You really need to be at the planning board meeting on Thursday!
24 JanI’ll try to keep this low key, as far as pep talks go.
Its vitally important that we have a huge outpouring of support at Thursday’s Planning board meeting. This meeting will be a turning point, where they reveal whether they feel Rt 33 can support dealerships. As I’ve noted before… the jist of the planning report on 33 has been. We made mistakes on 9, lets not make them on 33. An obvious extension to that is TO STOP MAKING THE MISTAKES ON 9! Virtually everyone I’ve spoken to believes this to be a bad idea, if they think about it for more than 30 seconds.
I’ll state a fact as far as I’m concerned. Anyone official that votes for this, will NEVER get my vote. It has been pretty easy to get people on board with this issue, through effective use of the website, and e-mails. These will be just as effective reminders at election time, should this proceed. Thats a promise.
The master plan has guided responsible development for decades. I can’t say I’ve been unhappy with what businesses have emerged over the years. This proposal to divert from this plan is a mistake, and in my view, puts everything up for grabs going forward.
I also denounce the tactics of the board, of threatening with other worse approved uses. “Would you rather have a convention center?” Wow! Let me think… NO! Trust me, that will be met with opposition as well.
This needs to be killed at the planning board level. It may go to the town council, which is some of the same people, so go figure… but the louder we complain of how much time is being wasted entertaining this bad idea.. the better chance this goes away, sooner rather than later.
Further news on this will be available on:
http://www.facebook.com/awarenessregistryofmanalapan
This site will track this an other concerns affecting Manalapan.
Planning Meeting Tomorrow 8pm – BUT….
11 JanThe planning meeting is tomorrow, however the dealership issue is not on the agenda. I felt it is important to let everyone know that. Many of us are going to be there, and we welcome meeting new people, to answer any questions and bring you up to speed before or after the meeting. We do realize this is an expenditure of time on your part so we don’t want to necessarily squander it on this meeting.
You are certainly welcome to get up and speak your mind, and the board will listen.
We were hoping for a decision soon, like this meeting, but now the one on January 26th.
If you’ve already mapped out the time, Join us! If it comes down to only being able to make one meeting, then come on the Jan 26th
Protests Saturday at Exxon 9:45am
6 JanPlease join us to protest changing of the master plan for dealerships.
Please print copies of the attached flyer to hand out.
The more people that are aware and show up to the meeting on Thursday, the better the chance of defeating this!
Next, on Stop07726dealership…
2 JanWebsite will undergo a redesign with easier access to supporting documents, and action plans, including links to ready to send objection letters.
Please check back frequently during the coming week. Now is the time to focus on defeating this now.
I appreciate the time everyone has spend on this, attending the meetings, picketing, etc.
Happy New Year!
2 JanI’ll echo Jerry’s comments wishing everyone a Happy New Year! [ link to video coming soon ]
I also agree that we’ve heard quite a bit of testimony on the proposed dealerships.
I disagree with everything else he said.
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I’ve pointed out Jerry’s dismissive attitude towards the concerns of the residents. He said its not a traffic issue. Yes it is. He said its not a noise issue. Yes it is. Its also a safety issue, and a quality of life and economics issue.
A dealership is an undesirable element for current and future homeowners. Fact.
The revenue of this and the other dealerships is likely less than a Starbucks beverage on a per household basis. I’ve asked board members for this number. I will ask the board at the next meeting to produce that one simple number.
We have doubled the amount of people at each meeting over the past several months. These people are genuinely upset. This will impact our lives. , Jerry dismisses the fact that other people are joining there cause. News flash, this affects our whole town. If this passes, anything can pass.
Jerry says this is whats best for the township. I beg to differ. This is whats best for Jerry and Mr Catena. Mr Catena is a businessman who is entitled to ask for whatever he wants, but it is the duty of the board to protect the interest of its residents, by not changing the master plan on a whim. I get that you have to review the plan.. that does not require you to change it….. especially in this case.
There has been a lot of discussion on the boards last action of a fact finding excercise to look for suitable sites on route 33.
To be clear, my stance is, was and remains.
– 200 route 9 north is not suitable. This is obvious despite the Catena teams dismissive comments, selective data, and suspension of belief of common sense.
– The master plan should not be changed. Otherwise for the purpose of future elections and interactions with the planning board /town council that everything is up for grabs. This is clearly not in the best interest of the town, its being fast tracked for unknown reasons (a resident cited a compliant usage that took much longer)
-The fact search on 33 is a good thing. It was a departure fixating on 200 route 9 north. Before that moment, I thought I was in a bizarro nightmare of us battling towards a very bad outcome, of the board ignoring the will of the people. If they don’t find a suitable site on a sparsely populated business district (like route 9), then the 200 Route 9 site is certainly not suitable. There may be a completely suitable site on Route 33 that no one would object to. The fact that Mr Catena may not want to do business there is beside the point. The planning report states that poor decisions were made on Route 9, and they pledge not to make it on Route 33. It will be interesting to see the criteria they apply to deciding if Route 33 is acceptable. Hint: That same criteria needs to be applied to 200 Route 9 North. that being said, Manalapan does not need dealerships.. there are plenty on route 9. Its a running joke. The more they look elsewhere, the clearer it will be that this is unsuitable.
-The board needs to take to heart what its residents are telling them. If this was a referendum, with all the FACTS outlined, it would be struck down.
Finally, to address an editorial by a reporter that proposed that residents paying reduced taxes via reduced property value is a good thing. Yes, someone actually wrote that. No really, they did. The absurdity of that actually has me speechless.
Happy New Year!
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07726concerns 