Keeping Us Informed
Atlantic Highlands Mayor & Council have a Failure to Communicate, while it seems that there is no one keeping Atlantic Highlands residents more aware and urging them to ask more questions of the governing body about municipal business than Mark Fisher.
Either hearing him ask questions in a definitive manner, his facts in tow, his recollections of earlier promises and statements intact, or reading his comprehensive review of previous meetings, facts and statements online is enough for anyone to realize Mr. Fisher is an interested citizen, one who follows every action of the governing body, and asks a lot of questions when he cannot get any answers.
He certainly is not a resident who is seeking any kind of position with the borough or election to any office. Indeed, it certainly appears he wouldn’t accept any office if offered to him. He’s just a very intelligent, very interested citizen who loves his town.
Mr. Fisher also points out in many different instances where the actions of the governing body do not always coincide precisely with what they say or what they plan.
Mother Theresa
The Redevelopment plan for the Mother Theresa property is only one example.
The resident has cited on more than one occasion that three years ago, when the Mother Theresa property first became a hot topic of conversation for sale, no one , not a single person from the public, indicated they would like the property sold to a developer for the construction of yet more houses in the community.
Senior Housing
Many spoke at public meetings on the need for senior housing, how the former parochial school could be converted to housing to meet a need, and how that use would fit in with the neighborhood and help long time residents having difficulty paying taxes and not needing large homes in their senior years, could still be accommodated within the community.
The governing body never said much after that public hearing. The public was led to believe there was a study afoot, they were looking at the best use, etc. Apparently the borough was negotiating with the church for purchase of the property. Absent any other comments from the governing body, the residents, wisely or not, “assumed’ any plans would include senior housing…the thing most said they wanted at more than one opportunity.
Redevelopment Plan
Then came the Redevelopment Plan and all of a sudden, not only the residents, but even the church attorney involved in negotiating the sale of the property learned for the first time that senior housing wasn’t even being considered by the governing body.
The plan finally announced to the public was strictly for more houses, as many as 13 in fact.
Thirteen more houses in addition to all the new apartments on First Avenue, West Avenue, Hennessey Blvd, and the houses on the McConnell tract which were also approved.
That’s an awful lot of development for a town whose Master Plan seems to want to keep it a small, neighborhood community.
That makes you wonder:
Is the Mayor and Council in the real estate business?
Are they approving a design of a neighborhood for the good of the town or for a sale of a large piece of property?
The state Master Plan calls for improving the quality of life, improving economic growth of the community; Fisher asks how are 9 to 13 more houses on property that currently has none, is going to improve the economic growth of the town?
For that matter, how are more houses, more vehicles, more noise, more use of open land, going to improve the quality of living for the community?
Master Plan
The Master Plan urges protection of the borough’s history and culture, as well as open space and recreational assets. How is tearing down a building that could enable local residents to continue to live here, tearing down a recreational building residents in that former school building, together with all borough residents, could use, and building still more houses on open space meeting those Mast Plan ideas?
The list goes on.
The Redevelopment plan also includes specifics…the colors these houses can be, the materials that can be used to build them, plus a few other items far outside the scope of what is required in zoning of any other area of the borough.
That makes one wonder……is the governing body, in financing this redevelopment plan which is a far cry from what people said they wanted, creating its own special ‘neighborhood’ in town?
Is it a real estate decision that this area should stand out because of its distinctive color or one or two different house designs?
Is promoting a ‘special’ section of Atlantic Highlands that would not look like any other neighborhood in a town steeped in history and generations of the same families going to make it exciting for a real estate venture?
Always left with Questions
All the questions still remain in spite of three years of talk. Yet the same planners who designed what apparently the council wanted, but not the general public said it wanted, will be at the Town Hall meeting, whenever that will be in the new administration, to explain and listen.
The administrator said they are eager to be there and looking forward to it Could that be so?
Are they ready to hear the public criticize a plan they designed that includes tearing down a couple of buildings and building new houses with specific materials and colors or design?
Did they even hear any of those comments from the public before launching into their plan?
If they did, did the governing body simply tell them to ignore the public and draw up a plan for more houses, colors and design? Or did they do that on their own and the governing body never told them what the public wanted?
Will the Song remain the Same?
If this governing body is in the real estate business, will the next be any different?
How much difference will it make when people speak out at yet another Town Hall meeting, another hearing before the planning board, and another before an ordinance is passed?
Another Story along the Same Vein
