There is truly no end to the shenanigans the current Aberdeen Township Council and Planning Board will engage in to push low income housing on the dear residents of Cliffwood. The Renaissance at Aberdeen may have seemed a vanquished project when the Zoning Board announced tonight its receipt of a 14 April letter from RCM officially withdrawing its application for a variance on County Road Block 196.04 Lot 27 and Block 228 Lots 1 and 2. But unbeknownst to the Zoning Board, that letter was mere theatre, sleight of hand, an illusion. But the leaders of the Cliffwood Homeowners Association weren't to be fooled. Kudos to them for their dogged pursuit of the truth on this issue.
If things go as "planned", those same blocks and lots on County Road are destined to be in the hands of RCM by early next week. On Monday evening, the Township Council and Planning Board will be voting on Ordinance No 11-2010 (see below), which creates a dedicated zone for these specific blocks to suit RCM's building plans. This stealthy piece of local law was somehow presented and approved for first reading at the 6 April Council meeting. The ordinance was conveniently left off the published agenda and the minutes of that meeting have not yet been published. I spoke to one person in attendance who took copious notes at the meeting and refuses to believe this ordinance was discussed and voted on without him/her noticing.
To add to the drama, the Planning Board has agreed to a special session to review the ordinance for conformity with the Master Plan, a necessary step, on Monday evening 19 April at 6 pm, just prior to the Council meeting scheduled that evening at 7 pm. RCM's new application for construction of low income housing on County Road will then go directly to the Planning Board, as it was explained this evening at the Zoning Board meeting, bypassing the less agreeable Zoning Board completely.
I should point out that the Village at Aberdeen project on Route 34 would also be rezoned as part of this ordinance. Block 114 Lot 4 would be getting this dedicated Inclusionary Housing Overlay Zone (IH) status along with the Cliffwood properties.
BTW: Since fewer people are reading newspapers these days, maybe the Township should be posting its required public notices online as well as in the classified ads? Oddly enough, the government is able to avoid Sunshine by publishing their notices in the paper.
Here's a copy of the public notice, which was only available in a cached version of the APP Classifieds online.
TOWNSHIP OF ABERDEEN ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP ORDINANCE NO. 11-2010 PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF PENDING ORDINANCE AND SUMMARY The ordinance, the summary of terms of which are included herein, was introduced and passed upon first reading at a Regular Meeting of the Township Council in the Township of Aberdeen, in the County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey, on April 6, 2010. It will be further considered for final passage, after public hearing thereon, at a Regular Meeting of the Township Council to be held at the Township's Municipal Building, One Aberdeen Square, Aberdeen, on April 19, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. During the week prior to and up to and including the date of such meeting, copies of the full ordinance will be available at no cost and during regular business hours, at the Office of the Township Clerk for members of the general public who shall request the same.
The summary of such ordinance is as follows:
Title: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES, LAND DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCES OF THE TOWNSHIP OF ABERDEEN, SECTION 25-3 REGARDING ZONING AND CREATING A NEW INCLUSIONARY HOUSING OVERLAY ZONE
Purpose: This Ordinance amends the General Ordinances, Land Development Ordinances of the Township of Aberdeen to provide for revisions to the Zoning Districts and Zoning Map and to create a new "IH" Inclusionary Housing Overlay Zone adding Lot 27 in Block 196.04 and Lots 1 and 2 in Block 228 and Lot 4 in Block 114..
This Ordinance shall take effect at the time and in the manner provide by law.
KAREN A. VENTURA, RMC/CMC CLERK, ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP ($51.84) 122319
My fault I fear. I heard such glowing reports thanking Frank Huza and the Environmental Shade Tree Commission for their work on helping the Township preserve open spaces, (which included ostensibly the parcels that are being proposed for the developments in Cliffwood), that I did not even notice. Could the minutes have reported an error?
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear from a council representative for a confirmation and interpretation prior to the Monday meeting. If not, we shall surely see about things on the 19th.