##VIDEO ID:AWpQ4eEHyPA## e e e e e e I know I open the Bernards Township committee meeting for December 10th 2024 please stand for the flag Bo flag United States of America the stand na andice the mayor's opening meeting statement adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building one col your lane bosing Ridge on the township website an email to the Burnsville news whiy The Courier News Bridgewater tap into n patch.com and filed with the Township Clerk on December 18th 2023 any motions going to Clos session will include that such matters discussed in this closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and there is no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosures of information related to such matters the meeting rules adopted by Township committee no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. public comment will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited to 5 minutes each all meetings will J no later than 11:30 p.m. that brings us to roll call please Mr Balman here miss DTE McCarthy here miss Fields here Mr MCN here mayor AC here that brings us to number five executive session Madame mayor uh forgive me uh for interrupting um I have a motion to make to amend the agenda um I realize that we are to otherwise go into executive session the governing resolution on this uh indicates the first item of business because that's open to interpretation uh is to be any uh motions to amend um I'm happy to make that motion now or I'm also happy with the consent of the body to reserve on that provided Mr Bardo has no objections and then make that motion once we come out of executive session either way I think under resolution 2020 4-43 item 1 D that indicates the committee May amend the agenda as the first item of business at the meeting upon the determination that a need to amend the agenda exists um a majority of committee members present by formal vote must agree that a need exists in order to add or remove an item for discussion so it's up to the committee to decide whether they want to discuss and vote on this now or after closed session committees pleasure we will keep be keeping people waiting we're expecting a meeting to start at 8 o' if we were to do this now but uh I defer to um someone make a motion to do it now or at 8 have a second and have a vote I'll do a motion to make it at 8 second you're well I second it so no you made the motion oh I did okay and you second it okay roll call Mr Balman this is on a motion to do it at 8 o' yes correct no I do it now okay Miss DTE McCarthy 8 o' Miss Fields yes 8 o' Mr MCN yes 8 o' mayor AC okay I have three uh motions for yes to hold this till 8:00 okay you have a closed session I am not going to be present at that neither will Mr Laughlin who's here on behalf of a signature and the court reporter will also depart when you're done just simply come and uh come and get us thank you thank you you're not going to type till we get to E2 what's the matter we still need to make the motion to go wait okay resolution 2024-25 board and commission appointments I'll make the motion second you got the last Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayy AC yes motion carried e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e we are reopening for Open Session Madame mayor Madame clerk I wish to renew my motion uh I move the amend the agenda to remove item 14b from a second there's a motion so okay so I'm I'm going to second the motion and I I'd like to say because I'm sitting up here in the deis for five years and we've been telling our residents that would be transparent and any ordinance that comes before us we would evaluate to the fullest extent we haven't been transparent with you this ordinant was presented to the public 24 hours ago 700 p.m. Monday night which we usually post on Friday this has never happened before in the five years that I've been sitting here on the township committee as public stewards of this community residents deserve better from us we have not been transparent with the scope of this project that is before us tonight the last overlay we presented to the public included a visual detailed concept plan that's not included tonight in in its ordinance I personally would like everyone to know I was given this ordinance on Friday to review for tonight's meeting with that limited time frame it was hard for me to evaluate get all my questions answered and to be able to confidently accept this first reading this project will significantly impact our community forever and the residents and us the te TC members should have sufficient answers to our questions and I believe that we do not so I'm asking why should we rush this and why should we introduce this tonight when it will adversely affect our community so I am asking my colleagues here the governing body to defer the first reading to afford me our public here with us tonight and our community at large to give us the time to evaluate the order so we can make an informed decision giving us two weeks to decide on a major major project in our community that will impact this town forever is not enough time in my opinion and it's certainly not enough time for the public and what's important here is that we're transparent and that we give our residents an opportunity to know what we're doing and it with enough time to make that decision on what they think a project in this large scope will do to our community and how it will change it and since the decision will be made in two weeks it's two days before Christmas and 3 days before Hanukkah so that's why I am seconding this motion for us to defer this introduction at a later date so I Echo the deputy mayor's comments in this regard uh just for a little bit more color item 14b on the agenda propos the introduction of an ordinance for an overlay Zone a property currently owned by Verizon for purposes of the development of a movie studio in town this is a major development unlike anything that burnard has ever approved before I personally not had enough time to consider the mag The Proposal of this magnitude which stands to change the fabric of burners what I seek is a to defer consideration of this matter to a later date I would like time to sit with and consider the various aspects of The Proposal large including what is within the proposed overlay ordinance but also matters well beyond the four corners of the document I would like to speak to the developers who would be building the studio and satisfy myself that they will be good partners with the community I'd like to ensure that the ratables and other potentially upsides of the development would have sufficient impact necessary to outweigh the potential burdens of the development of Disguise and scope would entail I'd like to hear from the public especially those in the immediate vicinity of the proposed development I'd like to understand why some of the finer points of the ordin itself like setback requirements height limits need for utility and the need for um and utility of group homes in the community center are necessary and proper for this type of ordinance the agenda before us was published just over 24 hours ago unlike the usually customary minimum of 48 hours I myself was presented with a draft ordinance late last week which has been revised since then procedural posture here is that should this ordinance move forward it would need to go to the plan board and then return to Township committee for a final vote on December 23rd less than two weeks to from today and two days before Christmas for a public hearing and final vote on the ordinance should those events not occur as I've outlined the ordinance will require reintroduction after the township committee reorganized this next month if it is go forward at all in my opinion 13 days is an insufficient period of time for all the for foregoing issues to be resolved and to be clear proposed development like this is unlike anything this town has done before we do not have and never had any movie studios here indeed it's unlike anything the entire state has done in the modern era as a result true impacts of this proposed development For Better or Worse are not known and cannot be reasonably considered in the time frame in which action would be required I would encourage my uh uh colleagues on this day as to uh uh vote for my motion to strike this item from tonight's agenda uh and and that concludes my remarks I'll conduct a roll call yes vote is to remove ordinance 2568 just so that's a record not not the earlier ordinance Mr Balman no Mr DTE McCarthy no Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC before I State my comment we will discuss all of the accusations that were stated later in the agenda my answer is no I have three Nos and two yeses the motion is not carried may we result back to the normal agenda please item six presentations resolution 2024-25 of members of the Baskin Bridge Presbyterian Church um historian minister to graciously share the history and how Loving Care was given for the treatment and preservation of the tree many of you know the in the owen room we have a portion of the Great White Oak that was 619 years years old let me read a little bit about the resolution recognizing the Historic Oak Tree of Bernard's Township and significance in our community's history and preserving the Legacy whereas the Historic Oak Tree in Baskin Ridge in New Jersey stood as a symbol of strength and endurance for over 600 years serving as a Living testament to the Natural and historical Heritage of the area whereas the uh Majestic White Oak located on the grounds of the Baskin rdge Presbyterian Church was not only a natural wonder but held deep cultural and spiritual significance hosting Gatherings and other momentous events under the vast canopy whereas despite every effort to preserve its Legacy the oak tree succumbed to the Natural aging process and was respectfully removed in 2017 to ensure the safety of the surrounding area leaving behind an enduring Legacy in the hearts of those who cherished it and whereas the Visionary M craft Master Craftman Frank polaro offered to create and donate to the burner Township a table for the Town Hall made from the wood of the historic uh Basking Ridge white oak tree and whereas the intricate process of creating that table took several years and stands as a testament to the exceptional Artistry and dedication whereas this project would not have been possible without the invaluable support and the cooperations of the following members of the Baskin Rich Presbyterian Church Dennis Jones Dr Moren Patterson Bill EMT John clipple and Bruce MacArthur whose efforts ensured that the trees Legacy would uh live on and then therefore be resolved with the township Committee of the township of Bernards gratefully acknowledges and thanks Dennis Jones Dr Moren Patterson Phil EMT John clipple and Bruce MacArthur for their help and dedication to this project so would my colleagues like to make any additional comments on this Topic start I've had the opportunity to sit in on the tree dedication and as an alumnus of lafette college it was I'm heartening to hear that at one point the Marquee de Lafayette picnicked under the tree uh we're entering our 265th anniversary next year the tree is 354 years older at when it reached 619 years it's a beautiful Legacy for our town it's the dedication was so appropriate um when we think about the character and value of this community I like to than that we all take Roots here and may we just honor this beautiful Legacy so thank you mayor unfortunately I was unable to attend the uh dedication but living here for 30 2 years um that tree meant so much to so many of us and what's important is everyone that lived here really fostered the tree and appreciated the beauty and so when it the beauty of the town was gone by the tree which we always have to keep that in mind whatever we do I I was actually there when they were taking it down and it was a a difficult moment in time so I just want to say I'm happy we have some part of it here in town the Legacy will live on yeah I too was also saddened of course um when when when the tree died which has been such a focal point for our community um I live on Oak Street named after that tree these are oakle on the seal behind us um so it is very much a part of Bernard's Township and I'm pleased even though it's no longer a living tree at least its Legacy lives on in in the form of this uh really uh uh beautiful tree that was car table that was carved out of it so thank you yeah I had the opportunity to listen in briefly on uh and and for those who weren't able to attend the dedication uh it's worth just re reading the history that was spoken in in the the the conference room um things like maps that used that tree as a landmark in colonial times as it was being prepared to be made into the furniture piece that it is the Craftsman sawed through a musket ball that dated to the late 1770s um and as I sat and listened I I I'm was just a struck by the history that has passed by that tree and has passed over the land of burnard's Township um and while the trees not with us the leaves live on in our in our the symbol of our our Township um um and I have a whole new respect now for conducting business in the uh in the ow room you sit at that table your spine should straighten a little bit and uh uh it's just fantastic so so I've conducted many weddings and um many tours of the building and uh for youth in Scouts as well as some of the elementary schools and it's something that I think it's really important that everyone remembers important history and after we are long gone um to have this dedication to have this on the record is important for everyone to know that this portion of the tree is here also the clerk's office did a wonderful job in creating the shadow box so instead of attaching some sort of plaque to potentially damage the character and beauty of that piece of furniture um a shadow box was created instead and it can be added to as others folks come across and have other momentos that they want to recognize so it's wonderful now that in that room in 50 years down the road when people may not remember many of us here remember when that tree was taken down but we're not going to remember in the future so we have that as a a Remnant that help can help to ensure that everyone going forward knows how important the tree is that this pieace is here within our community and oh by the way I'll never forget also it has the the not too there is a baby tree so some very smart person saved a portion and that baby tree is growing behind the Baskin rdge Presbyterian church so the Legacy lives on so with that may I have roll call please or I'm sorry may have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss dwarte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you than thank you may we move to the next item please resolution so we'd like to honor the service of our wonderful um volunteers and this is one example of that um I'll read a little bit from the resolution in recognition of service for burner Township Ellen hulahan Municipal Alliance whereas Ellen hulahan has given innumerable hours to our local government and Democratic process into the citizen burners Township and has rendered in estimable Services as a member of the uh Municipal Alliance from 2020 to 2024 therefore be it resolved that the township Committee of the township Bernards in the recognition in her years of faithful service the burners Township committee extends to Ellen hulahan deep grait appreciation and sincere gratitude on behalf of the residents and officials of burnard's Township so thank you mayor I serve as the elite TC liaison to the municipal Alliance and want to share some of the impact Allan has had in the past five years of her involvement who is here tonight um Ellen is also a member of the Bernard's Township team in the engineering department and she is one of our most dedicated volunteers she joined as the Civic group representative to the municipal Alliance for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention in her capacity she helped Bernard's Township gain Stig stigma free status in 2017 and and then in 2018 she helped to organize the pathways to Mental Health Fair Ellen brought suicide prevention training to Bernard's Township including among others QPR training safe talk mental health first aid and youth mental health first aid and she has supported programs like Ridge High School's information tables at lunch teen talks the Nico teen generation and our beloved Twilight challenge now in its 40th year our 5K and then of course Staffing and being part of our presence on Charter day I know Ellen is stepping off the municipal alliances she has had an ongoing conflict with another important volunteer commitment that organization's gain is our loss the municipal Alliance is very appreciative of all the wonderful Legacy that you leave us thank you anyone else like to thank Ellen as well thank you Ellen um you know we rely on people um serving on these boards and commissions including Municipal Alliance so thank you for service much appreciated thank you Ellen M many people don't know what an impact the municipal Alliance has on our community and how much it really help us with our youth every day and I just want I want to thank you so much volunteering is is a blessing for burns Township but you've been a blessing to all of us so thank you so much for your service thank you yes like likewise um I I I want to thank committee woman McCarthy for her comments her her Lea's on work with the with the the alliance um and and Ellen is the parent of a recent Rich grad and and a current Ridge student um there's thank you is never going to go far enough for the work that gets done to support our students through the municipal allins through the programs that you've had a hand in creating um from the bottom of our hearts as a committing person and as father thank you thanks and just rounding out your contributions the impact that you have on children can be lifelong so thank you with that may I have a motion please so moved second roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you mayor would you mind if I request that um you're going to go down for a picture right if um Anna Anna could join you as the municipal Alliance quite you no I have little I think Fin and as we often tell those that receive presentations um you're welcome to stay and but most people leave so your choice so we go to the next item please Christie any public work session none this evening mayor any reports none this evening any correspondence none then that brings us to public comment comments are welcomed during the public comment period during the meeting on any agenda item or other matter over which the township committee has jurisdiction however if an ordinance is listed for its own public hearing on the agenda please hold your comments for that particular public hearing the public comment portion of the agenda is not structured as a question and answer session but offers an opportunity to share your thoughts with the township committee the committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address this body the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation adherence to these Rules of Order will sure an orderly and respectful meeting I open public comment t St ver Side Drive um congratulations um done a great job um one of my neighbors asked me to ask some questions I said it wouldn't be a problem one question was um the elevator I know we working on the elevator they were just kind of wondering when it would be ready if we had it ETA if maybe it would be done I know it's not close to being done but just in case somebody had an idea like maybe June or something like that um another uh question that was asked was about um enforcement traffic enforcement um this person happens to be a walker and a runner and they're concerned about the traffic and like to see a little more enforcement out there with the U the traffic and I think um at the last zoning board meeting there was at least 70 people who spoke at one part or another concerned about traffic so I know you see it you've heard it so I think something should be said and radar enforcement is not really the greatest thing they sit there for an hour and how many people do they stop in an hour not many but if they were to concentrate more in stopping people with no front license plate I sat at a corner and counted in 30 minutes 30 people driving without a front license plate and we're talking about just New Jersey people not talking about new cars or out of state why is it all not having a front license plate import well the person may not know they don't have one could be lost it could be stolen could be used on a Stone vehicle not having a friend L and plate makes it harder to identify a car but and the other reason is the car may not be registered or insured it gives the officer a reason that stop the person and question them because I know in my past life that was one of my favorite things stopping people with no front license plate and a bad inspection sticker because the majority of those people were suspended drivers and it just worked out that way or thing they go to stop people with those um blackout Windows where you can't see the person you can't see if they see you as you're driving down the road either walking or bicycling or on a motorcycle or in a car you don't know if they see you it's also officer safety problem when they walk to a car that's a Blackout Window they can't see it's the state law I don't know why you don't concentrate on it I know we used to concentrate on it years ago I guess it's fashionable to have blackout windows but it's not safe and it's not legal and the third thing they could concentrate on is people on cell phones there many people on those cell phones texting we're driving see it all the time it's you know it's such a thing that they they don't even try to hide it anymore that's that tells you that it's not being taken care of so don't worry about this the radar traps if people see cars being stopped they don't know if it's for speeding or if it's for you know a b inspection sticker but if they're out there and they see the car stopped people will slow down at that point and I've said this before and I keep on saying it and hopefully one day it'll be taken care of thank you very much Miss court reporter I'll I'll let you know when you need to type okay I'll give you one of these we're not we're not there yet thank you anyone else I I'm Jamie McQuade for Brentwood Court um I'm not sure proceedings and what you guys did earlier about this uh Verizon stuff uh 20 what is it 2568 um but we as residents just found out about it too hours ago so I don't think this is the appropriate time for us to do actual public comments the way that this works but my thinking is I heard everybody up here talk about the legacy of the tree and the legacy of the town and all of these things and we're going to change that with this studio I've been here since 1999 it was pharmacia I think it was another company it was AT&T and now it's ver or it was AT&T Pharmacy and and now it's Verizon when Verizon moved there's been issues with Verizon there's been people that Park on our street I live on Fort brenwood Court they park there all the time with their um Ubers and things like that um and there's been that issue there was the issue of the garage when they first put the garage in and they weren't allowed to go above a certain height now we're hearing something like this is a six-story building um which is well the height that it used to be um and Verizon has always kind of at least initially talked to the neighbors and and we've been informed we got letters and I get we're going to get those letters when they're done deciding what they're going to do but I would urge you to really consider this because this is this is this is last minute railroading and we're getting railroaded in terms of the people in the in the uh neighborhood so thank you thank you hi my name is Tim engling I live in seven Madisonville Road uh again just like to talk about the ornest 2568 um basically just have a couple questions as far as thank you for letting us know that normally it's 48 Hours you get 24 um just looking at the ordinance uh basically I sat in a zoning meeting last week where one lot wanted to build go up a level and extend their footprint that was an hour and a half and I'm sure that person had to provide he had to provide architectural uh schematics runoff now what I heard this today is that this potential has to be uh decided upon in two weeks if I'm not incorrect well okay okay I'm okay but I just want to just go to go to plan okay okay thank you okay can I just pause can I can I pause this to ensure that there is an understanding as to what the process is or should we wait for all the public comment because unfortunately misinformation is out and so I guess that's the question should I pause this to allow an overview of what the process is of what this is or shall we go ahead and have comment well he has a right to make a comment he does and my question was is just to pause it to provide the background because if everyone has come under misinformation I I just ask well he's gonna get his moment and then it closes it's not misinformation it's it's it's from the board for that ordinance take your moment uh I just had I guess questions to be asked answer later um part can we just would you mind if we just pause the time okay you'll get your time okay but I'd like to ensure that I ask our attorney to explain what an overlay zone is and what the process is for anything related to that just so everyone is clear because unfortunately there is misinformation so let's please clarify okay okay so are you saying you want him to I'm asking Mr Bardo I want him to stay yeah I want him to I want you I'd like for Mr blardo to explain and then sir I'd like for you to come up get your time back so you get the full five minutes for you to continue is that okay I I just think that's a a better spend of time Mr Bardo could you please explain what an overlay zone is and what the process is related to an overlay Zone and how that relates to notices as well as planning board please this this is an overlay Zone which means the underlying zoning which is R1 3 Acer will remain intact so um Verizon owns a majority of the properties um in the R1 Zone here um they would have a right to develop it as R1 3 Acre houses I think we've been told it could be six or seven houses an overlay zone is a zone that allows an applicant or a developer that is interested in doing something on the property to do so in accordance with the requirements of the overlay Zone the overlay zone is a zoning ordinance um it is on for introduction tonight when we introduce an ordinance um there then has to be a public hearing date the public hearing date is December 23rd we also have to provide certain notices because this is a boundary change so people within the zone and within 200 ft of the zone and I believe you're within 200 feet of the Zone sir we be getting notice that if this is introduced tonight and we don't know whether it will be those notices will be sent by certified mail and regular mail to everyone within 200 fet now the municipal land use law requires that if this ordinance is introduced it has to be referred to the planning board so it's going to go over to the planning board that's going to do a consistency review in accordance with the will land use law by looking at our master plan they then have to send a report back to us and then on December 23rd there'll be a public hearing assuming that the ordinance is even introduced and adopted someone looking to develop the site would have to submit a complete site plan application assuming no use variances are involved they would submit a complete site plan application to the planning board then the notice process would commence again after the application was deemed complete by the professionals there would be further notices that would go out to Residents within 200 feet of any property being developed and then the board would conduct a series of of hearings and then the board would decide whether to vote favorably or unfavorably on the application and theard has the right to impose certain conditions upon the the applicant and those are set forth in a uh memorializing resolution that would be adopted by the board either in favor or opposition um to the developers application um there would be time obviously at a land use Board hearing for public comment uh citizen involvement so that's a very short overview of the process but I I hope it at least helps explain what we're what we're doing so my question as the TC and you are my attorney is tonight is the introduction and that is saying we want to introduce it to the public and then after that it goes to planning board whether they agree it goes with the master plan or not it comes back to us on the 23rd and on the 23rd we make a final decision that we believe in this plan and we want a movie studio built here and then it has to go to the planning board for an approval but we the five of us sitting here will decide whether we want this in our community that's absolutely correct you okay just want to clarify whether to introduce and even if someone decides they want to introduce the ordinance that does not necessarily mean that person is bound to vote in favor of the ordinance and a person voting in favor of introduction is is just saying they want a public hearing a person voting against introduction is saying we don't want it to go to a public hearing that's that's the law so I hope that and any other questions I'm happy to answer okay I just want everyone to know so on the 23rd everyone knows that we'll decide that we agree this is a great project for our community I would like to continue the public comment yes please just want to clarify that thank you your time is g to continue yeah thank you it's going through the ordinance just a couple things that were little um they really talked about some minimums and no maximum imum as far as for 4D with the community residences there's a minimum of 16 persons but what's the maximum and going into this law that's at least two buildings because I guess you only can have a minimum of 15 if I'm looking at that ordinance they're talking about that referred to um njs 55d 622a so that's my question as far as there is that what's the maximum doesn't knows there's no maximum um the impervious coverage it's 55% on not sure what it is in other residences um and the only other thing I took a look at a maximum height if we're talking about zoning three three 3 Acre zones 48 ft is a pretty big house so and so I'm not sure what the structure that is so I'm just asking um it just seems that just the timing is is it's a lot of rush we don't even have even a a a brief demonstration or brief uh you know fact simile of what it will look like or that will help do really the true impact to the community uh plus you know I to get a better understand I guess the zoning board will let us know you know I guess I thought knocking down trees was you couldn't really cut down trees in the in the in the community now we're going to cut down the total Forest thank you thank you Harry wman 194 North Maple Avenue which is diagonally across from the property we're speaking about um been living there since 1996 so I've been there for 28 years I came to Basking Ridge uh because I worked at AT&T so I was there at AT&T and AT&T Ed that land and there was about 12 to 15 houses there and then when the pharmacy and Verizon took it over um I guess about 10 years ago I'm I'm not sure about the time they they knocked all those houses down and I don't know why there's still one remaining um so I don't understand that it's always been residential um and it's been kind of now left in disarray for a number of years and now I'm sorry but there there was no disinformation or misinformation because we just found out about this like two hours ago I just got home from work and I came rushing over here because living there and knowing the way first of all extremely crowded Corner tremendous amount of traffic already 3 to four to 5,000 people that work in Verizon coming in and out plus 287 right there it's probably the one of the most trafficked accident um lights intersections in the town There's a a fire hydrant that just got taken out about a month ago and they spent a lot of money digging everything up and fixing it it's down again today and congestion is just insane I don't even know why this is being entertained it's residential if you want to put houses there put houses there there's no we don't need any movie studios in town especially not in that area this is just ridiculous and the fact that you're going to take a vote on on the 23rd so I have to come back here on the day before Christmas Eve that's ridiculous absolutely ridiculous the town people do not want this I'll tell you right now if you put it out till next year this place will be packed you're G to sneak it in next week that's really crummy all right and we don't like that kind of crap we voted you people in here to take care of us and preserve our our our town and just like McQuade said said about the the tree yeah that's all great but keep the town the way it is it's already overcrowded it's building in every single area we can we can look enough's enough all right when's it stop I don't know who's making money off this but somebody is sounds like and and Verizon has been a thorn in this this town side since they got there it's one thing after another with them pulling games and pretending they're nice and doing this and that and we're sick of it we really are all right so please stand up for the people we don't want this here we don't need it they can go somewhere else uh it doesn't have to be in this town There's PL plenty of places that that it would fit better so that's that's my comments and like I said I've been there I don't know if you guys have been here this long I've seen everything that goes on in that corner and we've got kids and animals and it's just already too busy there's just too much traffic and it's just this will make things so much worse thank you thank you hello uh my name is Jim fod I live in 119 Blackburn Road and uh we moved to Basin Ridge in 1981 so I've been here a while um here to uh uh make a comment as a member of the U Basin Ridge business Alliance um been a member of that Organization for 5 years now uh I've been on the board for a number of those years and I'm not here to comment on zoning or ordinances or anything like that but from a business perspective and a Commerce perspective uh and we've talked about it in the brba and the mayor has uh visited at our meetings and explained some of the U opportunities that might uh um exist and and that's that's what my comment really is is about uh um our mission statement is to uh help businesses grow and Achieve success in the Baskin Ridge area uh when the brba was formed about 10 years ago uh it was open up to anyone that wanted to write a check uh no matter where they lived then we decided that we wanted this to be Basin Ridge Centric so we kind of restricted who uh could actually be a member of the brba um I I think that uh uh just just on the on the face of things that those uh townships or or cities that have this type of opportunity in in their uh towns uh a lot of opportunity does get created for the towns uh between the the pandemic and the the economy over the last couple years it's been challenging for the businesses in in town as elsewhere to to thrive so our mission statement is to do whatever we can to assist businesses to be successful so uh as a representative of the brba uh if one could sort through all of the the controversy in terms of where and and how uh we will be in favor of of of getting involved in anything that would benefit the businesses uh in town thank you thanks Jim Sher Nelson 195 smokerise Road um I have a really different perspective I'll probably get booed um I'm intrigued I'm interested to hear more about what positive this would be for our community to have um what obviously caught my eye I'm the mother of a 21-year-old who's developmentally disabled the um component of this that would have residential housing for those adults and that would have educational and employment opportunities for students and adults with disabilities a community center all of that really caught my eye um so I'm open to hearing more about what are the benefits what is the negative impact is there a traffic impact I sat here for two years listening in all the zoning board meetings to hundreds of residents being concerned about tractor trailer traffic you know when properties get developed what's the alternative do we have manufacturing do we have warehouses do we have high density housing are we looking at affordable housing mandates impacting these decisions I basically I'm saying I want to hear more I don't know how I feel about it until I hear more so I hope that the public hearing would give us more information or the planning board when they're deciding it I'm curious about the process is there a planning board meeting in the interim that residents can attend and learn more or the possibility of scheduling something like that I I would just like to hear more thank you hi uh Larry Traen Bry 21 brenwood Court Basking Ridge not going to boo you um I would like to hear more about this as well too um I am concerned that this came up at the last minute I am concerned on the timing that this is you know coming about I'm concerned about the traffic I'm concerned about the wildlife I've been in this town for 20 years 22 years and I remember what I had to go through to get a pool in my house that was a year but you could build a movie studio in what two weeks I mean I appreciate you explaining it I just think a lot more information has to be put forward and I think we just need to talk about it and to take a real hard look is this something that we want in our town my knee-jerk reaction is probably no I mean Verizon does get away with a lot of things tent the Verizon sign on the wall there um I feel stupid I just switched my family over to the Verizon plan and I hear about this two hours ago so I'm just saying please you know there's a lot of people here and you know just give us more information do not vote on this thing do not push this along quickly because it's Verizon put them through the same procedures that you put all of the people that here for 20 plus years that's all I'm saying happy holidays thank you amen Bill rats 27 Brentwood Court I don't know how an ordinance gets put into this effect like this without anybody being told um it just comes out of nowhere I had someone call me one of my patients called me this morning you I've been in town since 199 a 26 years probably more than most of you people in this room and I've had a business in this town for 22 years I live right across that road I have a 17-year-old daughter who I can't even pull out of that street in the morning when I'm trying to get to my office which is not it's less than a mile from there and I got a 17-year-old daughter who you know I worry every day when she's driving to school because of the way these people come down the street the cops are not managing it and to put a building with more people coming into this town is ridiculous I don't know how you could say yes to that really it's absurd and like like he said you know we have to go through variances we have to go through the planning and zoning boards for everything that we do small little addition anything and these guys can come in and put in a six-story building and develop that entire property there's deer that are in that those on that property there's this um extinct bats there's all kind of stuff going on over here that is just going in the wrong direction you made some great points I was I'm right behind you with all that and I appreciate your emotion but you guys got to get us some more thought cuz it there's a lot more people in the neighborhood we had a thread going today they're not all here because people could not just get here they're working I came from Hillsboro my son was wrestling tonight for Ridge and I rushed here so in the rain to just be able to listen to this so voting for this is unconscionable you want to build this building build it on but [Applause] Butternut hello Nancy Dandrea uh three Vander Drive I've been a resident since since 1997 so I'm going to say this but I'm in I'm going to write this behind the wall but I'm an agreement with Sherry okay there we go okay so I am intrigued although my questions are I think reasonable um when we had AT&T here we had a great tax break great and then AT&T left and then when Verizon got in they got a great deal and I kid you not my taxes went up $4,000 one year so it was uh you know so what are the ratables what is what is it going to do for us let's talk you know first we got to talk how is it going to affect us are we going to have a a decrease in taxes also local jobs okay is it going to help the people in our town have employment all right um it will provide exposure to our town and that does affect things like for example if a town gets exposed or has a film uh being uh if a movie is being filmed in their in a town and a person then they need say dry cleaning services for six weeks and they make enough you know money in six weeks that they normally would have done in a year like you do get exposure people see a cute town with the beautiful tree in the middle of our downtown and let's be let's be honest here we have an iconic downtown okay hey let's go visit this town where this was this movie was filmed this is a thing for some people [Music] um uh so and also money for local businesses uh the only thing I couldn't find out was what company is coming in like I don't understand which company is coming and maybe I misread that uh also I do like this right here uh and this will help because we are big with uh with PEC okay with PC uh will allow an alternative development option that will include a film studios multi-purpose community space workplace development space for local students and adults with special needs and Community residences for persons with developmental disabilities that is a thing that you have to think about we have a large PEC you know uh Community we do a lot for them with Ridge High School also Ridge High School has a huge and amazing drama Department okay and dance department and and and everything all the Arts in Ridge High School is now through the roof and one of the best in the states so does this affect them can they expand there and do more like there are things that we have to look at besides just uh you know a building what how will it affect us the entire community over the next say three to four decades so again it's sort more of like a master plan item than it is something that and I don't understand why we have to make a decision in two weeks that one I don't understand so if maybe we can get that clarified why it's two weeks like is this grant money that's going to disappear oh it is grant money okay so it's grant money so that now explains a few things not our grant money we don't get it okay but the thing it's state grant money in incentive okay so you're going to explain that more okay because I'm saying there should be no reason why this has to be decided in two weeks but if it's millions and millions of dollars then we have to have then we all have to hear what has to be said okay so I get now why we're pushing for for at least because it's millions and millions of dollars that could affect our town in a positive way for some people and unfortunately in a negative way for some others so we have to hear you say I am intrigued I want to know how much money we're talking I want to know how it's going to affect like I live in the Hills it's not going to affect me it I mean my kid is grown and he has a job and he went to college so it really does not affect me too much but how does it affect you know my neighbor's kid how does it you know all that stuff so anyway that's my questions and comments and and thank you very much I just want to clarify because I did speak out I I didn't answer you wrong the grant money is is for the developer not us right that I got that I got but if a developer wants to bring in whatever $30 million I'm just throwing a number out there how does that affect our town what does our basically you know it's like everything else what do I get out of it right how does it help us obviously it's going to help um you know uh PE and it's going to help I would hope Ridge High School can expand and use that area I mean I want to see how does affect really the younger generations of our of our town oops that's my time all right thank you thank you hi uh Karen Fischer at 15 Homestead Road so first of all thank you all for your hard work your stewardship and also your creativity in bringing something like this to our town um I've not spoken in public comment before but I just wanted to share that when I did hear about this I my initial reaction was excitement my son is a part of the ridge drama club and I thought you had a ton of very tangible points so well done um but he is a part of that drama club and I had the opportunity to speak with some parents from that and some students and their initial reaction was also excitement again I I totally understand the concern and there's clearly a lot of discussion that has to happen so by no means am I like you know 100% behind it but I do think from that perspective there was a lot of um excitement about potential opportunity and what that could mean you know even for the Ridge students they do a lot of internship programs for the seniors I mean that would be an amazing opportunity for the kids that are involved that way both in you have stage crew you have acting there's directorships like there's classes at Ridge specific anyway there are there seem to be a lot of possibilities um for that so I again appreciate the concerns and I think clearly there's a lot more discussion um to go but I just wanted to say thank you and that was kind of our initial reaction so thank you thank you hello uh I'm Isabella Traen Bry 21 Brentwood Court basing Rich um I just wanted to say um somebody mentioned before also that we don't we having just found out about it today why does this and decision has to be made in two weeks less than two weeks on the 23rd um and if the grant is for Verizon why do we care it's for the developer not for okay who's the developer who's the developer please continue please continue we need to maintain the meeting so please continue with your comments well those are my questions and while you saying that you will you know sort it all out and think it through I don't understand that we find it out find out about this today I don't know how long long have you known about this and why does it have to be resolved two weeks from now exactly a day before Christmas Eve is that your hope that um you know most of us will be preparing holiday Christmas Hanukkah I yes I will be frying potato pancakes so I don't know if I'm going to make it my husband probably will but probably you know frequency might not be as large on the 23rd seriously thank you very much any other comments going once can I just add one actually showered and everything to come here um so the grant money that the developer would be getting what does it have to do with us is I I I mean you know if you guys when I sit back down if you guys could explain what that is I'll share information when we get to that part of the agenda okay yeah I just I I don't think we should be rushed because the developers on a timetable for money I mean that seems like we're just selling our soul so anyway Mike Nelson 195 smoke Cars red I just have a it's kind of a question question kind of a comment um I'm wondering okay we have a people that own this land that they want to do something with right then you have a developer that wants to do this and they have some crant money they could do it maybe it's a good idea maybe it's not if the uh if this falls through and the developer decides you know what we'd rather uh build a bunch of low-income housing and that's pushed down from above that that has to be done is that U you know an alternative that would be considered that I'm sure get everybody up in arms and it's something to consider I don't know if that's even possibility but that was my question thanks anyone else okay I'm going to close public comment that brings us to staff reports Township committee comments and board and reports Pat would you like to start please oh thank you mayor I just wanted to congratulate Margaret aloso who is retiring from the library after four years and I just want to welcome Jackie Barber 17 plus years at the library she will be coming over to the township um so I apologize to Rachel for taking one of her people but uh she'd be a great asset to our HR department here in the in the county so that's all I have thank you Christie none this evening thank you Mayor John no thank thank you mayor great Anna thank you mayor I want to thank the people who've come here tonight to make public comment I'm going to reserve my comments on ordinance number 2568 until the introduction I want to clarify that we are not approving the ordinance we are approving an introduction this evening uh which has been stated prior um just a couple of things specific to Municipal Alliance uh there is a resolution in the consent agenda recognition of service to burner's Township Mary Jane postal um Mary Jane has been a dedicated volunteer for more than 20 years to that group and most recently served as our senior representatives and among her contributions she was most proud of introducing challenge day to the high school that helped young people connect across lines of difference so I wanted to just acknowledge that since we will not be making a presentation formally like uh Pat I want to congratulate Margaret Osio on her retirement from the library wish her well on this next step of her life's journey and I also want to welcome the appointment of Jack Barber from her position in the library to her new role in Human Resources thank you mayor thank you Andrew yes thank you mayor um I too will reserve my comments on uh the ordinance that we were discussing until we get to the introduction phase of the agenda um I'd like to welcome back Steve Davis and Scott Mitzner as our municipal prosecutor and public uh Defender uh respectively it's an item that's on the consent agenda uh congratulations to MJ postal uh for her service call Camry on the zoning board for his um and and congratulations to Margaret on her retirement and welcome aboard Jack um with regards to Mr edelstein's comments uh Todd I'd be happy to speak with you offline about that particular uh Walker or jogger if there's any particular area uh that we should be looking at from a traffic enforcement perspective where that person walks or jogs having to do that um and certainly I will refer some of the concerns that you mentioned over traffic enforcement and whatnot um uh to uh the department while I don't tell them how to do police work because I've never worn a uniform myself uh happy to relay that and I know you have worn the uniform so you know more than the average bear to say the least um and then I just had a few things uh uh uh to address uh in addition to that um first uh a couple of meetings ago we heard some concerns about uh issues in and around uh uh Peach Tree Road um which is near the heer Cedar Hill school and by extension uh rid High uh these concerns relates to traffic uh our Municipal staff a uh specially hired uh consultant uh along with school district uh uh staff are all collaborating and talking about ways to alleviate some of the traffic over there that has been exacerbated by resulting from changes to bus schedules and what have you so uh we are working on that continuing to work with Bonnie Bray on improvements to uh their security measures um and we'll have more to come on that as well and then finally uh a brief word about drones um I'm sure you've all heard about this uh but uh certainly I'm aware of the circumstances involving the Drone flights over our area uh this phenomenon is something I've been following and it's been occurring since at least mid November uh 1st in and around Mars County and then widening in scope thereafter I've received Outreach from concerned residence about it as have my colleagues on the township committee um I've discussed this matter with the Police Department chief of police uh who was in turn had discussions with uh state and federal authorities I've have discussed the matter with other electeds and their staff our regional Mayors have issued a statement on the topic uh just today uh calling for ERS and have actively uh engaged uh the governor uh and Congressman uh on this issue our state senators call for hearings and answers uh our congressmen as have many many other elected officials uh at the state and federal level the fact is is that no one on this committee or in town government r large has been provided with any substantive answers on the nature origin or purpose of these drones flying over our area despite our inquiries uh pertaining to the same our Police Department is of course aware of the situation is taking reports and making its own inquiries despite these inquiries no subsid of information has been provided at all neither to me nor anyone on this Township committee or to our Police Department there's plenty of speculation out there about drones uh I don't think that further speculation on my part is either helpful or appropriate in this setting especially uh that said to the extent we have anything further to report on a substantive basis meaning facts not guesses I will happily do so our local police remain Vigilant and conduct and will conduct investigation should they have something to go on they also cooperate with state federal and Regional authorities as appropriate and will remain in contact with them that said the burnard's PD while it's the best in the business as far as local police departments are concerned fact is is that they don't have helicopters or or or planes or any Bevy of tools at their disposal uh to really sus out what is the nature and origin and purpose of these drone flights by contrast our state and federal authorities have a bevy of tools at their disposal and I call on State and local authorities to fully and transparently convey what they know and if they don't know use these tools to find out public is rightfully concerned about these drones and we all deserve answers I join in these other calls for information and specifically call on those in a position to find out what is truly going on to find out and make a full and transparent public disclosure that concludes my report thank you grie uh nothing from Parks and wreck this evening uh or pools for pool check back when the weather gets warmer um so uh that that's it this evening mayor thank you Janice um so uh Liberty Corner Fire Company another one wonderful year with s on the fire truck so if you're interested in having on December 21st the fire company Liberty Corner will go out with Santa on the fire truck and you can register um through the Liberty Corner Fire company's website and sign up to have um Santa visit you on the fire truck you and her family and um when my children were young we did it and it was just fabulous heartwarming great experience and it's a fundraiser for them so um if you're interested like I said you can visit the uh Liberty Corner uh fire company's website uh wanted to mention um the deer commission received grant money to do a drone F uh a drone flyover to study how many deer in the area and what it does it it Maps out what areas in town we actually where the concentration of deer are and aren't and then we get uh an accurate number so we can kind of Judge have with having the deer Commission has the population go down and is the program really working so be in light of what's been going on with the drones we have paused uh the Drone activity in town so I just want to let everybody know so after everything kind of settles down we will resume but we will let you all know that we are the drones are for the study for the deer commission um the library I too uh would like to say uh welcome to uh to Jackie she's been a real asset at the library and I personally worked with her and so it's going to be a pleasure to have her in town hall working uh working with all of us on in a different compac capacity um and I really want to mention Mary Jane postal who has spent so much time and energy on the missal lines and really made a difference Mary Jane that was her heart and soul the municipal committee helping the children being involved and I say that is because I would run into her in Stop and Shop Grand Union back then and she would always tell me what's going on and oh I want the town to do this and I'm fighting for this cause and I'm fundraising for this and it really was her life the municipal Alliance and it and it really shows because she spent how many years Anna 20 more than like over 20 I would say 25 years at least uh 25 years serving this community and working with her children and it has been amazing and we really are going to miss her um um and finally the only other report I have to say is I just want to say you're all very fortunate because we sit up here and we're not always going to agree and you don't want us always to agree and debating it and coming to a consensus and us all being passionate and what we believe in and not always agreeing and we all know it's not personal it's we all have your best interest at heart and what's best for our community and the views may be different but at the end of this at the end of the day we we really care and we're really here to serve even though we don't always agree but we're friends it's not personal and uh we have a job to do to be loyal to you and make the right decisions so it is a good thing when um we don't always agree it just always it shows that we're not all like-minded so I just wanted to say that thank you mayor thank you so um just some things I want to acknowledge I want to thank um the basket Bri business Alliance and Bishop James church and Fire Company um and all of the volunteers that made the event the tree lighting on Saturday absolutely stunning um all of the wonderful um businesses that participated in the Winter Market it was really a pleasure and it is something that just makes you so proud um it gives you sort of um I don't know I consider it sort of like hville when we all gather around the tree um as something that is Wonder something wonderful to celebrate and just a big shout out to the police department their skit uh that had the uh story of Santa and How the Grinch impacted uh the tree lighting was um very fun so really great work with that I also wanted to thank uh committee woman Anor McCarthy we were both previously at the Nativity event um just prior to this so she jetted over um as I I bailed early to get back a little bit earlier but she stayed and represented I it was a wonderful wonderful event a wonderful singing and things so um thanks to that business uh and uh for making that happen for our community I also want to acknowledge um coming up for everyone understanding burnard that is going to take place on December the 12th this is for the public works department maintaining our infrastructure and services provided this initiative around having these presentations is the very um reason and definition of transparency so we want full transparency on everything that happens within our community and this is one of those reasons so we'll talk about transparency later let me also speak about Public Safety adding on to Andrew's comment around the drones I wanted to share that um I've been working with the somerset Hill Mayors um the Safety Committee and so yesterday we worked together and we jointly published a press release after contacting the governor's office as well as uh Congressman Cain so hopefully you saw that press release I also last evening sent a letter to the governor on behalf of all of the Mayors the good news and I'm not going to uh you know fingers crossed um Mayors were invited to a briefing tomorrow so I will be traveling down south uh to hopefully hear something valuable um in the letter that I shared I am looking for information so we can share with our residents so if there's anything that I able to share that will be shared on the um the the town channels so fingers crossed for that so that is all that I have for right now so let's move on to Fire and Rescue appointment please resolution 2024 451 appointment to membership in Township Bernard's volunteer first aid Squad of Basking Ridge and the Basking Ridge Fire Company number one Nando Thell Junior member I have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you Miss court reporter you're up and I'll indic stop thank you for being here tonight at this rather late hour it's greatly appreciated that brings us to unfinished business ordinance 2567 an ordinance of the township of Bernards County of Somerset state of New Jersey amending revising and supplementing the code of the township of Bernards chapter 21 Land Development regarding uses permitted in the E2 and E4 office zones this is a public hearing and was referred to the planning board I now open public comment good evening mayor and committee members my name is Keith laan of the law firm engino Taylor on behalf of signature Acquisitions LLC Mr Lin we we talked before the meeting and I I will represent that your letter from um Mr engino dated December 10th 2024 was distributed to me by um email and also distributed by the clerk so they do have it so that saves you from um having to pass it out so um you're on thank you I appreciate that and I will try and be brief because I understand from your Council who's just explained that everyone has received the letter so I'll just hit the highlights the uh proposed ordinance will eliminate light manufacturing as a permitted use in the E2 Zone and is specifically at odds with the master plan and existing land use ordinance which permits light Manufacturing in the E2 Zone as well as the municipal land use law which favors a wide variety of land use uses in the township the legal notice of this ordinance published on December 2nd 2024 is fatally defective since the notice States in relevant part that the ordinance quote will be further considered for final passage and adoption on 1210 2024 at 8 p.m. after a public hearing to be held at a meeting of the township committee end quote however tonight's meeting started at 7:30 p.m. not 8:00 P.M and I know because I was seated in the audience also the notice of tonight's hearing was never sent to the property owners in the districts affected by the zoning change in violation of njsa 40 55 D- 62.1 therefore I believe that the township committee is without jurisdiction to act on the ordinance tonight as well as without jurisdiction to conduct to conduct tonight's hearing furthermore we believe the proposed ordinance appears to be improperly proposed and targeted based on political opposition to stop my client from proceeding with its planned mixed use development which includes light manufacturing and office bace this is contrary to the case of Willow be V planning board 326 NJ super 158 which is an appell at division case from 1999 where the court specifically found that a zoning ordinance Amendment triggered by political opposition is improper for these reasons and the reasons identified in our letter we ask that you reject ordinance 2567 thank you for your consideration and your time sir Lin thank you and I intend to address the issues you raised in your letter but a full public hearing thank you Sher Nelson 195 Smoke Rise Road I'm going to be repeating myself here but I spent two years in this room at all the zoning board meetings for that um application he's talking about and we're listening to signature and I listened and sat here with hundreds of residents who don't want light Manufacturing in our town and wholeheartedly I know I was one of the hundreds of people who wrote you emails begging you to make this change and to update our ordinances the ordinances that are old from the 60s did not take into consideration the hills development and the thousands of residents who live there and other Residential Properties and it's time for change I wholeheartedly support it and I thank you for taking this on so quickly and for representing um the will of the people thank you yes my name is Harvey Gart uh 416 m road and I would point out that the opposition to this uh development was Community opposition and was not in any way political opposition there no political parties associated with it we had members and neighbors that um felt that they uh this was just too much for our community in terms of traffic and everything else I would point out that I moved to bassing Ridge in 1985 been here a long time when I moved in Mount Ary Road uh a butter to a tea at Lions Road Lions Road did not go all the way through to um 78 in fact 78 didn't even go all the way through to uh um Route 24 um the uh you in order to get to 78 you had to go around uh to Liberty Corner then all the way down to the fellowship the fellowship Area Fellowship Village was not even built then it was the deaconry um and um Everything's changed this whole town has changed since 1985 we have the hills we have more people here and uh I think that this must be taken into consideration this town should not have any um uh development of this sort uh I would point out that we've sat here for 18 months uh reviewing this over and over again the I was uh impressed by our citizen neighbors who acted as the fact Checkers for a plan that was deficient that was flawed and in some cases disingenuous lacking information on it uh that our fact Checkers actually our our neighbors our citizen fact Checkers uh found and put together so I would ask you to uh continue uh with the uh uh uh promotion of ordinance um uh 567 uh preventing uh this type of use uh in our uh town thank you my name is Bruce schundler from 1114 Fellowship Road I'd like to commend the township committee for proposing this amendment to our zoning ordinance in fact I urge you to pass it tonight when our zoning ordinance was first created the Bernard's Township was a much different place with less development and with far fewer residents living near in near and around E zones but things have changed now there are more people living near our five E zones than we ever expected and in fact our ezone the one being affected by some of the hearings for the last two years is just down the street from the two of the most highly density developed areas of the Town namely Fellowship Village and the hills if you look at the zoning map there's no areas quite as dense as those right around E2 quite frankly the change being proposed in this amendment should have been passed years ago literally decades ago and it simply wasn't probably because by mistake and Omission to be sure to allow any kind of manufacturing whether defined as light or industrial or whatever to be built down the street from a very dense and residential areas just doesn't make sense the boards and committees which passed our master plan years ago was were correct when they wrote that among the goals of our zon ordinance should be to protect our neighborhoods and Community character to retain the rural and agricultural character of the township to the greatest possible extent and to prevent urban sprawl and de degradation of the environment through improper use of land and among the objectives of our master plan is that land use policy should strive to maintain and enhance Comm Community character protect the Integrity of existing neighborhoods and prevent the intrusion of incompatible new development in passing this amendment you are doing what you should be doing you are trying to prevent incompatible new development in an area of town that has changed dramatically since the zon ordinance amendments were first established years ago so I urge you to pass it thank you here I go L track where 21 BR withart so heard what you guys were saying about this maintaining Integrity of the Town light industrial 18 months but a movie studio two weeks that's okay I mean don't want to rehash it but you know if it takes 18 months to talk about light manufacturing and maintaining the Integrity of the town and hey before Christmas Eve let's talk about a movie studio come on please thank you see you soon Nancy Dandrea three Vander cor uh three Vander drive I'm sorry got a little tired there I know right um so the Allen Road Project and everything that we did in the 18 months was not political because I didn't show up and I'm but people don't realize I'm the person that restarted the burnard's township Democratic committee and I purposely stayed away in fact I think I showed up to one meeting in the very beginning and then I said you know what I'm going to step back and let everyone else handle it because I know they're going to be okay and there was it was really never meant to be political it was we had DS we had Republicans we had una Affiliates we had everybody it was the Hills and fellowship Village that came together and then the people on Mount Ary when they realized that they might get the trucks 24 hours a day nothing political about this thank you thank you so Anand r one Kani Place Basin Rich so uh as Nancy said this was not political this was for the community by the community of the community so thank you so much I urge you guys to pass this thank you so much for doing this so quickly thank you thank you thank you hi am radan gurum morti 66 Liberty Road uh thank you mayor and Township committee for taking up resolution 2567 uh really appreciate your stepping in to uh change the ordinance so that light manufacturing is removed like this was a movement by the township the community we looked at the details for example I analyzed the traffic statistics and I found the traffic studies to be extremely deficient the traffic studies relied basically on averages and essentially grossly underestimated the traffic I studied the it statistics for both the daily traffic and the peak traffic and based on my computations the traffic impact would have been more than double what was quoted by the applicant right and given the extent of development that has taken place since the light manufacturing was originally set up for this E2 and E4 zoning since then there have been a lot of development in terms of uh the fellowship Village coming up the hills Community Etc you have to just look at the roads how uh you know how crowded they are how much bottling they are and particularly how bottom neck they can be during peak hours and if you consider the fact that the statistics if you look at the sheer variability of the statistics that were used by signature there those are it statistics they use the averages but if you look at the standard deviation of that statistics is huge right it's it's about 75% of the average and in the case of peak traffic it is about 110% of the of the average so that leads to enormous variability and it would be a uh extremely um uh severe pressure on the infrastructure of the township and for those reasons I respectfully request you to pass the resolution and remove light manufacturing thank you TI St Riverside Drive I'm not going to try to sway you you've already made your decision you already spoke about it two weeks ago in fact some of you even kind of confused it with warehousing and light manufacturing I think light manufacturing is not worst thing in the world and I think the zoning board did the job the did the job they were supposed to do and I don't know why you're going to try to take it if let me put it this way if you trusted planning the zoning board then why would you take this away from them and that's what you're doing you you obviously you don't trust them to um follow through if there's another application and that would be wrong I think um Laboratories they have their problems too I worked in construction Laboratories down sharing plow and Union and over Scottish Plains I think it was and in MC in raway those places aren't wonderful places Labs disgusting even Co was built in in a lab but if you want a lab in town great but I don't think we should cut our nose in in spite of our faces I don't think we should um not have light manufacturing I understand that I don't think any of you ever worked in light manufacturing and I have but I have a suggestion then if you don't want to have light manufacturing maybe we should make it for um creating a film studio Community campus over 150 Allen Road that would be a great place for it to be thank you very much Mike Nelson 195 Smoke Rise I wanted to say thank you for uh that you're going to uh introduce this resolution to eliminate M manufacturing and second what other peop have said this was not at all political because I've never seen such unified support between Democrats Republicans Etc so nice try but it wasn't wasn't political thank you hi my name is Alisa Naru I just want to say thank you to you all and I'm really proud of our town for standing up for what's important and for listening to the people it was not political I cannot believe that signature Acquisitions group is still trying to bully the way bully their way into this town they asked for variances because it doesn't fit we are we are under no obligation to give that and it doesn't fit into our master plan in addition to that it doesn't behoove anybody in the town it only served their purposes that's it um and I want to commend everybody for acting on this because the hill I live in the Hills um and uh the way it was zoned many decades ago is things have changed now you have a very High concentration of people and very noteworthy in the room tonight I don't see all of those people from fellowship Village that were showing up to the zoning board um meetings and uh I originally got involved in going to the meetings because I didn't want to see hundreds of tractor trailer trucks traversing inappropriate roads in the Hills but I must tell you what really got to me was seeing the group of people from from fellowship Village they would have to contend with this day in and day out living right across the street and that is just not fair um and I also think that our town must value life uh it it would have created a very dangerous situation for the young people driving our superintendent of schools showed up it just doesn't fit that's the bottom line and I want to thank everybody here thank the mayor thank everyone for proceeding and acting so quickly with courage and this is not about politics at all this is about the safety of the town it's about standing up and not being bullied thank you thank you Excuse Me Miss can you state your address for the record I'm so sorry it's 37 Sentinel Drive thank you anyone else Derek smick 57 shanon Hill Road I wasn't planning to actually talk today but I heard this uh reference to it manuals i al also one of the people who analyzed this man manual the it it manual is about the uh traffic engineering and you should know that there is no light manufacturing defined in it man manuals there's manufacturing and so the study they basically use this manufacturing because it sounded the closest to light manufacturing but there are no data for light manufacturing to analyze the traffic now the manufacturing itself the sites that were observed by it were different sites we had different number of uh uh number of people per square foot than the other ones and the only ones that was close there were two and the there was one slightly smaller the other one was slightly bigger and uh both of them have had a double traffic of the one that was projected so we're not now talking about that application at all but the point is that there are no data that apply to light manufacturing so therefore that's like sort of like like a blind alley that we should know go into so I appreciate if you remove that uh light manufacturing phone his Z thank you thank you anyone else okay and I'm going to close Mr Bardo yes um I'm going to go through the legal parameters and uh basically tell us how we got here ordinance 2567 was introduced on first reading by the township committee on November 26 2024 and duly advertised and noticed as required by law the public hearing is tonight December 10th 2024 on December 3rd 2024 the planning board discussed proposed ordinance number 2567 and found it not inconsistent with the 202 3 Master Plan Township Clerk Christine kefir received a copy of a December 4th 2024 memorandum from the planning board noting the not inconsistent finding and which included a December 2 2024 memorandum from Township professional planners Elizabeth mcmanis and Brent Harris concluding ordinance 2050 2567 furthers the goals and objectives of the 2023 reexamination report M mcmanis and Mr Harris recommended no revisions to ordinance 2567 the municipal land use law statute requires that every zoning ordinance must either be substantially consistent with the land use plan element and the housing plan element of the master plan or designed to effectuate such plan element njsa 40 55 d-62 in defining substantial consistency the Supreme Court in man alipin realy V Township committee 140 NJ 366 384 1995 made it clear that some inconsistency is permitted provided it does not substantially or materially undermine or distort the basic provisions and objectives of the master plan and C reia residential construction V Cedar Grove Zoning Board of adjustment 338 NJ super 242 251-2200 finding a zoning ordinance to be substantially consistent with the master plan cosso Myers versus Ocean City Zoning Board 439 NJ super 96 140 appell division 2015 where the planning board has determined as it has here pursuant to njsa 40 col 55 d-26 a that the proposed zoning ordinance is consistent it was was done here such a determination of consistency by the board is entitled to difference in great weight manal in realy previously cited 140 NJ at 383 the township committee was aware of the application before the Zoning Board of adjustment by signature Acquisitions LLC 150 Allen Road Block 11201 lot three that was filed honor about September 24th 2022 the Zoning Board of adjustment denied that application by a vote of 6 to Zer on November 14th 2024 the township committee also assiduously refrained from attempting to influence or interfere in the Zoning Board of adjustment application mayor Jennifer AC so informed the public at its June 26 2024 and October 15 2024 Township committee meetings by a statement prepared by myself as the township attorney it should be emphasize that a governing body is always entitled to amend its zoning ordinances if it becomes aware that a particular zoning ordinance does not suit the current state of the zoning District manalan previously cited at 383 to 386 the light manufacturing use in the present E2 Zone was created in 1962 by ordinance 108 long before the now established residential uses surrounding the Zone were built such as Fellowship Village the hills and Shannon Hill I am aware of the objections of attorney engino in his December 10 2024 letter and is set forth by my colleague tonight Mr Laughlin and respectfully disagree the public meeting started at 8 p.m. and not 7:30 p.m. as that was reserved for the executive session I do know Mr wlin was here at 7:30 p.m. and we did have a telephone conversation in which I explained that the public meeting would start at 8:00 P.M and 7:30 p.m. was reserved for executive session I I further do not find ordinance 2567 required super notice under njsa 455 D- 62.1 the ordinance further is not based opposition to Signature acquisition proposed development that has been denied but resounds in proper and sound plan use principles I do not view the elimination as a singular permitted use in the E1 E2 E3 and E4 office zones at section 21-10 point5 of Our Land Development ordinance as sufficient to trigger the super notice requirement of njsa 4 55 D- 62.1 C pil B Township of wage 394 NJ super 319 326 Appel at division 2009 uh again the classification is not defined within the 62.1 statute but it is subjective as I indicated as whether it's a fundamental and sweeping alteration I'm going to take some time to go through all of the uses in the E1 E2 E3 E4 and E5 or theones at 21-15 to so indicate that I believe elimination of the light manufacturing used in the E2 Zone um does not fundamentally alter those zones and did not require super notice a uses one permitted uses these uses are designed for office and laboratory uses the following uses are permitted administrative business or executive office buildings professional Office Buildings scientific or Research Laboratories data processing centers hospital and medical CL clinics farming Agriculture and horiculture not including the raising or keeping of livestock public parks roads and other public purposes Child Care Centers the following additional uses are permitted in specific zones Banks and financial institutions in the E2 E3 E4 and E5 zones only radio Television Studios in the E2 Zone only light Manufacturing in the E2 Zone only storage and maintenance of vehicles operated by or as a business in the E4 Zone only country ends and Country ends with restaurants taverns in the E2 Zone only accessory uses customarily incidental to the above uses furthermore conditional uses are permitted in all five of these zones such as Public Utilities in accordance with Section 2112 conference in as defined in section 21-3 in the E1 and E2 zones only and in accordance with Section 21-12 retail sales and services retail outlets specialty food stores health clubs and restaurants in the E2 Zone only and in accordance with section 21-23 and retail sales and services retail outlet stores specialty food stores and restaurants in the E3 Zone only and in accordance with Section 21-23 houses of worship and or houses of worship with clergymen residents on the same premises in accordance with Section 2112 public and private schools in accordance with Section 2112 thus do I view the elimination of the light Manufacturing in the E2 zone is fundamentally altering the nature of those zones um I do not U moreover I would notice that Mr ino's client had noticed a proposed ordinance 2567 uh in fact participated in and attended to December 3 24 planning board meeting and is present tonight and did in fact submit a letter to the planning board uh indicating their their Viewpoint an ordinance adopted by a municipality is considered to be presumptively valid because elected officials are best uh aware of local conditions and therefore the ones that are most able to enact zoning ordinances an ordinance uh can only be overturned uh based upon a challenge if it's arbitrary cacious and unreasonable that's a high standard nonetheless I'm going to make a recommendation to absolutely bulletproof any lawsuit um because I don't want to have to go down even though I am convinced I'm correct on the notice requirement and argue with the judge and Somerville over notice was required according to the classification uh definition so what I'm going to recommend that you do tonight is to make a motion to carry this public hearing to December 23rd which is only 13 days away we will do the notices and then when I have to go down to Summer Bill to argue over this particular ordinance I'm arguing only over substance and not a technicality that is that is my recommendation and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have on the legal aspects of this particular ordinance so if I had to summarize you're saying that you recommend to to ensure further protection for our town from litigation that we continue this to the next meeting yes it's a simple process we will do we Christine will we'll we'll send out um a notice that the public hearing will be continued on December 23rd we'll do the the notices that Mr llin has requested um in my 40 Years of practicing I'd rather exercise an overabundance of of caution and make sure this thing is entirely proper and I do do that that there is no challenge to this ordinance and if this ordinance is adopted it is easily uh defendable um for all the reasons noted in my memorandum and is indicated by the planning board um and for Sound Land Use principles and then we would take action you would take action the decisive action decisive action hate to drag every back but I'm sure you're all aware that we would rather do this 100% correct and cut off any remote legal challenges that signature Acquisitions may have to this ordinance so this whole thing would have been fine except maybe the right technicality would the date and that's it the filing yeah Mr Lin's contention is this is a classification change and and I do not do it as a classification change but I I think that's his only remote ability to challenge this ordinance and I want to cut it off okay yeah and continuation of this portion of the process is just that right John meaning the public at the 23rd on the 23rd would still have the opportunity to come up because that the hearing portion would remain open so the public members who couldn't be here tonight can come on the 23rd and step up in support of us taking the vote on the 23rd so that we have the opportunity to hear from others that could made it absolutely and if there is a lawsuit a judge is going to want to look at a transcript that's why I have a court reporter here we have also authorized the court reporter to make a transcript of the planning board meeting that that occurred and we're going to make a transcript of the November meeting at this was introduced and and may I note that when this was introduced at the November meeting members of the township committee put for the reasons for introducing this ordinance and why they supported that that's also going to be in a a transcript and again I will emphasize that over a two-year period many of you residents asked that the township committee intervene and assist in the Zoning Board of application and I essentially was the attorney that had to say under existing New Jersey Supreme Court law The Zing Board of adjustment as a quasi judicial body cannot be contacted by governing body members they cannot go to meetings they cannot speak to their members they have to let that body act independently and that body did act independently and reached a decision and the applicant will Reserve its right to challenge any Zone board resolution when adopted but a governing body after a lengthy process has occurred before Zoning Board of adjustment if there are legitimate not political concerns if and and here there were legitimate concerns that this particular use after 62 years in this Zone having been enacted in 1962 and I have examined the process that led to that enactment in 1962 and clerk keer has assisted Me by tracing back the origin of this to 1959 and we have read all of the minutes and reasons for that initial enactment which at this particular time in 2024 no longer exists in fact when you walk into this room it's called The Craft meeting room some of the people that were involved in that process then obviously have passed on but Warren craft was involved a gentleman named Meer Ro so people that roads were named after in this town were were involved but times have changed in this governing body and I don't know how they're going to vote um has certainly introduced and had a public hearing on this ordinance so if the township committee wants to adopt a motion I would recommend that it be as follows that this public hearing be continued to um uh December 23rd at 800 p.m um that we will further advertise the public hearing and send out whatever notices are required in an abundance of caution to forall any remote legal challenge um that would be a motion that I'm looking for all right I will make a motion that ordinance number 2567 be public hearing be continued to December 23rd at 88m that further notice be provided and I'll I'll second that and if I may you know I had voted for the introduction of this ordinance um expecting to adopt it tonight uh I made certain remarks on the record um at the time of the introduction because I was comfortable with the ordinances it stood at that point in time um but uh as you State uh uh counselor you know I believe in doing things right not necessarily fast and what that means is if we have to defer action just make sure that this is buttoned up uh I support that roll Mr Balman yes Miss duartte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you then we move on to new business and the consent agenda the items listed within the consent portion of the meeting have been referred to the township committee for reading and study are post on the agenda on the website our considered routine will be enacted by one motion of the township committee with no separate discussion if separate discussion is required the item may be removed from the agenda by Township Committee Action and placed on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like an item removed from the consent agenda okay we have a motion so move mayor second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes to the consent agenda M dwarte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor Acy yes motion carried thank you that brings court report done thank you I'll give you a redacted version of my text tomorrow so when you prepare your transcript you have all the spelling and actually I'll do that I'll do that right now thank you so that takes us to Item B please ordinance 2568 an ordinance of the township of Bernards County of Somerset state of New Jersey amending revising and supplementing the code of the township of Bernards chapter 21 Revis land use ordinances to create a film studio and Community campus overlay Zone within the R1 Zone and this is Introduction who would like to start with comments before we you want a motion to open but would we want to make comments before we take the motion Comm yeah we're going to do discussion after after the first and second you should someone should make a you should have someone make a motion to either introduce or not introduce the ordinance and then have discussion okay so if you introduce it and then a second then then she'll call for discussion before the vote all right that's Robert right a no vote means you don't want to introduce the ordinance and a yes vote would mean you want to introduce the ordinance whoever makes it so right so I I'll make a motion to introduce ordinance 2568 on first reading referred to the planning board and advertised as required by one scheduled for a public hearing on December 23rd 2024 second now and now we need discussion correct we would like to start I'll okay so I wanted to thank everyone who came here tonight um I've lived here since 1996 I don't think that wins but my husband moved here in 1968 so perhaps he wins tonight um so I do and all of us take our responsibility as stewards of this community very seriously um so I do appreciate your thoughtfulness um and I would imagine that we'll continue to provide more information but I just coming here tonight some of you probably from work thank you for being here um so I'm going to give you a slightly different perspective on this ordinance uh the film industry is a very competitive industry in New Jersey that's being driven from tax incentives adopted in 2018 prior to the tax incentives being put in place the average income from uh filmed was about 62 to 68 million per year and now with the incentives in place there is a much stronger realization of Revenue in 2023 New Jersey brought in nearly 600 million in revenue from film and in 2022 when there were no labor actions the state brought in 700 million at Somerset County under Economic Development a film aison has been appointed and through that function the county brought in the fall alone five film projects in Somerset County including uh included in a total of 12 at the state in light of the growth of the film industry in the state and the unique positioning of Bernard's Township um it is something that we want to look at to consider the opportunity for growth and development in this community and I'm supportive of the ordinance in concept and want to continue in my role as Township Committee Member to conduct due diligence to inform my decision on whether or not to have burners at the table for this unique opportunity what do I mean by opportunity I'm defining that as new and consistent tax ratables revenue opportunities for ancillary businesses such as hotels restaurants dry cleaning providing in a location for local students to engage in skills-based learning and experiential education which can lead to job creation and in the opportunity to provide housing for adults with disabilities and special needs a growing population in our community in introducing the ordinance introducing we will also have an opportunity to hear and understand public sentiment including the hearing on December 23rd If we vote to adopt the introduction including the thoughtful comment that was heard tonight thank you thank you who else just want to am I the only one I guess no I'll go after you you're waiting okay so as I mentioned before um we wanted to uh have more I wanted you know we had a motion to defer this for later because I just feel like when I sit up here and I want to introduce something yeah you have questions but they're kind of minor so when you sit up here you want to be confident in what the ordinance is and that's it's maybe 80% done because major changes major changes to the origin can't be made because if we do that then we have to go into next year so I wanted it to be uh straight off the bat I wanted it to be clean so I felt like if we introduced it and there was major issues that people were discussing it kind of taints the whole project I also felt like the whole project hasn't really like I said you haven't seen a concept plan you don't know what this looks like you don't know there's four huge Studios a commentary uh a mill there's so much more to this project than I hear a lot of people saying one big building no it's not one big building or one big studio so we saw a concept plan I found out this morning that my concept wrw my concept plan is wrong so maybe that's why you didn't get a concept plan and I think it visually the public can see what this looks like which I think is really important and what we're really talking about because if you look at it you might say this looks like an industrial park to me in our neighborhood so I would like you all to have that opportunity so that's when I say there isn't transparency because the last time we did an overlay on this we gave everyone the uh a concept plan and there was rent ings and you can see what it looked like and what the elevation look like so we don't have that right now meaning you don't have that right now I have it but it's not accurate so I have a lot of questions now that I know that it's not uh accurate and so I just felt we shouldn't be rushing this let's take a little more time maybe I can get to yes maybe the public can get to yes there's a lot more questions and yeah we we talk about revenue and nobody likes to pay taxes right you know and especially a large amount well how much does this bring to the town right well there's one part is how much do they pay in taxes and then there's how much economic development is there where you know they're going to use our business that we're really not going to know so for me it's more about the character of the town what's the condentation to our town do we now have an industrial park in our town do we now be known instead of Basking Ridge as this quaint quiet historical town now people are going to say oh that's where the movie St studio is maybe you don't want people saying that maybe you like when they say it's an Ice Quake Cary time but I wanted to be able to visit all that and there was a lot of questions we I got the ordinance on Friday and this was supposed to be done it was supposed to go out on I think it was Friday so I haven't had enough time to really review this I feel and ask enough questions for all of you and that was important to me I mean what is the impact of the surrounding Neighbors what is this going to look like visually with no content plan you really don't know what um what it's going to look like Vis visually and why is the developers Tim table more important than the future of our community he's he's the one who's going to get money to build this okay so it's a lost opportunity for our town but at what cost we're losing the opportunity and pleasing a developer so he can the millions of dollars but in that it's going to destroy our town or change our town or maybe not be accepted so I'm not going to worry about a developer's timetable I want to worry about our T timetable what what is it going to take for us to feel comfortable about this project um what is going to be the impact on the wildlife in that area what is the benefit to burnard is it Financial are we getting anything else I mean we're told we're going to get a community center but we're not getting a community center because we have to share the community center with the studio and I'm told that we have to ask for permission to use the community center so I don't understand why it's not our community center fully if it's called to Community campus well why isn't in our community our community center and I don't think we should have to ask for permission uh to use a community center I think everyone nonprofits I was told that we won't be able to use uh use it we'd have to ask for permission so I have a problem with that and I think the concept of a group home on the property is great but really in a studio is this the right location we don't know we're working on affordable housing we may be able to find another spot for this maybe this doesn't fit into the whole concept and what's the Environ uh environmental impact what are the constraints environmentally we don't know um how many trees will they be cutting down if we're environmentally conscious this is important you know every time they do a project at Verizon we've had complaints before about the cutting down the trees um why are not we uh restricting uh you know what is the restriction on the community as far as the compound so if it's a commu if it's a community uh if it's a Community campus you know there's security and that not everyone is going to be allowed in there so that's a whole thing we have to we have to consider um how will the site handle storm water we have a large problem here in town on storm water why don't we have a visual eval uh EV EV eval sorry about this thank you where we can see the height who's going to see is North Maple going to see it more than um the other Street and how high is it so you have to see how high it is so we we we don't have that um like I said what's the financial impact what is the um traffic study what is this going to look like for the traffic I mean these are just so many questions that I have and there's no way I could get and let me tell you I talk to plenty of people I talk to my colleagues administrator our attorney I talk to the New Jersey Economic and Development uh commission person I talk to our planner I asked all these questions I ask questions and then there's so much more so not all of these have been answered and again is this the best interest of our town we need not rush and possibly making a bad decision that may have longterm effects so in the beginning of this meeting we asked our colleagues could we just slow this down and the answer was no so now it's an introduction and after the introduction if everybody agrees three if it's three to two it goes the next step and the next step is yes it goes to planning board but the final decision is made on the 23rd and that's what's frightening and I just want to say to all of you I am appalled by that we brought this out to you on Monday at 700 p.m. I am appall that this is a major project that will change the landscape of our community and I am appalled that we are doing this right before Christmas because you want I'm going to close with this do you know why everybody hates government cuz it always seems like people do what they do in government in the dark of night and this is what it looks like we are trying to p a project in the dark of the night not giving the community an opportunity to weigh in so everyone can say wonderful things about this project and yes it may be this might end up to be the best thing for berard's Township but you don't Ram it in in a twoe period when there's so many questions that I have and others have and I just want to say again in the dark of the night and this is why people do not like government and I do sit here with honorable people and I do sit here with principal people and I do sit here with respectable people but sometimes the situation presents itself and people only see it as a great thing for the town a legacy or so forth and they don't see it with an opportunity for to do something really good that needs to be vetted longer you he any comments I don't care yeah so the the introduction of the ordinance is not a decision to build a movie studio right it's it's it's the introduction of an ordinance that leads to a public hearing and I many of us up here on the day is have the very same questions J we all have the same question right we need to know what this looks like what what is a concept plan if we establish the bulk criteria for the uh development of a movie studio what does it look like when you actually build a movie studio according to that criteria before we get there we need to see that as a proposal this at the end of the day whatever goes on that site to the extent it becomes land use as as as uh provided by this body U we the five of us have to make that determination um and and we're not making that determination this evening it has to go to the planning board for a consistency review with our master plan we need to accept their guidance and Counsel on on the outcome um and then we need to get those questions answered right so I think it's a this is a fact-f finding Mission this is to include the Public Public sentiment um um public opinion and and information just like anything else right this is not nobody's looking to to to pass law in the dark of night um we we are also the stewards of land use in this town um and we have to be mindful of what influences land use what influences the decisions that we make um we like to believe that the concept in New Jersey the the New Jersey Concept in law of what's called home rule applies which is that the best place to make the rules about what happened in happens in Bernard's Township should be here in our home right home rule is where the law rests in the hands of those that live there right but that's not actually the case in New Jersey right the ultimate outcome when those in at home don't rule will fall to the hands of the state because the Mount Laurel decisions which we've had many Governors since but if you understand the way affordable housing works in New Jersey then you understand it has been a controversial topic of tremendous impact for example on towns like ours for decades as a result of mandated inclusionary zoning that has now been codified into an affordable housing law that has been challenged and set aside but is likely to be determined to be enforceable and will be enactive and when it does people will ask in underutilized or underperforming commercial properties what am I going to do with it next right those of us who sit up here and go through the budget process every year see the tax challenges that we get from commercial properties that say it's underperforming it's undervalued my office building is vacant so I'm no longer going to pay you X for my taxes because our assessment should be based on the value the burden of that within our budget either leads to the cut of services or the transfer of the tax burden to our residences some of whom are seniors insecure and at risk on fixed incomes for having to leave the town because they can't handle the the the real estate tax burden that's one aspect of considering a project like this one there's the visual impact there's the traffic impact right there's also so its ancillary benefit or burden on other businesses in our town so it for for me for me the opportunity to introduce to investigate to see the concept to to to hear from the public is important if we don't introduce and the external boundaries be it an incentive that's available through the state's desire to promote the film industry goes away um or or the the land owner and the developer lose interest in the project and move on um we've we've denied ourselves the opportunity to look at it to consider it and see if it's a fit for burnard's Township No One's Gonna Get You Know hem in a movie studio um um in the night so so I I want everyone to understand we are all stewards of our land we are all representatives of our residents we hear you and we want a thoughtful complete and and well- conducted process um and you still got to get a majority of us at the end of the day you have to get a majority of us to uh approve something thanks so uh I'm going to say some things that I'm going to try to make distinct from what I said when I S to strike this item from the agenda I continue to think we should not be voting on this at this time um but you know I'm going to try and do something different um we've heard so much tonight over the course of a series of issues uh on different distinct matters and very rarely are there through lines between the things that we're voting on but I think tonight is one of those nights we started off honoring the work that was done with the oak tree and we're known for the oak tree in this town but the oak tree is no longer with us unfortunately it's on all our stuff the leaves uh on a logo flag Etc we must ask ourselves if we're going to embrace this movie studio idea Tre is no longer there we're going to be known as the town that has the movie studio is that who we want to be I don't we got to figure that out right I think there are people who say yes there are people say no I don't have enough information at this point in order to make a judgment on something as profound as that we'll be celebrating the 265th uh anniversary of the town uh next year uh to me the prospect of a movie studio and I'm not convinced that if we don't move this ordinance now the the the the project goes away I'm just not um um and even if it did we survived for 265 years without a movie studio we'll get by without one somehow amen so let me speak a little bit about you know the process here it is definitely true that tonight's vote begins a formal process that puts you on a track down towards the ultimate approval of this is this the ultimate approval of it tonight no is even on the 23rd the ultimate approval of it that night no but you are essentially establishing a local law that sets the parameters for this movie studio to be built in this area and there are some things that people can like within you know this ordinance that's on offer be it the community center which has some issues with it or group homes or stuff like that bottom line is is that we could do those sorts of things without a movie studio um and the two don't necessarily go together so in as much as there might be some process you know after the fact for me there's a certain minimum amount of information and confidence that I need to have before I even begin a process and quite frankly I don't have that yet and the problem is magnified by virtue of the profound impacts that this project has the potential to have on our to for much of tonight we were talking about the light manufacturing development over in the Hills or near the hills on Allen Road um I'm wondering if other people are seeing the parallels between what we were talking about there and now what we're talking about here okay and are we going going to be talking about many of the same issues as it relates to this development that we just basically got done with over on Allen Road and it is our job to be mindful of the concerns for people who live on this side of town that side of town and everywhere in between now are there potential upsides to this thing sure if there were none no one would be entertaining this at all but um you know those upsides really have to be weighed and carefully considered Visa V what the downsides are and quite frankly there really has not been any time you know to to move these things forward you know even when we were talking about um a a uh you know holding off on doing that light manufacturing ordinance due to a you know procedural concern because uh it could have um you know hey the notice might not be right you know we should just wait on it and that way it's sort of better buttoned up that was the advice of our councel on that thing I feel the same way about this let's take our time let's review this thing in a more fullsome manner let's gather some feedback I'm going to look to you know have certain questions answer but the the developers timeline even if they're not going to be in a position to get the credits and I'm not convinced of that um that's not my concern my concern is the residents of this town um and and and uh that concludes my remarks thank you so I'd like to read what I had originally prepared and then I'll have to address the unfortunate accusations and statements made by colleagues first this is the first introduction this has been said what the process is this is not an endorsement of a particular project or program it is an introduction to make the topic for this uh this topic to be available to the public there is no other way for the public to be aware of potential options within the town there is no other format so I am sorry for the folks that thought that that this was going to be in the dark at the end of the year as a quick thing that is not what this is unfortunately the timing of all of this and I'll just say just for fun last year December 28th of 2023 there was a Township committee meeting guess what this board did these four not the last one we passed an overlay ordinance just saying not for a movie studio Westgate other side of town the point is that accusations about timing and things like that I'll address so let me speak to you about my original comments what is this potential project so Within introduction this is when we can say this is the possibility and all we are trying to do is to make it transparent to you that this is a potential we would like to take it to you to the next meeting so then we can hear from the public at large those that live most closely and most likely affected as well as all residents in the community that are also affected by by the reasons why we would or we would not want to consider this proposal this is consideration this is not decision so here is this is these were my original comments what is this this is a film studio with four sound stages with all activity to take place inside not outside it includes housing for 16 adults with special needs it includes a community center and a Workforce Development and education space that is for special needs Youth and adults for Education and Training and employment why this location what we've come to learn is that film studios need to operate within the union zone it's a film thing 30 m s uh a 30 mile radius from Columbus Circle in Manhattan that's their jurisdiction they need they were looking for some acreage within the 30 mile Zone near an interstate the only place that people could find happened to be that spot so Mountain anything on Allen Road that's not in the zone so I'm just providing you some of that feedback and keep in mind because I live on this side of town and I I trust I I travel past uh th that area multiple times a day it is a 1 half mile space between the 287 intersection to this particular area okay it is 1 half a mile on Maple Road so why the timing so the timing is the njeda has a film lease partner designation it is a highly competitive process in which there are three slots and only two are remaining there are multiple people bidding for that so so when the experts not just the developer when the experts informed us that it may not be there in January we said okay what do we need to do let me tell you about the benefits and I'm not going to go into all the details because that's what we would do at the hearing on December the 23rd but high level commercial tax tax revenue from this proposed film studio with preliminary and conservative estimates it would be the second highest tax revenue generator commercial generation for our community behind Verizon another obligation so commercial tax revenue that impacts every single one of us and as Mr mman mentioned we've had a loss of commercial properties there has been maybe you've not noticed it there's been a slight slide of a burden of tax onto residential folks each one of us sitting in this room we can do better as Township committee people we should be looking into improving our Economic Development with in the town the second mandate by the state of which we have no control we have an obligation of affordable housing we will be taking action by the end of January signaling our first step in the process our number as a reminder is 218 we need to put 218 units of affordable housing within our community we need to think about very clearly where are we going to put that I can tell you I don't think especially by every reaction whenever there's topics about development no one wants it near them right but 28 units this project has the potential with 16 units to give us 32 credits okay 32 credits that do not bring in extra families and extra traffic into our community so that is something to seriously consider so why do we need to consider this taxes we need to improve our tax we need to improve the consideration of commercial properties two we need we have to solve the affordable housing whether we like it or not by law in the summer we have to have our formal plan that all will be coming to you as soon as we have those final plans they're not final we are evaluating so this is a serious consideration number three education and Workforce Development a lot of this is originally especially for our special needs youth we have a significant population of Youth and adults within our community with special needs we need to be responsible to enable for them to have Workforce learning and the opportunity for education and employment one of the reasons why you would put that housing near training and employment is they can walk to work it is a campus the other is the community center so that is a that is a facility that does not currently exist that could be of use at no cost to our community it's an added extra bonus built at no cost to our town there are many other benefits that we haven't even Quantified yet so there's more information to come and there is indeed more information to come so let me just talk for a moment about transparency when did we first find out about this July every single person on this de was informed that this was a potential opportunity every single person I have been in step with every single person on this stas as to every Milestone achieved every conversation that happened every possibility and can I tell you I would not have acted not in good faith representing the town it was not only it was only up until Thursday evening that any one individual said I I don't know that I can get there I need more I need more time so I'm just telling you the way that some people act when they are faced with an opportunity they either dig in and try to figure it out or they throw their hands up and say I need more time so two colleagues dug straight down and said let's look to see if we can learn and speak with as many of the officials and experts on this topic as possible so I think that's what you can see when you're looking at people's perspectives as to why we're looking at things differently some of us have invested the time in energy and have more information now I will also say we do not have everything more information is coming and that will be made available so please know that it should be in the best interest of our community to think about options consider options this is not jamming a film studio in our community one other thing to keep in mind that is private property to think that private property is going to just stay as is is a fallacy there are other opportunities that I had been told about not in detail because it's not our property and I can tell you the one option brings kids and this I'm sorry you need to not be disrespectful this is not lies this is the truth you have said some lies up here that's fine Jen that you can spin it anywhere you want my my Northstar has always been the town absolutely positively and I'm just telling you that we owe our residents as elected officials to invest time and energy and to bring information to our community in a public forum so we can hear from them and that is all we are trying to do here tonight we are not endorsing voting in a particular proposal we are merely saying we need to look if into this as a consideration dayas so the other thing I was going to mention again there is no guarantee if anything is going to take place in January so we can say that if we don't move and we don't do this due diligence now if we miss a deadline it's off the table okay and so then let's think about where we're going to put all of these other considerations and let's also not be naive there are multiple vacant locations businesses throughout our community those business owners are not going to just let those sit so we need to be thoughtful we need to be proactive or we might see something similar that we were just trying to close out tonight with 150 Allen wrote Let's be proactive to identify the types of businesses and opportunities that are congruent with our community is this congruent with our community I don't know we haven't had a public forum to actually ask and why we are hearing from people that are most directly affected and I appreciate that your voice matters but so does everyone else in the community community and everyone else deserves the opportunity to share their thoughts and considerations on are they happy with their tax rate what do we think about affordable H the affordable housing and what are our concerns related to that and where are we going to put that what do we care about our special needs Community do we care about them or not and are there any other amenities these are the types of things that we need to consider so that is the reason why we are trying to have an inter uction tonight we are not endorsing this we are getting more information and I'm just deeply disappointed that this is the way that this took place in this particular Forum I have nothing else to add may we please move to vote and actually just remind me since that took forever Christin what was the where how are we going to uh the first MO was made by Mr Balman and a second by mrte McCarthy and that was to introdu introdu correct yes is introduce and no vote is not introduced so roll call okay so roll call please Mr bman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes on introduction Miss Fields no Mr MCN no mayor AC yes three yeses and two NOS the motion is carried thank you let's move on to approval approval of minutes November 26 2024 Open Session minutes and November 26 2024 closed session minutes may have a motion so moved second all in favor I I executive session none further this evening mayor and then let's move on to adjournment Second do we have a second