Board Shake-Ups Criticized as Former Zoning Chair Resigns

Former chairman of the Barnegat Zoning Board John Van Der Bas publicly resigned his seat on the board toward the end of a contentious township committee meeting Monday night, joining others lobbing criticisms at elected officials for a round of new board appointments some are calling politically motivated.

Van Der Bas, who was unseated as chair but retained a seat on the board when the body reorganized in January, took the committee to task for loading the board with residents of the western Barnegat senior community the Four Seasons at Mirage, and said the appointments were political and not in the best interest of residents.

“I believe it to be a terrible injustice to us, the public, who elected you to think that you would appoint seven members of one neighborhood… to one board, a board that normally consists of seven members plus four alternates,” said Van Der Bas, who is himself a Mirage resident.

Besides leading to an imbalanced zoning board, he said having a majority of members from one community will cause practical problems, since they won’t be able to hear applications involving property within 200 feet of the community. 

Van Der Bas also said he felt the committee overstepped when it changed the zoning board’s regular meeting date from the second Tuesday of the month to the second Wednesday – presumably, he said, to accommodate new members whose Mirage board meetings cause a conflict on Tuesday nights.

“It is amazing that this decision was made without discussion with either the old or new board,” Van Der Bas said. 

Mayor Al Cirulli agreed that the zoning board appointments ought to be more diverse.

“If I could do it again, I would do it a little differently,” he said. But he defended the new appointments, saying it was important to bring new faces to the board, especially since 2011 saw repeated instances of members not showing up for meetings.

“The fact is they had problems getting quorums,” Cirulli said. “It’s an embarrassment, and it’s costing them thousands.”

It was also hard to appoint people from all over the township when few people volunteer for the positions at all, he said. 

Van Der Bas said it was true that absenteeism had become a problem in the last year. But one member who missed 17 of 24 meetings in the last two years was reappointed, he said. 

“No thought was given to people that were qualified,” he said.

Former zoning board alternate Maria Capriotti echoed some of Van Der Bas’ statements. She said she loved serving on the board, but ultimately quit after watching new members given spots that could have gone to trained alternates like her – members who never missed a meeting.

“In my opinion, it seems like this is a platform for running for another position,” she said.

Van Der Bas was more blunt. “All appointments by governing bodies are political,” he said.

The zoning board wasn’t the only appointed body that saw a shakeup last month. Barnegat Planning Board member Frank Pecci said he lost his seat because he was a vocal critic of the township’s dealings with Walters Homes, which will build and oversee Barnegat’s latest affordable housing development on Route 9.

“I was kicked off for standing up for the taxpayers instead of the developers,” said Pecci. Cirulli explained it differently.

Pecci had repeatedly publicly made statements and accusations that could have opened the township up to lawsuits, Cirulli said. “We’re not looking for litigation,” he said. “I respect Frank, and I want to protect him.” 

John Murrin is one of the newly appointed zoning board members. An eight-year resident of Barnegat, he formerly served on planning and zoning boards and as an elected official in north Jersey. In no way was his a political appointment, he said.

"I don't have any aspirations to run for office," Murrin said. He was asked to serve by the township committee, he said, and he agreed. "I don't know how their decisions were made," he said. 

Murrin, who lives in Heritage Point, said the controversy over appointments wouldn't deter him from taking his seat. "It doesn't change my feelings toward serving on the board," he said. "Experience is always important, but sometimes you want some new blood in there, too."