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Towne Centre Should Be DOA: JACKSON RESIDENT SPEAKS OUT
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Do we have to destroy Jackson to save us from a tax increase ?
Do we have to destroy Jackson to save us from a tax increase?
After attending a "Meet the Mayor" session with Mayor Sean Giblin, I felt a strong need to reach out to my neighbors in Jackson. During my meeting with Mayor Giblin, we had the opportunity to look over Leigh Realty’s plans for the new Jackson Commons (formerly Towne Centre). It seems, based on this face-to-face and his “spin” in recent articles printed in the local papers, that Mayor Giblin has every intention of pushing for blind approval of this project -- disregarding changes or comment from the residents of Jackson.
I urge you to quickly look at the site plan (Justice Complex, Building & Zoning) and assess for yourself if this colossal project is in your best interest as well as for the residents of Jackson. Listed below are some questions that I think we all need to ask with regard to this new option for the Jackson Commons/Towne Centre. It is imperative that we get involved ASAP before the face of Jackson changes forever. Please call the Justice Complex (Town Hall) at (732) 928-1200 to ring some bells about this. The Zoning Board and Township Committee need input from the residents who will be so dramatically affected by this proposed mall.
General Overview:
Are you aware that this building application by Leigh Realty encompasses 38 potential buildings and a total of 2.9 million square feet of commercial space, including 13,000 parking spaces and a five-story hotel (plus lobby)? These commercial buildings on Routes 527 (Cedar Swamp Road) and 526 (East and West Commodore Blvd.).
Is anyone planning to address the impending and permanent truck traffic that will accompany this project?
Are you aware that this project will necessitate the widening of East and West Commodore Blvds and also Route 527 into four lanes highways?
Water-Related:
Are you aware that this project sits directly adjacent/on the headwaters of the Metedeconk River Watershed (protected under the new Category 1 designation) source of drinking water for Jackson, Brick Township and thousands of others in Ocean County?
What do we think of the subsequent health and water-related costs that we will incur if and when our wells are polluted?
Do you know that the residents of Howell and Brick pay approximately $500-600 annually for city water?
How much is the initial hook up charge for city water per household? This can be $3000-7000 or roughly 5-7 years of tax increases paid up-front.
Is Leigh Realty trying to get quick approval of this project in order to beat Governor McGreevey's stream water protection bill (Category 1) whose letter and intent is to maintain 300-foot protective buffers around watershed areas? Are you aware that the Township Committee is working with the DEP to get these buffers reduced in order to add three buildings and promote commercial development in Jackson?
Can you or I decide that we would like to add three stories to our homes...or add a commercial component to our properties that might degrade the value of our neighbors homes or water supply, so that we can max-out on our investment?
Why is Leigh Realty always so intent on grandiose proposals that strain the limits of what is reasonable and customary? Why is the Township Committee once again warned by their legal representation to be silent?
Please call the Township Zoning Board members and Township Committee to voice our concerns with regard to why they think they have the right to jeopardize our lifestyles without so much as a check on the pulse from the community? (Town Justice Complex: 732-928-1200. Ask for the availability of Mr. Kelly-Zoning, Dick McGill-Zoning, Township Committee - Kafton, Giblin, Broderick, Reilly, Grisanti. LEAVE A MESSAGE AND ASK TO BE CALLED BACK.)
Traffic Safety:
Which thoroughfare do you think has the most 18-wheeler traffic...Route 195, NJ Turnpike... or Routes 526/527?
Are you aware that the Jackson Commons application includes plans for a one million square foot warehouse?
Did you know that an 18-wheeler flipped over at the intersection of Routes 526 and 527 in the middle of the afternoon on 4/14/04? Were you aware that a Jackson school bus had been at that precise spot just seconds earlier?
Were these roads originally designed for this type of truck traffic? Is this just another example of terrible planning for the good of an overzealous developer?
How many of us put our families in the car and travel these same roads on a daily basis?
How will these four-lane highways affect our quality of life? Will it be like the proverbial two sides of the tracks? East Jackson versus West Jackson?
Will it be like a Route 9, cutting Jackson in half? Will the trucks slow down...or speed up? Is there really going to be a helipad up the road?
Here is an easy one...Do you know that truckers already utilize Routes 526 and 527 as short-cuts North and South... to beat the tolls on the NJ Turnpike?
Can you imagine what a full-length strip of stores on Route 527 will do to traffic flow? Will there be sidewalks to connect our communities?
Retail Space:
Has the Township Committee considered the impact of adding millions of square feet of retail space when we cannot currently fill what already exists? Has anybody noticed that we have significant vacant retail space on County Line Road (East Jackson) and on Don Conner Blvd across from the Justice Complex, among other places?
Since we are being told that residential building in Jackson is being stopped/slowed, who will shop at these stores?
How many of us have moved from areas in North Jersey, Staten Island and or Long Island to get away from this type of mismanaged development? How long does it take to drive one mile in Brick? Is this not exactly the reason we moved to Jackson in the first place, to get away from this?
Does anyone from "East Jackson" ponder how quickly this end of town will look like run-down parts of other towns, with questionable tenants?
Can you call a friend in a neighboring town to find out what their tremendous over-build of ratables has done to their tax bill? (P.S.Their taxes are still placed at what the market can bear! They lost their aesthetic quality, their tranquil, safe commute to work, and any sense of community whatsoever.)
Township Committee:
Why when you go the "Meet the Mayor" session at the Jackson Library is he trying to sell Leigh Realty's development proposal?
Will a revised version of this application be phased in over fifteen years, in stages, in a flow that will meet the long-term needs of the community?
Why is the Township Committee intent on expediting this proposal when there are so many unknowns that could turn out to be devastating to this town?
Why can't the Township Committee use their heads and ask for community-oriented projects to be built into this application...to reduce traffic, trucks, and impervious ground cover in attempts to really improve the quality of the community? Examples of community-oriented projects that could decrease the density of this mall complex might include the little league fields that the Little League organization has been asking for...for over a year! Why not take advantage of NJ state and Federal funds to acquire part of this environmentally sensitive, water-quality imperative land to be preserved as open space? The money is available!!! The Township Committee simply has to apply!!!
Thanks for your time.
-Paul Mantell
