Plans for a sewer plant to serve the Richland village in Buena Vista could be shelved – derailing what some saw as a model for developing other Pinelands villages – after about 45 residents turned out Thursday to express opposition in a hastily called public meeting with Pinelands Commission officials.
“The town needs to decide if they want to pursue it,” Pinelands Commission Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg said today. “The people got up and expressed a number of concerns.”
Building a so-called package sewage plant – a self-contained system with limited capacity to just handle waste water in the rural community on Route 40 – has been part of proposals for a commercial revitalization of Richland.
“It could be a test model for other villages in the Pinelands,” said Township Committee member Charles “Chuck” Chiarello, the longtime mayor who was ousted recently amid a political backlash over his village plans. “The environmental people want to derail it before it goes to other villages.”
“We’re never going to have a shopping center or major development because the (Pinelands) rules are pretty strict,” said Chiarello, who promoted Richland redevelopment as a way to modestly increase the township’s business and tax ratables base. “We’re trying to make the village a tourist draw for us.”
http://www.app.com/article/20120323...plant-idea?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
“The town needs to decide if they want to pursue it,” Pinelands Commission Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg said today. “The people got up and expressed a number of concerns.”
Building a so-called package sewage plant – a self-contained system with limited capacity to just handle waste water in the rural community on Route 40 – has been part of proposals for a commercial revitalization of Richland.
“It could be a test model for other villages in the Pinelands,” said Township Committee member Charles “Chuck” Chiarello, the longtime mayor who was ousted recently amid a political backlash over his village plans. “The environmental people want to derail it before it goes to other villages.”
“We’re never going to have a shopping center or major development because the (Pinelands) rules are pretty strict,” said Chiarello, who promoted Richland redevelopment as a way to modestly increase the township’s business and tax ratables base. “We’re trying to make the village a tourist draw for us.”
http://www.app.com/article/20120323...plant-idea?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage