Former mayor says Jackson should challenge court ruling

I would like to urge the current Jackson administration to appeal the recent ruling by state Superior Court Judge Eugene Serpentelli. Judge Serpentelli recently ruled in favor of developers by overturning an ordinance put forth by my former administration.

That ordinance required builders to set aside or put money into a fund for open space/recreational facilities prior to obtaining approvals for housing developments in Jackson.

How can the current administration keep going back to our homeowners asking for additional taxes when these big housing developers are reaping enormous profits? I implore the current administration to challenge the judge's ruling and give the taxpayers of Jackson a break.

I would like to cite a similar case that was recently brought in Egg Harbor Township in which Superior Court Judge Valerie H. Armstrong reached the completely opposite conclusion and ruled that there was "ample authority found in numerous provisions of the Municipal Land Use Law authorizing a municipality to impose reasonable recreational and open space requirements in conjunction with major residential development."

A preliminary report recently released by researchers from Rutgers and Rowan universities noted that New Jersey has lost 106,000 acres to development over the past decade.

Among the findings of this report was the fact that Ocean County was considered one of the "hot spots" for growth. We are losing not only our natural resources to development, but we are also losing our people because they can no longer afford the ever-increasing taxes.

If these two judges reached two very distinctly different conclusions, then it is incumbent on our current administration to fight this issue further. Since we only have 45 days to appeal Judge Serpentelli's decision, I implore the current administration to act immediately.

Unfortunately, Judge Serpentelli has shown a tendency of siding, more often than not, with developers; he overturned our tree ordinance, which was enacted during the prior administration and mandated that a developer contribute into a fund to provide trees that had been destroyed during the building process.

Our previous administration bent over backward to protect Jackson from overdevelopment. The current administration appears to be giving the green light to developers who want to come into Jackson and build.

Whereas my administration did everything possible to curb development, this administration has proven itself to be pro-development.

This administration has allowed developers to obtain both preliminary and final approvals for building in the same meeting, allowing them to hit the ground running and start building right away.

My administration required two separate meetings for such approvals, giving Jackson residents a voice and affording them the opportunity to scrutinize our work and express their concerns.

Overdevelopment has to stop and it has to stop now. Jackson's taxpayers should be the No. 1 priority, not the developers.

Michael Kafton

former mayor

Jackson