bach2yoga
03-31-03, 08:27 AM
the right time."
Very few people have the opportunity "to protect this wonderful
jewel," said Barbaccia, who credited an "industrious" commission staff
with making her time there rewarding.
"It's a small group of people, almost like a family. They're very
dedicated," she said.
Barbaccia, a former environmental policy director for New York City,
took the director's post nearly a year after the commission's longtime
executive director, Terrence D. Moore, resigned in the face of a
possible no-confidence vote among commissioners.
Moore's departure capped a time of sharp division between
commissioners who favored a more flexible application of Pinelands
development planning and those who pushed a stricter preservationist
approach. Last year, McGreevey made a sweep of new Pinelands
appointments, including ex-Gov. Florio, who promised to put the
commission's policies on a stricter track when it comes to reviewing
large development projects.
That shift was long sought by environmental activists, who contended
the commission had been too willing to bend environmental rules and
was vulnerable to pressure from local interests. At the time Moore was
forced out, the commission was in the process of rezoning former
farmland in Tabernacle to allow construction of a politically popular
regional high school.
Created in 1979, the commission has a $2.3 million annual budget to
oversee the comprehensive management plan that regulates development
on about one-fifth of the state's land mass.
Very few people have the opportunity "to protect this wonderful
jewel," said Barbaccia, who credited an "industrious" commission staff
with making her time there rewarding.
"It's a small group of people, almost like a family. They're very
dedicated," she said.
Barbaccia, a former environmental policy director for New York City,
took the director's post nearly a year after the commission's longtime
executive director, Terrence D. Moore, resigned in the face of a
possible no-confidence vote among commissioners.
Moore's departure capped a time of sharp division between
commissioners who favored a more flexible application of Pinelands
development planning and those who pushed a stricter preservationist
approach. Last year, McGreevey made a sweep of new Pinelands
appointments, including ex-Gov. Florio, who promised to put the
commission's policies on a stricter track when it comes to reviewing
large development projects.
That shift was long sought by environmental activists, who contended
the commission had been too willing to bend environmental rules and
was vulnerable to pressure from local interests. At the time Moore was
forced out, the commission was in the process of rezoning former
farmland in Tabernacle to allow construction of a politically popular
regional high school.
Created in 1979, the commission has a $2.3 million annual budget to
oversee the comprehensive management plan that regulates development
on about one-fifth of the state's land mass.