Our View
Those opposed, say aye

Well before the Home Depot application received its first Planning Board public hearing, residents from Brick and surrounding communities lined up to voice their resolute objections to the plan.

Environmentalists, noting that the site sits on the banks of Forge Pond, cried foul out of fear that the project would taint the town’s drinking water supply. Many area residents dreaded the extra traffic the plan would bring to the already jammed Route 70. Others simply didn’t want a third home-improvement box store within a 1.5 mile radius.

Brick’s officials have heard these complaints through public meetings, letters to newspapers, and residents calling them or talking to them on the street.

Now it appears there is at least a remote chance that the township may acquire the tract, or find someone else who will, allaying all of those concerns. Last week the Township Council passed a resolution contracting a firm to examine a group of sites, the old Foodtown included, for the feasibility of housing a new recreation center.

No official has been more vociferous on the issue, to this point, than Councilman Stephen Acropolis, who last week also expressed interest in turning the property into a new police station. It must be pointed out that the outspoken Acropolis is far from a spokesperson for the council. The lone Republican can usually be found at the center of spirited disagreements involving that government body.

It should also be made clear that the rest of the council and the Brick administration, though less vocal in public, are also less than thrilled about the application. Their recent actions indicate that they are listening to what their constituents are saying and responding, if quietly.

The Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority’s last-minute entrance into the fray at the Planning Board hearing caused a shake-up that bought the township crucial extra time to examine its options. We don’t believe that was an accident.

The future will be dictated by the same people who are reading this column. So far, Home Depot opponents have spoken the loudest, making well-reasoned objections in great numbers.

If Brick’s officials can persuade the Home Depot folks to take their ball and go home, it likely won’t be for free, no matter what solution is found. If there is a silent majority out there that is against township money being spent to block this project, they, too, should make themselves known now, before things go any further.