| Author | Message | ||
     Mayhewdrive |
I received the following in my email today that EVERYONE should take notice of: *IMPORTANT* Today, residents bordering Kernan's Quarry were delivered the news we all hoped would never come -Trammell Crow Residential will be presenting before the Planning Board on Monday, March 5, 2001 at 7:30pm their plan to build 198 rental units in Kernan's Quarry. It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that everyone attend this meeting. We need each of you to come with your entire families, your children, your cousins, your neighbors and absolutely anyone you can bring with you. We MUST demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt to our town officials and to the developer through our strength & words that we are all vehemently opposed to this development which brings no positive benefits to anyone, except for the developer themselves. This development will add to our ever-increasing tax burden, destroy the character of of our town & eliminate our last open space that we have all fought so hard to preserve. PLEASE mark your calendar to attend this critical meeting at Village Hall on March 5, 2001. Come, be seen and speak out to save this last great treasure in South Orange. Please help us spread the word. P.S. Following is the text of the letter that was sent by certified mail to properties surrounding the Quarry: NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS Please take notice: That TCR MidAtlantic/NEProperties, Inc. has filed an application for development with the Planning Board of the Township of South Orange Village. The application proposes to construct One-hundred and ninety-eight (198) dwelling units (45single family detacheddwellings, 66 flat units and 87 townhouses), a swimming pool, a clubhouse, recreation facilities, a small park area and other related improvements and amenities. The application will include a request for approval and/or variance from the requirements of Section92-200.2.F of the Villageâs Land Development Ordinances in order to locate adetention pond and related structures within a buffer area if the Planning Board determines that location of the proposed improvements within the buffer area requires a variance or waiver. The application will also include a request for variance relief from the requirements of Section 92-200.2.M of the VillageâsLand Development Ordinance in order to allow a number of the proposed buildingsto be located less than the required 15 feet from the pavement, along with anyother variances, waivers or exceptions as may be required or result from recommendations of the Planning Board in its professional review. The premises which is the subject of this application is commonly known as the Kernan Quarry consisting of approximately 30 acres and is designed as Lots 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 33 Block 1503 on the Township of the Village of South Orange Tax Map, and this notice is being sent to you as an owner in the immediate vicinity. A public hearing has been set down for March 5, 2001 at 7:30p.m. at the Village Hall, 101 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, New Jersey.You may appear at that time and place to speak either for or against theapplication. All plans and supporting documents are on file in the office ofthe Board Secretary and are available for inspection Monday through Friday,9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This notice is sent to you pursuant to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1,et seq. and by Order of the Planning Board. Respectfully, Jonathan I. Epstein, Esquire Drinker Biddle & ShanleyLLP Attorneys for ApplicantTCR MidAtlantic/NEProperties, Inc. | ||
| Openspacer |
How does that song go..... "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got till it's gone". Take a virtual tour of the Quarry: http://64.26.23.243/quarry.htm | ||
| Jrf |
Openspacer, I'll be moving to S/O (not far from the quarry) in a couple months. Can't the birds fly about 1/8 of a mile to the reservation? I'm not for the apartments, but saving wildlife is not my reason for being against the project. We need tax revenue and these apartments will not achieve that goal. Jrf | ||
| Ejt |
I suggest enlarging the beautiful pictures on the website and displaying them at the meeting. It truly is gorgeous up there, and that they would even consider "paving paradise" is a damn shame. | ||
| Openspacer |
Jrf, Welcome to S.O. It is a great community. As for your comment, I suppose certain birds could and would just fly away but the elimination of habitat always leads to a reduction in species. The breeding pair of silver tail foxes might find the move a bit rough. My real concern is the quality of life for the people in the Village. There are currently 88 acres of parkland in town, most of which is centrally located. In order to partake in the recreational activities afforded by these parks people must drive there. Fully developed communities like S.O. must adopt an open space strategy. Part of that strategy should allow for the eventual creation of green corridors traversing through the area from one side of town to the other. How about a river walk along the East Branch of the Rahway from West Orange to Maplewood bisected by an urban trail leading from Seton Hall up to First Mountain? Far fetched? Maybe. But it is impossible without a forward-looking strategy that includes acquiring open space, especially contiguous (or near contiguous) open space. Draw a line from the reservation through the S.M. Annex, through the quarry, through Orange Lawn and down to Floodâs hill. A trail is possible. Also, the quarry is currently 30 acres of open space. That could increase the recreational parkland available to S.O. residents by 34%. We need the 34%. As for revenue, it is time to think outside the box. Getting more people into town would generate revenue but it will not stabilize our taxes. Look at the Newstead, Village Green, Village Mews, 321 N. Wyoming and Jessica Way. Have taxes gone up or down? The Village has received a $500,000.00 matching grant (which can be matched with a 30 year loan at 2%) for a Green Acres planning incentive. There is also more funding available. The state provides this money to give towns the incentive needed to save open space. If the quarry is developed we can kiss this revenue source goodbye. Dan Shelffo South Orange | ||
| Beach |
Dan, if you know, what kind of apartments are we talking here? Luxury? Low-income? I agree with Ejt regarding displaying the pictures on the website at the meeting. Sometimes pictures can be more powerful than words, especially ones as nice as these. Thanks for sharing them. | ||
| Mem |
I just get a blank page when I click on the address. Can you please provide another way of accessing the photos, thanks. | ||
| Villagenative |
Mem, try using Internet Exploder. It didn't work for me either using Netscape 4.75. | ||
| Dave |
Villagenative, You have 2 HEAD tags at the top of the page, which is the problem. | ||
| Villagenative |
Not my problem, Dave. Not my page :-) | ||
| Mem |
Village - what's internet exploder? And how do I use it, thanks! | ||
| Villagenative |
Sorry about that - I meant Internet Explorer, which is another web browsing software that is shipped with Windows 95 and up. You'll probably find it through running Start>Internet Explorer or Start>Programs>Internet Explorer. | ||
| Bshears |
Sometimes it feels like "Internet Exploder" with the way my computer has been acting lately!! One of those pictures on the site actually reminds me of Ireland. It is a damnable shame they would want to destroy such a landscape. Yes, use the pictures at the meeting!! | ||
| Mayhewdrive |
To all of you who are reading this, PLEASE make the effort to come to this meeting. We need to have an enormous turnout to fully get the message across to our town officials and to the developers that this devastation is not the will of the people. Interestingly enough, this is NOT just a South Orange issue. The additional school children that this development will attract are expected to be at least 100, according to the developer themselves. Such an impact on our SHARED school system will affect both communities. While we all would like to see our taxes go down & revenue go up with ratables, this development is CLEARLY not the solution. The services required to support this plan will significantly exceed the revenues that will be generated. This is a losing proposition for our communities and we need your help to make that known. PLEASE come to the meeting on March 5, 2001. | ||
| Evm |
Can someone tell me where this place is exactly? It looks gorgeous! | ||
| Mayhewdrive |
Evm, The Quarry is very easy to find. Do you know where South Orange Middle School and/or the Duck Pond is? If so, follow Tillou Road up the hill (west) until it dead-ends at the quarry. You can also take South Orange Avenue West, up the hill, make a right onto Harding Drive. The quarry is to the left where Harding Drive intersects with Tillou Road. I guarantee once you visit it, you will better understand why it is worth saving. Technically it is private property, although I have heard a rumor that you can simply walk over or around the chain link fence to get inside the quarry itself. | ||
| Mtierney |
Just for historical background info. This quarry has had many, many schemes for its development, dating back, to my knowledge, to the late '70s. Probably were some even before that. Each and every one died on the drawing boards. Each developer stuck it out until their money ran out. The plans were changed, changed again. I know times have changed and certainly housing demands are high, but a concerted fight by citizens has worked in the past. Especially, I think, environmental issues might do the trick. | ||
| Spw784 |
Mayhewdrive: Please contact me privately (off the board) at spw784@aol.com. Thanks! | ||
| Tracks |
There were plans submitted in the 1950"s!!.. according to someone who was on the planning board back then. Same arguments were used to stop the development. The biggest difference now is "improved construction methods" and a market place that is screaming for more homes. The development can be stopped if the town sticks together. | ||
| Davel |
Can a new development legally be charged with a higher tax rate because of the disproportionate burden it places on the community? I know this has been done in some communities across the nation fighting urban sprawl in more rural locations. Won't this development put significant strains on the school system ability to even physically accomodate extra students? I'm suspicious that the taxes that this development brings in will be sufficient enough to cover the muncipal costs (including costs to Maplewood taxpayers) of supporting it. Its amazing how much it costs to add on to a school. |
