Go ahead and break laws? No. My complaint is that laws are not followed. NJPB members that I know are concerned law-abiding citizens who have keen interest and deep appreciation of this special place. I am suggesting it is in our best interest that due process be obeyed by everyone and that there be transparency in government. Sound rules and regulations were put in place to help protect Pinelands natural and cultural resources for everyone, not just business interests. Pinelands Commissioners swore to uphold the ruling Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), and we have the right to keep our officials to their word.
Current pipeline dynamics set bad precedent, and facilitates the implementation of Village redevelopment. Redevelopment does not exist in the CMP, yet the Pinelands Commission routinely approves its implementation. This issue will will hurt us in our pocketbooks too! The NJ State Comptroller recently expressed to Christie his concern about historical evidence of corruption of the redevelopment process (Boxer, 2010: 6, 13).
Boxer indicated that more County and other officials should be “involved at earlier stages of the redevelopment process” and that there should be “fulsome public discussion” of redevelopment dynamics that goes beyond the “modicum of public notice” (Boxer, 2010: 22). The NJ State Comptroller concluded that redevelopment “Tax abatements offer relief only to a selected subset of taxpayers, using the political process to shift tax burdens” (Boxer, 2010: 25).
S-M