Wright resigns, feeling ineffective against mayor's plan
Former Planning Board member says master plan is going nowhere
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - After spending 12 years on the Planning Board and the last year as its vice chairman, Barry Wright has resigned.

The reason for his resignation, he said, is that he is tired of wasting the taxpayers' money on a master plan that is going nowhere. Revisions of the township's master plan began in early 2005.

After nearly two and a half years at the task, Wright said, "I don't think we've accomplished anything at all."

When asked at what point he thought the process went awry, Wright said in October 2006, when Township Planner Mark Remsa proposed revising the plan to change the township's current 3-acre zoning to 6-acre zoning. At that time, Remsa also proposed that the township should increase the few areas in town with 5-acre zoning to have 10-acre zoning.

Wright called the proposal "a radical, out-of-the-blue change," and said Remsa and Mayor Stephen Fleischacker seemed to be the only people in the boardroom previously aware of the proposed plan.

Wright said he thought Fleischacker's determination to have the township follow the state's Smart Growth guidelines drove the proposition.

In Wright's view, Smart Growth is not the right way to develop the township.

"If you are going to do hamlets, and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), what is the density at which we are going to build?" he asked.

Wright, a real estate appraiser, said he doesn't see Upper Freehold building at four to five units per acre, which he believes Smart Growth planning involves. He added that a Smart Growth development in Chesterfield Township does not look substantially different from a Smart Growth development in Washington Township.

Washington Township Mayor David Fried commented on his municipality's battle with Smart Growth in February. He 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."

Wright said he does not believe that people in Upper Freehold, a rural community with a large amount of preserved land, want the high-density housing that following Smart Growth guidelines would produce.

"To change this into Washington Township or Chesterfield Township, I think is a mistake," he said.

Wright said higher-density housing developments generate less tax money but put more kids in school.

Although Wright said there should be some adjustments to the master plan, such as eliminating the 35 percent bonus density cluster option and rezoning certain areas of town, he said he doesn't see much wrong with the current 3-acre zoning, which he said is equitable to the farmer.

When the master plan revisions began in early 2005, Wright thought the process would take about six months before it got to the public hearing stage. To date, there have not been any public hearings on the master plan revisions.

"It has become presentation after presentation, going nowhere," he said.

Fleischacker said he hoped the revision process would wrap up by the end of this year and ultimately decided not to file to run for re-election prior to the June 5 primary. However, Fleischacker announced on Monday that as a result of not foreseeing the master plan revision process actually ending by his term's end, he has reconsidered his options and will seek election as a write-in candidate in November.

When asked about Fleischacker's recent announcement, Wright said the mayor should have had "the intestinal fortitude" to run in the primary. He said that for Fleischacker to run independently in November is "a slap in the face" to the Republican Party.

Wright said there have been a lot of disagreements among Planning Board members over the years, but said he has never seen anything compared to what the mayor is trying to orchestrate. He alleged Fleischacker is trying to drive this plan "through the Planning Board, not with the Planning Board."

Wright said he thinks a lot of the Planning Board members are frustrated. He called Remsa an excellent planner, but said he is taking his "marching orders" from the mayor.

Wright also disagreed with Fleischacker's proposal to preserve a 135-acre tract on Breza Road, adjacent to the new middle school property. The property is part of one of the only areas in town with sewer service and was previously slated for warehouse development before the New York City-based Rockefeller Group ultimately withdrew its application for such development there late last year after community disapproval.

Wright said that based on the Planning Board hearings about the project, he would have voted in favor of the Rockefeller Group's proposal because it would have been "a great ratable for the town and a great place for it."

Wright said the tract the mayor now wants to preserve would be better suited for a senior community. Wright, 64, said that people of his generation, who have lived in town for many years, will soon be priced out of their homes in Upper Freehold.

While zoning issues have divided the community, Wright said he does not see the Planning Board as split on township zoning issues. He said the board needs to hold a public hearing to gauge how divided the community is on zoning issues.

"I think I can be more effective fighting the mayor's plan - if it goes forward - as a member of the public rather than a member of the board," he said.