Mayors talk about what's smart in terms of growth Millstone, Washington Township officials warn Upper Freehold BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer "There's a big difference between rural and farming. We're trying to preserve farming, not just rural for the enjoyment of new residents." - Stephen Fleischacker UPPER FREEHOLD - Even though other local mayors are criticizing Smart Growth, Mayor Stephen Fleischacker remains a staunch advocate of the planning concept. Fleischacker defended Smart Growth planning for the township's master plan at the Feb. 8 Planning Board meeting. The state's Office of Smart Growth (OSG), a division of its Department of Community Affairs, refers to Smart Growth as a term used to describe "well-planned, well-managed growth that adds new homes and new jobs to a community while preserving open space, farmland and environmental resources." At the Planning Board meeting, former Upper Freehold Mayor Bob Abrams, a frequent Fleischacker critic, asked the mayor to comment on the recent statements of two neighboring townships regarding Smart Growth. Millstone Township Mayor Nancy Grbelja, whose township downzoned to 6-acre and 10-acre lots in 2003, called Smart Growth "just another plan or gimmick to increase development at any cost." Washington Township Mayor David Fried said his town has been on the front lines of Smart Growth for more than a decade with its award-winning town center, where the first residents arrived in fall 2001. "Ours was the first 'center' planned from scratch," Fried said. "We're also in the midst of a property-tax crisis that will only get worse when revaluation notices start arriving in a few weeks." He continued, "The two are inextricably linked, and our fate should alarm any town that considers 'Smart Growth' in the absence of sustainable property-tax reform." Fried said that most towns are adopting the Smart Growth model to meet Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) requirements. "This COAH chase is causing towns to take growth they really don't want and forcing the schools to react to the dramatically rising school population," he said. "I would also add [that] many of these new students are coming from somewhere else in the state. "So towns with rising school populations do not get any help," he continued, "while towns with stagnant or even declining populations are not reduced. The system truly needs to be overhauled." In response to Fried's comments, Fleischacker said that Washington Township went after its town center without taking into account the number of children who would live there. "They projected one student per house," he said. "That's a ridiculous projection." He continued, "Of course they are in trouble." Fleischacker alleged that Smart Growth had been misapplied in Washington Township. "We're not doing that here," he said. "Their design of a town center is nothing like what we're doing." According to Fleischacker, Upper Freehold plans to preserve large tracts of farmland, which was not Washington Township's goal. Upper Freehold would follow the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) and the Agricultural Smart Growth Plan, according to Fleischacker. "There's a big difference between rural and farming," he said. "We're trying to preserve farming, not just rural for the enjoyment of new residents." Fleischacker said that Upper Freehold is trying to come up with a fair solution to all and is not discarding the landowner equity issue. He said that his Smart Growth plan has been accused of catering to landowners, but that the township is trying to be fair to all residents, whether they are small or large landowners. "We are trying to find a solution in the middle," he said. "Not everyone is going to be happy." Fleischacker said that Millstone did not go that route in changing to 6-acre and 10-acre zoning. He also said that when Millstone cut zoning, it cut farming. "The number of farms in preservation in Millstone pales in comparison to Upper Freehold," he said. "Our number of preserved farms will grow while they will struggle to get farms in preservation." He continued, "I know they are struggling because of their zoning. Farm owners in Millstone are not going into farmland preservation." In response to Fleischacker's comment, Grbelja said that developers in Millstone had significant influence over previous Township Committees. "Personally, I believe preservation efforts were stalled intentionally to promote development," she said. "Over the past three years, as the developers lost their influence with the elected officials, preservation numbers have increased by leaps and bounds." Grbelja said that her township has preserved not only farmland but open space as well, and to separate those numbers distorts reality. "In the last three years, Millstone has increased its Farmland Preservation Program by almost 1,400 acres, increasing our total to 2,200 acres of farmland preserved," Grbelja said. "This added to other preserved open space, totaling 6,530 acres of preserved land." According to Grbelja, making preservation a priority and changing to 10-acre zoning have almost doubled the amount of preserved land in the township within three years. "In addition, the farming community has seen its values increase under the 10-acre zoning," she said. Grbelja said she found Fleischacker's comments about "Millstone struggling with its Farmland Preservation Program" a self-serving fabrication. She called the statement completely inaccurate and irresponsible. "Since I know for a fact that he has never discussed Millstone's open space and farmland preservation efforts with me or any of the leadership in Millstone, [Fleischacker] therefore cannot be expected to understand where we are in our preservation efforts," she said. Grbelja said that under the leadership of the Township Committee and the township's open space chairwoman, Pat Butch, Millstone has restored credibility to its Open Space and Farmland Preservation Program. "Farmers are breaking down the doors to put their farms into preservation," she said. Grbelja said the current demand to preserve land in Millstone exceeds the money currently available. "The township, however, is working diligently with our partners through creative financing and planning to preserve all lands available and to accommodate the demand from the farming community with amazing success," she said. Grbelja added that she finds it unfortunate that the leadership in Upper Freehold does not recognize that developers are controlling the destiny of their township. "The vision of Smart Growth is nothing more than a developer's dream," she said. "I hope they wake up soon before that developer's dream turns into a resident's nightmare." When asked how he would advise Upper Freehold about pursuing a Smart Growth plan, Fried said it depends on state aid. "If you do not get any state aid for accepting the extra density, then it will not work," he said. Fried said the average house uses about $3,000 per year for municipal services, and school costs are about $10,000 per pupil. "The average house has two kids per house," he said. "So we spend roughly $23,000 for a house, and it pays about $10,000 in taxes, meaning we lose about $13,000 per house." Fried said that increasing the volume on that business model means losses continue to build. "Without an increase in state aid, taking on the extra density will just cause taxes to go through the roof," he said. "In Washington, our taxes have risen 78 percent over a six-year period."