LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE DOES NOT FAIL TO FAIL

At yesterday's Lakewood Township Committee meeting, the proposed "banquet halls in schools" ordinance was the hot topic of the public comment portion, and Mayor Coles and the Committeemen did not fail to fail. Badly.





Committeemen Isaac Akerman was absent from the meeting due to a "family emergency" and Committeeman Mike D'Elia was absent from the meeting as he was "not feeling well".


Numerous members of the public sent in comments via email, and some also called in live during the meeting.


Some members of the public discussed the traffic nightmares caused by banquet halls in residential neighborhoods.


Some members of the public suggested to remove the industrial park from the permitted zones in which banquet halls will be permitted in schools, and to increase the parking requirement to match the 1 parking space per person of the banquet hall capacity which the Committee last year enacted for banquet halls in hotels in the Cedabridge Corporate Campus.


Several members of the public also pointed out that a sharp reading of the Ordinance appears to permit the schools existing parking spaces to be "shared" with the banquet hall.


Attorney Rob Shea representing property owners in the industrial park called in and stated that he opposes the Ordinance from a legal standpoint. Mr. Shea also submitted the following letter:







Mayor Coles and the Township Committeemen played very dumb and silent to the issues which were presented very clearly by concerned residents, responding simply that "the Planning Board will review the ordinance" and that "public comments will be accepted at all public hearings regarding the proposed ordinance".


The issue here is that this implies that public comments will be accepted at the Planning Board's review of the proposed ordinance. However, this is incorrect as the planning board actually does not allow public comments for proposed ordinance reviews. In fact, in the past, when members of the public have tried communicating their opinions at an ordinance review, the Board attorney did not allow them to do so. He told them that they should instead express themselves during the committee's public meeting.


(This in turn will give the Committee leeway to give pushback to the public who will try to comment at the second reading of the Ordinance as the Committee will get to place blame on the planning board's "recommendation" - which did not allow for consideration of the public's comment.)


Mayor Coles also gave confusing responses to several simple questions.


One member of the public asked if the Township was going to send statutorily required notices to all affected property owners prior to adoption of the Ordinance on final reading. Mayor Coles responded, "no, because notices will be sent out prior to Planning Board applications which are filed following adoption of this ordinance". This is a rediculus answer because it is completely unrelated to the proposed ordinance - this proposed ordinance has its own statutory requirement of notice to all affected property owners. The Township has previously been sued, and lost in court, over this matter.


A non-Jewish neighbor of Bnos Yaakov on Kent Road called in and discussed the current parking nightmare in the area and noted that (as previously reported here on FAA News), at their recent Planning Board hearing, they agreed not to build a simcha hall, however, if they are now permitted under the proposed ordinance to build a simcha hall, the parking in the area will get even worse. Mayor Coles fumbled a non-response and directed him to "ask Planning Board Attorney John Jackson if this school will now be permitted to build a simcha hall".


Mayor Coles also mumbled through the reading of some of the public comment emails, claiming that they were "repetitive" of comments already submitted by others and that he had "already responded to the previous comments".


The Planning Board is expected to review the proposed ordinance at a public hearing on Tuesday, November 15th. The Township Committee is expected to hold a public hearing and adopt the Ordinance on second reading on a following date.


(Was Mr. Akerman's absence due to election fever?)


Related stories on FAA News:


OCEAN COUNTY FORCED TO MONITOR BANQUET HALLS AFTER LAKEWOOD BOARDS PROVE TO BE INCAPABLE


LAKEWOOD COMMITTEE COULD ALLOW RESIDENTS OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL BOARD APPROVALS


CAN LAKEWOOD GET WIDER ROADS? A RESPONSE FOR MAYOR COLES


NJ SENATORS: THE PUBLIC DESERVES EARLIER NOTICE BEFORE LAND USE APPLICATIONS ARE HEARD


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excuse me Mr. Mayor, why would you tell the residents that they should speak at the planning board meeting when this ordinance gets reviewed? Surely you know that the planning board does not allow a public comment portion for proposed ordinance reviews. They only let the public voice their concerns on land development applications. The last time the public tried communicating their opinions at an ordinance review, the Board attorney did not allow them to do so. He told them that they should instead express themselves during the committee's public meeting. So, here's the problem Mr. Mayor: You tell us to talk to them, and they tell us to talk to you. This way what you accomplish is that the one hundred thousand township residents (which are not school & banquet hall owners) will have their concerns ignored through this politician-style game you’re playing. And by the time this gets back to you for the second reading, you will again ignore the residents - as you did earlier tonight when you refused to read the several non-repetitious comments which your constituents spent their precious time writing to you - and you will place blame on the planning board's "recommendation" - which did not allow for consideration of the public's comment.
The Board will of course blame the committeemen as the actual decision makers that voted to adopt this crazy insufficient-parking-for-banquet-halls ordinance into being and attempt to wash their own hands of fault. When we as residents see this blame game and a shirking of responsibility by our elected government officials it makes us angry with your job performance. Remember that. Because we certainly will