Proposed development brings Save Barnegat Bay to board
Oct. 11 hearing set for project neighbors say will flood their homes
BY COLLEEN LUTOLF
Staff Writer

BRICK - A developer looking to build on land that had originally been earmarked as intended open space is scheduled to come back before the Planning Board Oct. 11.

Aside from numerous neighbors objecting to the plan due to possible flooding problems, Danitom Development Inc., Paramus, has what may become an even more formidable force to contend with - the organization that saved Traders' Cove from becoming condominiums - Save Barnegat Bay.

Township officials had been hoping for years to purchase as open space the 35-acre tract off Drum Point Road from the Archdiocese of Trenton, but talks always fell through.

The diocese approached the township with a plan to sell 12 acres to a developer. The remaining acreage will go to the township free of charge.

Township officials see the deal as fair.

Willie deCamp, Save Barnegat Bay's president, disagrees.

"You don't want to split every baby in half," he said.

He said the township could be reimbursed by the federal government if Brick purchases the property. The tract connects to the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, open space owned by the federal government.

The plan is vaguely reminiscent of the Traders' Cove plan. A developer was looking to build condos on the rundown marina on Mantoloking Road. A portion of the site would be developed as a public park.

With the help of local Republicans running for election, Save Barnegat Bay saved Traders' Cove, which was obtained in a joint purchase by the township, Ocean County and the state.

But this property is pristine, and deCamp has already had a contentious run-in with the Planning Board during the July public hearing.

Board Chairman Daniel Kelly and board attorney Charles Tivenan were reluctant to allow deCamp object to the plan on the record because Save Barnegat Bay's attorney, Michele Donato, wasn't present. They did not allow a statement from Donato to be entered into the record.

Although Kelly suggested the public portion of the hearing be closed after several residents objected to the plan, the chairman kept the proceedings open after deCamp questioned the applicant's engineer, Charles Lindstrom, of Lindstrom Diessner & Carr, Brick.

Boring samples of a relocated drainage basin had not been taken, Lindstrom said, but he said soil mapping was irrelevant.

DeCamp disagreed. James Priolo, the township's consulting engineer said he was not yet comfortable with the plans.

DeCamp also told the board he had an expert who could testify to the relevance of the boring samples.

Since the hearing, Save Barnegat Bay has retained Princeton Hydro, Ringoes, as an expert.

Lindstrom said Sept. 13 that additional testing has been done on the site but that he was not at liberty to comment on them. Updated plans have not yet been submitted to the Planning Board. Danitom has until Oct. 2 to submit additional plans.