The Next Item on Agenda 21's Agenda

The English have a saying: “What does that mean when it’s at home?”  Mom called me up the other day, demanding to know just what in the world was being built on Union Avenue in Bloomingdale.  I told her she was the former Dodge Reports reporter, who reported on all the building going on in Westchester County in New York in the Forties and Fifties:  she should tell me.

She said she couldn’t tell because the construction site is all walled off.  “What are they hiding?!” she wanted to know.  So I asked what she thought it was.  She said whatever was going up there was very big; that the whole side of the hill leading up to the Martha B. Day School was stripped away. 

“I’ve got a mind to call the building department and demand to know what’s going on!” she exclaimed.

I told her she should do that (so I could report it on my blog).  A few days later, I asked her.  She said all she could learn was that it had to do with “high-density housing.”  High density, I asked. 

“Yes, that’s what they said.”

“Well, Mom, that means a high-rise apartment building,” I told her.  I said I would give her a copy of “Sustainable Communities:  Resources for Citizens and Their Governments.”  In fact, right after I post, I’m going to take a ride over to Mom’s house, which will take me past the site, and see what’s going on.  With my camera.  If I can’t get pictures from street level, I’ll take a ride up to the school.

Agenders has sent out a notice about two more public meetings on the N.J. State Development and Redevelopment Plan, one to be held in Toms River on Sept. 10, and the second in Jersey City on Sept. 12.  Note that both meetings are (once again) not only below the Route 78 line, which means Central Jersey.  Northern New Jerseyans will be forced to make a lengthy and costly ride to participate in these meetings, and an additionally dangerous one in order to go Jersey City.  The meetings are also, typically, inconvenient for working taxpayers.  However, we who are the unemployed will do what we can on your behalf.  It’s the least we can do for you.

The N.J. State Development & Redevelopment Plan is hazardous to our way of life.  The following is a sample of what will happen to US under this Plan:

Page 7, Section II, of the Plan states:  “New Jersey will be the national leader in coordinated private and public investment which supports sustainable communities.”

Sustainable communities are urban centers, like Newark and Camden, where people live high-rise apartments and walk or bicycle to work and to shop, where cars are highly discouraged, where taxpayers own no private property, and where our living space is decided by the government, and smart meters determine how much energy we may use.

The N.J. State Plan is dangerous to our way of life and our children’s future.  We must demand a complete re-write with property rights and freedom-of-living choice protections.

Please Contact Gov. Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno at 609-292-6000 or

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact  and

Gerry Scharfenberger, Director, Office of Planning Advocacy, 609-292-7156

And please attend one or both of the last two hearings to voice your objections:

·         Sept. 10, 2012 at 1 p.m., Public Hearing, Toms River Municipal Complex, Council Chambers, 33 Washington Street, Toms River, NJ  08753

·         Sept. 13, 2012 at 1 p.m., Public Hearing, Jersey City City Hall, 2^nd Fl. Council Chambers, 280 Grove Street, Jersey City, NJ  07302

Being a resident of a condo, I can attest that it is not a pretty picture.  Chances are you will be limited to one vehicle.  I am fortunate in that I have storage space.  In all likelihood, most future condo residents will not.  You will only own the space in which you live, and you will be subject to committee approval for any improvements which you might want to make to your unit.

While my complex allows some limited gardening, it’s not likely that yours will.  If they do, you will be directed as to what you may and may not plant.  You’ll be subject to the usual noise limitations and other various regulations.  You will most likely not be allowed a private washing machine and absolute will not be allowed to own a dryer, forcing you to use either your complex’s laundry facilities, or some laundromat nearby.

If you’re allowed pets at all, you will be limited to two (which is more than enough in my personal opinion).   The crowding will lead to the usual problems of crime.  Finally, you will be able to own no more personal items than you can store in your closets.  The rest of your personal property will have to be stored in expensive storage facilities.

New Jersey property owners and people who want to continue to be able to live in the suburbs and to eat food grown by rural farmers (which is everyone!) please take note: The New Jersey Draft State Development and Redevelopment Plan is holding 2 more "public input" meetings Sept. 10 and 13. The draft plan is a communist manifesto of UN-approved smart growth, regionalization, and redistribution in the guise of "an economic plan."

If this plan is accepted, it will “fundamentally transform” New Jersey into a Marxist state governed at the regional level, and in which suburbs and rural areas will be even more heavily taxed to support “priority investment areas” in the big cities. If this is not your idea of “Utopia” YOU should be at BOTH these meetings:

Sept 10: Toms River Municipal Complex, Toms River, NJ, 1 p.m.

Sept. 13: Jersey City City Hall, 2nd Floor Council Chambers, Jersey City, 1 p.m.

Please tell everyone in your groups what danger we are in.