 acres of homes, businesses and vacant land on the south side of Route 33 an an ‘area in need of redevelopment’ — a designation that gives the municipality broad powers to help revive the stalled projects known as Town Center South.”
State uses partnership to help cleanup abandoned tire dumps (Barna, The Gloucester County Times) Trenton, Mercer County
“The Department of Environmental Protection is spearheading the removal of hundreds of thousands of tires from the largest tire dumps remaining in the state, all of them in South Jersey, Commissioner Bob Martin said.”
Mount Olive townhouse development gets planning board green light (Goldberg, The Star-Ledger) Mount Olive, Morris County
“The plan to turn Marveland horse farm into a 284-unit development in Mount Olive has cleared a big procedural hurdle.”
OPINION
The ARC Tunnel project: What’s really in it for us? (Saydah, The Record) Statewide
“The political herd has responded as expected to Governor Christie’s second thoughts on the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project.”
Housing bill needs repair (Staff Editorial, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“Everyone hates the state Council on Affordable Housing and its confusing web of regulations for building homes for low- and moderate-income families. But killing COAH only makes sense if its replaced with a more effective program. At a time when housing costs are taking a bigger bite out of paychecks, it’s never been more critical to get it right.”
N.J cannot afford putting off Hudson River tunnel project (Braun, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“If, as the trite greeting card wisdom goes, life is a journey and not a destination — New Jersey is the right place to live. For decades, it has been far more a transportation state than a garden state. The governor could change all that when he decides whether to shut down the Hudson Tunnel projects.”
The Hudson River tunnel is not worth the money (Post, for The Daily Record) Statewide
“A bridge to nowhere. A tunnel to Macy’s basement. Neither makes much sense, the possible stimulus whimper of building them notwithstanding.”
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 (Afternoon)
New fort authority begins to take shape (Davison, Atlanticville) Fort Monmouth, Monmouth County
“With the challenge of drafting S-917, the N.J. Senate Bill creating the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), behind them, officials now look toward the challenges of assembling the authority and actually receiving the property from the federal government.”
Zoners to hear plan for detox center (Kahn, The Lawrence Ledger) Lawrence, Mercer County
“A controversial request for permission to open a drug and alcohol detoxification center tops the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s agenda when the board meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building.”
Old Bridge celebrates acquisition of farm (Ciraulo, Suburban) Old Bridge, Middlesex County
“Old Bridge officials approved a bond ordinance for the purchase of the Cottrell Farm and Whitney Estates on Monday night after years of work to obtain the properties.”
Monday, August 30, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Council to examine need for COAH (Zimmer, Suburban Trends) West Milford, Passaic County
“The township will be examining its liability for builder’s remedy lawsuits, as local officials are doubting the need to pander for protection from the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).”
Down to Its Last Million Acres (Martin, The New York Times) Statewide
“‘Total build out’ sounds as if it could be the title of a science fiction film. In fact it is a forecast of reality for New Jersey, which according to a new report is down to its last million acres of developable land, and may run out by midcentury.”
Planners Eye Traffic, Pollution Issues for Proposed Cleaners (Dunphy, Morristown Patch) Morristown, Morris County
“After an over two-hour meeting on Thursday, Aug. 26, the Planning Board had not yet decided whether or not to approve the construction of a new cleaners in a vacant lot on South Street.”
OPINION
Is New Jersey running out of space (Hasse and Lathrop, Jr., for The Record) Statewide
“Is New Jersey really going to run out of land? Yes. While the great recession has slowed things down, most of the state is only decades away from buildout, the condition where all available land is either built to its capacity or in some form of preserved open space.”
Thursday, August 19, 2010 (Morning)
Hopatcong Trying to Meet Affordable Housing Goals (Brenzel, Hopatcong Patch) Hopatcong, Warren County
“Hopatcong is in the ‘workshop phase’ of planning how to meet the obligations established by the Council of Affordable Housing, borough planner Paul Gleitz said.”
Pemberton Borough reverses course on church (Roh, Courier-Post) Pemberton, Burlington County
“The planning board reversed itself on a zoning dispute with the Apostolic Church of Deliverance, a day before both parties appeared in federal court in Camden.”
Cape May settles suit with engineer; no money exchanged (Mattessich, Shore News Today) Cape May, Cape May County
“Early this month, the city entered into a no-money settlement of the Superior Court lawsuit in which it sued its former engineering firm, Remington Vernick & Wahlberg.”
Expert testimony nearing final stage (Wassel, Town News) Paramus, Bergen County
“Shamrock Creek, LLC presented another set of professional witnesses at the Aug. 12 Paramus Board of Adjustment meeting, adding testimony that addressed concerns involving the safety, impact and appearance of the proposed Soldier Hill development.”
Monday, August 9, 2010 (Evening)
Moorestown creates redevelopment zone (Bishop, Burlington County Times) Moorestown, Burlington County
“While officials say they are loath to drop the hammer of government on property owners, the township council is taking action that would empower it to use eminent domain in a struggling neighborhood.”
