MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COMMITTEE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WANTAGE, HELD AT THE WANTAGE TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 888 STATE HIGHWAY 23, WANTAGE, N.J. ON THE DATE OF OCTOBER 29, 2007

Mayor William DeBoer called the meeting of the Mayor and Committee of the Township of Wantage to order, and requested the Clerk to call the roll.
Upon roll call, the following members of the governing body were present: Mayor DeBoer, Committee member Space.
The following member was absent: Mr. Parrott.
Also present: Township Engineer Harold Pellow, Assessor Melissa Rockwell, Land Use Chairman Jim Smith, Board of Health President Joe Greenaway, Open Space Committee members Rudy Solar, Tom Davis, Ken Nelson, Diane Snure, Land Use and Open Space member Vicki Gill, Land Use member Joanne Kanapinski.

Mayor DeBoer stated, “This meeting is being held in compliance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act, Public Laws 1975, Chapter 231. It has been properly noticed and posted to the public, and certified by the Clerk."

At this time, a bus tour of Wantage Township was conducted, as part of the Open Space Advisory Committee’s efforts to produce an Open Space Plan for Wantage Township. The group was joined by Ms. Clara Nuss, and Mr. and Mrs. Willard DeGroat, members of the general public.

Clerk Administrator Jim Doherty welcomed every one to the Bus Tour of Wantage Township, sponsored by the Wantage Township Open Space Advisory Committee as a part of its efforts to assist the Land Use Board and the Mayor and Committee of Wantage Township in the development of a meaningful and viable open space plan. Mr. Doherty welcomed Andrew Szwak and Elizabeth Lee, representatives of the Morris Land Conservancy, who are participating in the bus tour to learn about the Wantage Township community.

Mr. Doherty provided the participants of the bus tour with an itinerary of the bus trip, as follows:

ROUTE 23: “Looking North; Traveling South”
Although we will not travel northbound on Route 23 from the Municipal Building, this general and immediate area has been identified in the Wantage Township Master Plan as a hopeful site for a “Farm and Government Village”, creating a vision that farmland preservation efforts will combine with projects at the State, County and Local levels of government to create an educational enterprise area of Wantage Township, which will showcase efforts at farmland preservation, encouraging Agro-business and tourism. These efforts, it is envisioned, will provide a planned effort to control development in a positive light without creating public service needs or negatively impacting the Wantage Township population. As we travel on Route 23 Southbound, we will pass Central School Road and Wantage School Road on our left side. There is a roughly triangular portion of land mass in this area, bordered by Route 23, Route 284, Sally Harden Road and Rose Morrow Road, which is undeveloped. While the density of development will be somewhat impacted by wetlands and Category 1 Stream Regulations, there remains some land area that will likely see development unless preservation efforts come into play.

LOWER UNIONVILLE ROAD
We will then continue south on Route 23 through Sussex Borough, and turn left at the A&P Traffic Light, following on to Lower Unionville Road. Most of the right side of Lower Unionville Road is already preserved against development, either through existing wetlands, upcoming C-1 Stream Regulations, or State/Federal preservation efforts including the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge. There are a few isolated tracts of land along the right side of Lower Unionville Road which have been identified as worthwhile for consideration of preservation, most notably the site identified as Block 2 Lot 20.01, commonly referenced as the “CJS Site”. The Wantage Township Open Space Advisory Committee has identified this site as one of two sites representing the highest priority for preservation against development, to date, for Wantage Township. Efforts have been made to reach out to the current owners and potential developers of the site, to discuss the possibility of preservation. However, the current developers’ belief regarding the value of this property is unrealistically high, which thwarts any effort at fruitful negotiations at this time.

ROSE MORROW ROAD and QUARRYVILLE
From Lower Unionville Road we will turn on to State Highway Route 284 and take the next left hand turn on to Rose Morrow Road, which we will travel along a north-westerly route back up to State Highway Route 23. The easterly (right) side of Rose Morrow Road, traveling out to the eastern border of the Township, represents the large area of the Township which has seen a preponderance of farmland preservation through the efforts of the Sussex County Farmland Preservation Program. Current hopes are that the focus of future farmland preservation efforts will continue to focus on much of the remaining land in this area, commonly referred to locally as “Quarryville”. At the intersection of Rose Morrow Road and Lott Road, we are close to one of the two public parks owned by Wantage Township. Commonly referred to as the Lott Road Fields, this park will have its name dedicated as “Veterans Memorial Fields” on Memorial Day, 2008. This park provides active recreation opportunities on dedicated preserved land. The left side of Rose Morrow Road encompasses the mass of land identified above in the paragraph entitled “Route 23”. Efforts at farmland preservation and/or open space preservation would be equally welcome in this area, and would represent a meaningful extension of the current farmland preservation efforts in this area of the Township, providing the opportunity for Greenway areas.

COLESVILLE
As we reach Route 23 at the upper end of Rose Morrow Road, we will continue a short way along Route 23 northbound and then turn left on to County Route 519. North of this area we would come to the part of Wantage Township called Colesville. There is, again, a significant amount of land that is already Farmland Preserved in Colesville, and efforts to preserve remaining tracts of land would be worthwhile, specifically with the hope of creating Greenway sections between the Northerly border of Wantage Township and the central, farmland-preserved areas of the Rose Morrow Road area identified above. Continuing along Route 519, the land area on the right (which continues up to the Northerly and westerly borders of Wantage Township) is already mostly preserved. Indeed, through the Wallkill Wildlife Preserve, High Point State Park, the Appalachian Trail, and existing wetlands restrictions, almost the entire northern, eastern and western borders of Wantage Township are already preserved against development.

PLUMBSOCK; BEEMERVILLE
As we reach the intersection of County Route 519 and County Route 628, we will have reached the area of Wantage Township commonly known as Plumbsock. The Wantage Township Master Plan envisions a revitalized Beemerville Hamlet which centers on Agro-tourism and continued efforts at preserving the heritage of farming in this section of the Township. Plumbsock, itself, is fairly much developed already, although there are pockets of land area which might be worth pursuing for preservation efforts, depending on the priorities identified in the Open Space Plan.

WOODBOURNE
Traveling southerly on Route 628, we come to the section of Wantage Township identified as Woodbourne. The Woodbourne area is the location of the second public park owned by Wantage Township, appropriately named Woodbourne Park. A recent auxiliary to this park is a stand-alone tract of Township-owned land known as the Wantage Township Dog Park. Adjacent to Woodbourne Park is a tract of land identified by the Wantage Township Open Space Advisory Committee as the second of two parcels considered the most important sites for preservation, identified as Block 113, Lot 11.01, commonly referred to as the Forum Homes site. This site is already approved for 29 single family homes development, but its prime location right next to existing parkland makes it a property worthwhile for preservation efforts. The likelihood of being able to “snatch” this site out from impending development is slim at best, but efforts at negotiations with the property owner are being made, and a fair market value report of the property’s worth is being obtained to see if a meaningful counter-offer can be made to the owner’s asking price, which is currently just a little bit above that which could be considered realistic for a meaningful dialogue. Traveling south along County Route 628, the left side of the road [bordered on the north by County Route 635 (Haggerty Road) running out to the Frankford border, and on the south by County Route 565 to the Frankford border] represents a stretch of land which would be worthwhile for preservation efforts to concentrate. Within this section, can be found the Roy Road section of town which has some degree of development pressure, as well as land owned by 565 Land Associates (Block 17 Lot 27 in Wantage Township, representing a property site that is 132.19 acres) which has recently open up negotiations with Wantage Township for possible preservation. The 565 Land Associates site, bordered on one side by preserved open space and the other by farmland preserved land, would represent a natural greenway area for open space preservation.

LEWISBURG
Continuing South on County Route 628 brings us to McCoy’s Corner. Crossing straight at this intersection brings us on to County Route 565, with the Sussex Airport on our left side. Continuing on this road brings us to the Lewisburg Section of Wantage Township. The roughly triangular land area bordered by Lewisburg Road, Route 565, Route 23, and the Hardyston/Lafayette Township borders, represents the southerly section of Wantage Township that has a large amount of undeveloped, unprotected land area. This section, again, is worthy of attention for preservation efforts.

RETURN TO TOWN HALL
Continuing on Route 565 will bring us back to Route 23, where we will turn left and travel northbound back to the Wantage Township Municipal Building for the end of the bus tour.

Upon conclusion of the bus tour, all persons present were invited to return to the meeting room of the Wantage Township Municipal Building.

OPEN PUBLIC SESSION

Mayor DeBoer opened the meeting to the public for any questions or comments.

Clara Nuss asked if the proposed Open Space Plan envisioned any particular acreage number for the open space preservation program.

Mr. Doherty responded that there was no specific number of acres being targeted for preservation; that the OSAC members have not approached the concept in terms of quantifying a particular number of acres as a goal.

Joe Greenway inquired how the Township would know when “enough is too much”, in terms of a point at which any further conservation would represent a negative impact on the Township’s finances and economic structure as opposed to a positive impact.

Mr. Jim Smith indicated that the efforts of the Open Space Committee and the Open Space Plan would be a tool for the Land Use Board to plan an effective and meaningful future for Wantage Township, by maximizing open space and preserving as much of the rural character of the Township as possible while not intruding on a landowner’s rights. Mr. Smith indicated that steep slopes, farmland preserved areas, C-1 Stream restrictions, and wetland restrictions present factors that will help identify areas where open space may be connected within the Township.

Andrew Szwak of the Morris Land Conservancy offered examples of other communities in the State of New Jersey, and how they addressed the issue of making sure that the level of preservation being pursued was appropriate for their particular community. Mr. Szwak stated that, as a general rule, the level of land development is far outpacing the level of land preservation in most New Jersey communities.

Rudy Solar expressed a belief that open space preservation would not pose a negative impact on the business community. Mr. Solar expressed a belief that the nature of business enterprises may adjust, but that business opportunities as a whole would not suffer.

Mr. Greenaway expressed reservations with that prediction.

Tom Davis pointed out that open space preservation efforts will be a voluntary process; that the effort will not, in any way, involve eminent domain or condemnation. Mr. Davis expressed a belief that proper open space planning will help the community combat the development/displacement pressures brought about by the Highlands designation.

General discussion continued among all persons present regarding the goals of an open space preservation program, and the need to find a “happy medium” between those members of the community who oppose development, and those members of the community concerned with the potential negative economic impacts of lost tax ratables and declining work opportunities in business trades associated with building construction.

Being no one else from the public wishing to address the Committee, Mayor DeBoer closed the meeting to the public.

There being no other items for consideration at this time, Mr. Space moved to adjourn the meeting. Mayor Deboer seconded the motion. Upon roll call,
Ayes: DeBoer, Space Nays: None Absent: Parrott Abstain: None

Mayor DeBoer declared this meeting to be adjourned.

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James R. Doherty, Administrator/Clerk