TOMS RIVER – The all Republican, five-member Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders were divided on whether the county can buy land from a town to preserve it as open space.
Their most recent meeting featured some strong words with voices a bit louder than usual. Ultimately, the measure to buy land from towns was shot down.
In a 3 to 2 vote, the Board did not adopt this year’s Ocean County Open Space, Parks and Recreation Plan amendment to its “master plan” regulating economic and community development and to preserve and protect its natural resources.
Had it been passed the plan would have permitted Ocean County’s leadership to buy existing public land owned by the 33 municipalities in the county. It would have used revenue from its 1.2 cent-dedicated open space tax that voters passed back in 1997.
Currently that fund holds around $50 million for property conservation but the sticking point was that the amendment runs contrary to the wording of the open space tax which was intended to be used to purchase only privately-owned property that could be developed.
Last year, voters approved an amendment to the natural Lands Trust Fund Program to permit the “acquisition, development and maintenance for recreational and historic preservation purposes.” Before that, only farmland and wilderness could be purchased for preservation in their existing states.
Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari said, “I realize Freeholder (Virginia) Haines (who serves as chairwoman of the county Department of Parks and Recreation and also serves as the liaison to the county’s Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee) that it is your department but the 1.2 cents belong to the people of Ocean County. Before we spend one cent of taxpayer’s money there has to be full and total transparency. Before I take the vote today, I want to feel comfortable that we are doing the right thing.”
Haines, who spearheaded the amendment proposal requested to be the last speaker on the issue, but Vicari said he would be the last speaker as the director of the board.
When asked if he had any comments Freeholder John Kelly asked if he could be the last speaker. Vicari didn’t appreciate the humor in that remark and replied, “this is very serious.”
“You be the boss of the world,” Kelly told Vicari.
“I’m not the boss of the world. I am the voice of the people,” Vicari replied.
“Let me just say that Joe Vicari is just one member of the Board of Freeholders. We all care about the people of this county. Not one member of this Board of Freeholders was elected not to represent the people of Ocean County. We may have different opinions but that doesn’t mean we don’t represent the best interests of Ocean County. All of us Joe not just you,” Kelly added.
Kelly explained that the main difference of this amendment was that the county would be allowed to purchase land that was “already in the hands of municipalities and there is some controversy about whether that is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do.”
Freeholder Gerry P. Little reviewed the history of the program saying, “the purpose was to purchase natural – key word “natural” – undeveloped, private, privately owned land.”
He repeated, “privately owned. Not government owned. In July of this year we had a natural lands application come before this board at a pre-board meeting, and we had the mayor here. The natural lands application was to acquire around 260 acres from Toms River although we were never told the plan did not permit us to buy government owned land at that time.”
Little said the Board reviewed the plan which was presented by the Land Board Director for the county. It was located next to Cattus Island and toward the middle of that discussion it was revealed that the property was owned by Toms River Township.
“I made it known from that point on that the rules that we are now seeking to amend today did not permit us even though we could have voted on it, had I not raised a concern, to purchase government owned land,” Little added.
Little said the plan was withdrawn and it currently “is in waiting and members of this board went back to change the rules. The rules we are looking at today would as Freeholder Kelly said, permit the Board of Freeholders to buy government owned land so the application from Toms River will be coming back here next month probably.”
“The land should be preserved. That’s not the argument. It is next to the college (Ocean County College). It is next to Cattus Island. It is beautiful land. Toms River does not have it as part of its open space designation in its open space plan. I said that may be true but nothing is preventing Toms River from putting it into its open space program,” Little added.
“They’ve had the land, probably for generations, maybe hundreds of years I don’t know,” Little said stressing that the township could easily add it to its open space plan by a simple resolution adopted by the Township Council.
Little said it would be a false narrative for the county to buy it because they (Toms River) didn’t preserve it. “That’s a false argument. This is nothing against the mayor of Toms River for whom I personally am very fond of. The problem is that if we pass this today this will create a slippery slope down the road that will this $50 to $60 million fund will become a political piggy bank.”
“Government land is already preserved. Nobody needs to buy it,” Little added. He said that the people of Toms River don’t want that land developed and any attempts to see it developed would end up with voters removing elected officials who would allow it to happen.
Haines had sought to gain support from members of the Board to acquire two undeveloped parcels owned by Toms River which she stated could be utilized to expand Ocean County College’s campus and its county park.
Haines said she wanted to see “the legacy of the late Freeholder John Bartlett who was the architect of the Ocean County Open Space Plan before he took ill, continue. I think we do an outstanding job. I think we want nothing more than to have clean drinking water and to preserve our land and I think we are doing right by the people of Ocean County.”
She voted in support of the measure as did Deputy Freeholder Director Gary Quinn. Vicari agreed with Little’s position that the program could become politicized.
Kelly said while he was not opposed to the plan, he ultimately voted no saying he wasn’t comfortable with a major policy decision being made through a divided vote of the board’s membership.
