Editorial – April 2014
By Cindy Merckx/Editor The Sentinel of Gloucester County
Last week I attended the Planning Board meeting in Franklin Township and enjoyed listening to the two applications that were on the agenda. I have lived in the Malaga section for many years and certainly wanted to see the plans that Roselake had prepared to show the residents of my community.
I did not receive a letter from the developer that was mailed to several of my neighbors because I do not live within two hundred feet of the proposed subdivision but I as a taxpayer have an interest in what occurs.
Thirty four years ago when I purchased property on Oak Avenue, it was a dirt road with a forest of trees on both sides of the road. There was a small development of ranch style homes around the back beach area of Malaga Lake and five homes that were along the mile long stretch of road they called (Mountain Road/Oak Lane).
Things have changed and we now have over a hundred homes that are all serviced by well and septic. There is always concern when more houses are built about how the impact will affect the homes that exist. Our neighborhood also has a pumping station on Greenwood Street because it floods so bad at the intersection of Oak and Greenwood that emergency vehicles had to be towed out!
When I saw the plans of twenty five more homes that would be located behind a dozen homes that already exist, all I could think of was that I wouldn’t like it if I had 25 homes with toilets flushing, washers and bathtubs draining and twenty acres that were once a huge forest of Oak trees moving in behind me and impacting my neighborhood.
But I admire the comments by my neighbor Brian Powell who was courageous enough to stand up and say that he is willing to call the developers bluff and that the township officials should not allow the vacating of paper streets to occur. It is a risky move when you gamble at anything; but we all know there is a lot of expense in paving streets. The developer has to come up with the money to pave about twenty acres of roads to make the project work and that is an expensive task to undertake in a rough economy.
This isn’t the first time projects have been proposed and never panned out. Developers put it all on the taxpayer. More services and more impact on our schools and we have nothing in return. When a developer puts down $9,000 at a land sale he is taking a risk just as if you went to Atlantic City and put down $9,000 at the roulette wheel.
Before you think about taking a gamble here are a couple of jokes to help you through the week from the internet.
Dog Poker
A man walks into a bar and notices a poker game at the far table. Upon taking a closer look he sees a dog sitting at the table. This peaks his curiosity and he walks closer and sees cards and chips in front of the dog. Then the next hand is dealt and cards are dealt to the dog. Then the dog acts in turn with all the other players, calling, raising, discarding, everything the other human players were doing. However none of the other players seemed to pay any mind to the fact that they were playing with a dog, they just treated him like any other player. Finally the man could not longer hold his tongue so between hands he quietly said to one of the players, “I can’t believe that dog is playing poker, he must be the smartest dog in the world!” The player smiled and said, “He isn’t that smart, every time he gets a good hand he wags his tail.”