Giving up U.F. planning is like a return from Oz
Former member claims mayor is leading board down Yellow Brick Road
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Although Bill Search resigned his Planning Board seat before his latest term was over, no one can accuse him of shirking his civic responsibilities.

Search, 58, has spent nearly half his life on the Planning Board. His 28-year tenure included serving as the board's chairman for five years.

Search grew up on the Holmes Mill Road property he still farms. He once operated the last dairy farm in Monmouth County on the 179-acre tract but gave up the cows in 2000. Today, he and his son, Brett, grow rye straw, alfalfa and soybeans both on the farm and on other land in the township. Much of the straw is shipped overseas, he said, and the soybeans are used for tofu processing.

When he was growing up, he said, agriculture in the township was food-based, whether it was crops or livestock. Today, he said, much of the agricultural land in Upper Freehold is devoted to nursery stock, horses or sod and has nothing to do with food. The remaining farmers in the township face both farming and development pressures, according to Search.

Search considers farming "a unique occupation" in that farmers generally make homes on their land and generate income from a 24/7 job on the land.

Search put his farm into the Farmland Preservation Program in 1989, and the owners of the other properties he farms also have preserved their land, he said. He said his decision to go into the Farmland Preservation Program felt like the right thing to do.

"Without farmland preservation, this town would be an absolute disaster," he said, adding the old saying "Cows don't go to school."

When asked to reflect back on his years on the Planning Board, Search said the board has always been about the same issue, which is zoning.

"Downzoning, lot yield - however you want to say it," he said.

One of the reasons he decided to resign from the Planning Board, which is entering into its third year of trying to revise the township's master plan, is that he feels the township has taken the revision process away from the board. Search said he works better "shooting from the hip," which he feels he can no longer do on the Planning Board.

In Search's view, Mayor Stephen Fleischacker and Deputy Mayor William Miscoski, whose terms are up this year, should not be re-elected. Both the mayor and the deputy mayor have been proponents of density transfers, which would create higher-density housing development in certain areas of the township in an effort to preserve farmland in other areas. Township Planner Mark Remsa has described the density transfer process as sacrificing 1,300 acres in the township to save 9,000 others.

Search criticized Remsa's proposed village center idea, calling it "a disaster for the township," and also accused Remsa of following a political agenda. Search said he is not sure where Remsa gets his directions from since Planning Board members had not discussed Remsa's plans for the township.

"It was a hard decision to leave the Planning Board, but I realized it was a futile effort to continue [on it]," he said.

Noting that township professionals want to keep their jobs, Search said they will offer their opinions on something but then comment that the board can do what it wants. Search said that former Township Planner Richard Coppola was not like that, as he would decide what would best suit the town and its land and then do what worked.

Coppola resigned as Township Planner at the end of 2004. In August 2004, he submitted a report to the Township Committee regarding potential rezoning of the agricultural/residential (AR) zoning district. In the report, Coppola concluded that a 6-acre minimum lot-size requirement for single-family home construction in the township's AR zone would be a reasonable change to the master plan.

Coppola's report also noted the township's basic environmental limitations, including its severe limitation for the location of septic systems. The report further reviewed the concerns of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding adverse septic impacts on the environment and the recommendation of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) relative to Upper Freehold Township.

"Kick the numbers around," Search said. "Richard Coppola was on the right track."

Search said that Remsa came up with a similar idea to Coppola's regarding downzoning in the township but that Remsa's plan has "different twists and turns."

Coppola had a plan that allowed landowners who opt to develop their land to preserve 70 percent of their property, according to Search. As an example, Search cited the New Canton Estates development on Route 524, in which a large part of the tract was placed in farmland preservation.

"It would give a balance in town," he said.

Search said that while Coppola's plan would not make everybody in town happy, it would put things on an even keel.

Search said he served as the alternate representative for the SDRP's cross-acceptance process while Douglas Totten, whose family farm is now the location of the Hovnanian Four Seasons active-adult community, served as the township's representative.

Search recalled Totten fighting the cross-acceptance process "tooth and nail." He said the state designated the township as Planning Areas 4 and 5, which do not permit the creation of public sewers. According to Search, Totten wanted the state to consider part of the township as a Planning Area 3, which would allow sewer trunk lines. Search alleged that pro-development forces in the town that were pushing for the creation of a Planning Area 3 ultimately had the question placed on a ballot for voters.

Although supporters put forth "so many half-truths, innuendos and outright lies" about the issue, Search said voters overwhelmingly voted to keep the township designated as a Planning Area 4. He said the pro-development group chalked up the loss to people not understanding the issue.

Totten did not respond to a message left on his answering machine prior to press time.

Search also addressed the open space tax in the township. He said its a shame that the tax is only 4 cents when it should be increased to 10 cents or more. People who live in town want open space preservation, he said, noting that residents who attend public meetings often state that they would be willing to pay for open space.

"People move here for that reason," he said. "They don't want to see that reason destroyed."

Search believes the governing body should be more aggressive in purchasing land.

In terms of the growing rift in the governing body as exemplified at the rancorous Jan. 4 Township Committee reorganization meeting during which Fleischacker and Miscoski retained their leadership roles by a 3-2 vote and to some residents' dissatisfaction, Search said, "I wish it hadn't come to this."

Search said he wished the Township Committee meeting had gone like many believed it would, with Committeeman Stephen Alexander getting the mayoral position.

"Steve Alexander, without question, should have been next in line for mayor," he said.

Search alleged that Fleischacker was leading Planning Board members "down the Yellow Brick Road" by saying that "everything would be fine."

"I didn't believe it," Search said, adding that he knew he was right in thinking that after what went on at the Township Committee's reorganization meeting.

He said that former Mayor Fred Kniesler hit the nail on the head at the meeting when he said, "There is a silent majority out here, the extent of which is terrifying. They will roll out someday to a not-so-silent majority, and you'll wonder what the hell happened."