EDC feels detached from land use planning in U.F. Group wants master plan revisions to focus on developing business BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - The township's Economic Development Committee (EDC) wants to tighten its relationships with other municipal bodies and officials. At the committee's March 5 meeting, EDC Vice Chairman Thomas Frascella, who ran the meeting in Chairman Tim Lizura's absence, said he would like the EDC to get involved with the township's master plan revisions. The township's Planning Board is currently discussing revisions to the master plan. Frascella said getting involved with the master plan is especially important with regard to the EDC wanting to encourage agricultural and equine-related businesses in the township. According to Frascella, when business people from outside the community see an incomplete master plan, they cannot tell where the township is heading. "They see a town from a publicity view with internal divisions and differences of opinion," he said. "If I'm an investor and want to be successful, I will have to be careful of how much I can spend going here if I don't know where here is going." EDC member Barbara Isaac said the Planning Board seems to think that the EDC has some kind of power, and the board encourages people to contact the committee for information. However, she said that with the ongoing revision process, it isn't clear to the EDC where in town the agricultural and commercial lines are drawn. Frascella said Princeton Nurseries, which is the largest landowner in Upper Freehold, recently reached out to the community to gauge what it envisions for the future of the township, but the company did not reach out to the EDC. "If that business is not reaching out to us, we need to reach out to them," he said. Resident Doug Walsh, the developer of the Cox's Corner commercial complex on Route 524, said he has been working on his project and trying to bring in good, clean ratables for five years, yet the EDC has never called him about working together in order to do so. Walsh said the township's zoning officer often tells potential businesses that they need a use variance when their specific types of operations are not listed in the township's ordinance. "That's not friendly," he said. Walsh said the EDC is empowered to bring good ratables into the community. However, he said the EDC is unaware that business inquiries are being circumvented by zoning. He said a recently proposed fitness center was not listed as a use in the code so the EDC did not receive information about it from township officials. "If we don't get some sort of liaison, we'll spin in circles," he said. Township Committeeman Stephen Alexander said the EDC should work with the Planning and Zoning boards and should appoint someone to act as a liaison with Zoning Officer Ron Gafgen. "It's an incredible burden on him as a quasi-judicial officer," he said, adding that a particular land use is not necessarily excluded if it does not currently exist in the code. From the municipal tax collection perspective, Alexander said, nonresidential revenue went down slightly from 2005 to 2006. In 2005, it was $47,000 for commercial properties, he said, and in 2006 it was $46,000. Industrial properties brought in $15,000, according to Alexander. The combined amount of the nonresidential revenue was less than half a cent on the municipal tax, which makes up 5 percent of a homeowner's overall tax bill, Alexander said. Isaac said several people commented during the public portion of the recent Planning Board meeting that they have negative feelings about additional commercialization on Route 539. EDC and Planning Board member Bob Freiberger said that while the EDC thinks about the overall good of the town, the majority of new homeowners get panic-stricken when they hear of businesses coming in. EDC member Cy Thannikary said every committee in town should work together. "The whole idea is to make this a better place where businesses can come in and feel welcome," he said. He said the EDC "should be the point of contact and shepherd [businesses] through the maze." According to Thannikary, the EDC should also create a marketing brochure or package to give to prospective business people. In addition, he recommends that the committee look for boutique companies that would help the township maintain its rural character. Alexander also said the township's Web site should contain EDC information. He said the EDC should make its secretary, Debra Sopronyi, a contact person and advised the committee to create a separate EDC extension on the municipal phone system as well. He further suggested that the EDC meet twice rather than once a month. A year ago, Thannikary proposed that the EDC present a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis to the Township Committee and Planning Board. According to Thannikary, that presentation should be the EDC's first priority.