By Steve Proctor
Managing Editor
More than 100 Unionites packed the main meeting room of the Municipal Building Tuesday night seeking protection for a small parcel of woodland located adjacent to the southwest corner of the Suburban Golf Course.
Leaders of the group presented the Township Committee with a petition signed by 428 township residents asking that protective status be conferred on the land to "preserve the wooded area for us and future generations to enjoy."
During an open forum in which a half-dozen residents of the surrounding neighborhoods spoke, the group sought an explanation to rumors of pending development of the site, the designation of the land by the state as a Green Acres preserve and, aware that the state may be slow in granting the preservation status, an immediate resolution by the Township Committee granting a moratorium on any further action until the state responded.
And after an orderly but frequently impassioned discourse on the issues, the group got most of what, they wanted.
The land in question is an elongated parcel of 6.37 acres of undeveloped woodland owned by Union Township and surrounded on three sides by residential neighborhoods and on the northwest by the golf course. A small stream runs down the center of the property and neighbors highly prize the peace and beauty of the site.
"It's a place to walk your dog, to ride a bicycle. Just a place to go and get away from it all," said Robert Schiffl, president of the nearby Putnam Manor Civic Association and a long-time resident of the area. "It's a quality of life issue."
Todd Jordan, a resident who grew up in the surrounding neighborhood and recalled playing in the trees as a youngster, said, "It would break my heart to see them cut down."
In conversations prior to the meeting, several residents expressed a concern that was also included in a letter written by the group to explain the petition: that the stream bisecting the land provided valuable drainage for the area and commercial development would have unpredictable consequences for the watershed.
During the discussion, members of the Township Committee repeatedly assured the group that no plans were afoot to sell the property. Town Attorney Tom Plaia explained that even if such a sale were contemplated, it was a long process involving open meetings, public hearings and ample notice, and the neighborhood would be well aware of their actions.
And besides, he added, "I'm the town attorney and I never, ever heard of that property being developed. It's never been contemplated."
But the group was seeking not only assurances from the current Township Committee, which some day would leave office, but a more lasting protection for the site. They urged committee members to seek from the state Green Acres status for the woods. This program, administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, would grant permanent woodland status to the acreage.
Mayor Joseph Florio told the group that the township engineer, Ann Brown, was currently conducting an inventory of all open spaces in the township and within two months, when that study was concluded, the Township Committee would be considering possible requests to the state for Green Acres designations. Any guarantees prior to the completion of that study would be premature, he said.
As the discussion focused on Brown's study of open land within the township, it became apparent that her research was the origin of the rumors that the woods were about to be sold. Last summer, she had been observed surveying the land and it was erroneously assumed this was in preparation for a sale.
"I apologize to everyone for the excitement that it caused," she said.
Receiving assurances that the Township Committee would consider submitting the parcel for Green Acres protection within two months, the group then sought a temporary freeze on all possible action concerning the woods until those considerations were concluded. The committee at first seemed reluctant to consider such a request but after further discussion, Committee member Anthony Terrezza said, "I'll make that motion."
After being seconded by Committee member Peter Capodice, the motion, which promised no action on the woods by the Township Committee until the Brown report was considered, passed.
Courtesy of: the Union Leader - November 30, 2000 issue
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