From the Courier Post:
Corzine won't veto Pinelands project
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
TRENTON -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine won't veto a large development project in the Pinelands that environmentalists have called the biggest threat facing the South Jersey ecological area in years.
The Pinelands Commission, the steward group for the 1.1-million-acre national reserve, approved the residential-commercial development plan July 14 after more than a year of meetings and debate.
Walters Homes Inc. wants to build 565 homes and 650,000 square feet of retail space on the Stafford Township site.
Representatives from New Jersey's four largest environmental organizations recently sent a letter to Corzine calling on the governor to use his veto power under the Pinelands Protection Act to scrap the residential-commercial development.
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said Tuesday that won't happen.
"We're not planning to veto the minutes," Coley said. "The commission made this decision with full public input and participation following a lengthy process that extended more than a decade."
Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, said the environmental groups may sue the Pinelands Commission and the town of Stafford Township.
"This is one of the saddest days in the history of the Pines," Tittel said. "The responsibility for the destruction of this critical area of the Pines now falls on the governor."
No New Jersey governor has rescinded a decision of the Pinelands Commission.
Environmentalists contend a big residential and retail development in an ecologically fragile area ignores pollution from runoff and fertilizers and sets a bad precedent for other areas in the Pinelands.
Corzine won't veto Pinelands project
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
TRENTON -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine won't veto a large development project in the Pinelands that environmentalists have called the biggest threat facing the South Jersey ecological area in years.
The Pinelands Commission, the steward group for the 1.1-million-acre national reserve, approved the residential-commercial development plan July 14 after more than a year of meetings and debate.
Walters Homes Inc. wants to build 565 homes and 650,000 square feet of retail space on the Stafford Township site.
Representatives from New Jersey's four largest environmental organizations recently sent a letter to Corzine calling on the governor to use his veto power under the Pinelands Protection Act to scrap the residential-commercial development.
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said Tuesday that won't happen.
"We're not planning to veto the minutes," Coley said. "The commission made this decision with full public input and participation following a lengthy process that extended more than a decade."
Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, said the environmental groups may sue the Pinelands Commission and the town of Stafford Township.
"This is one of the saddest days in the history of the Pines," Tittel said. "The responsibility for the destruction of this critical area of the Pines now falls on the governor."
No New Jersey governor has rescinded a decision of the Pinelands Commission.
Environmentalists contend a big residential and retail development in an ecologically fragile area ignores pollution from runoff and fertilizers and sets a bad precedent for other areas in the Pinelands.
