$1.8M Bond Ordinance For Breton Woods Purchase Introduced In Brick

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Council introduced a $1.8 million bonding ordinance on Tuesday night, representing the township's share of the cost to purchase the Breton Woods property and protect it as open space.

The ordinance, which will be up for a second reading and final vote at the Feb. 28 council meeting, is a step in the process that will bring an end to a battle that has been going on for nearly two years over a proposal to build 59 homes on the 31.4-acre parcel off Laurel Avenue in the Breton Woods section of the township.

The Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee announced its support of an $8.55 million proposal in late January to purchase the rights to buy the property from developer D.R. Horton, which had spent nearly a year before the Brick Township Planning Board presenting an application to build 59 homes at the site.

Mayor John G. Ducey said the township plans to turn 6.33 acres of the property closest to Osbornville Elementary School into a playground, with a parking lot and access road separate from school property.

"We are beyond excited that we were able to work with the County and preserve this property from residential development," Ducey said in an announcement before the meeting.

"This has been the top priority of the Brick Open Space Savers," Ducey said at the council meeting, where he also thanked the residents of Breton Woods for their support of the purchase.

Brick Township also is applying for a Green Acres grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to cover $1.2 million of its share of the cost of the property. The bond ordinance is necessary to ensure the town has its share of the purchase price in hand by the time the purchase of the property closes, township attorney Kevin Starkey said.

The Brick bond ordinance is just one step in a complex process to purchase the rights to the property from D.R. Horton, which has a purchase contract in place with Church of the Visitation for the site.

The Ocean County Board of Commissioners also must formally approve the purchase of the property, which was recommended by the county's Natural Lands Trust Fund advisory committee on Jan. 25. Two of the county's commissioners, Virginia E. Haines and Joseph Vicari, indicated their support for the purchase when the agreement was announced.

"This property meets the requirements of the county’s open space program and will be a benefit to the residents of Brick Township and Ocean County," said Haines, who is the liaison to the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee.

The county's public hearing is anticipated to be held during the commissioners' March 1 meeting, set for 4 p.m. at the Ocean County Administration Building, 101 Hooper Ave. in Toms River.

Ocean County is set to contribute $6.84 million of the purchase price, and will be seeking Green Acres funding as well, county officials said. Brick Township will have the maintenance responsibility for the parcel.

At the meeting, Ducey thanked the Breton Woods residents for their support of the purchase, particularly in a time where people typically oppose large purchases by government officials.

"They knew their taxes would go up to buy this piece of property," Ducey said, "but they were more concerned about what would happen down the road."

The bond ordinance would spread out the cost over 40 years, lessening the direct impact of the purchase on property taxes. If Brick Township receives the $1.2 million it is requesting in Green Acres funding, that tax impact would be further reduced to funding borrowing of about $600,000 for that 40-year term.

Willie deCamp, president emeritus of Save Barnegat Bay, which supported the Breton Woods' homeowners efforts to fight the D.R. Horton project, praised township officials and the residents for their roles in protecting the property that sits between Mantoloking and Drum Point roads, surrounded by homes and within close proximity of Barnegat Bay.

"This was a really tough, complicated situation," deCamp said. He called the residents who fought to protect the property unsung heroes.

"I have worked with objectors to development for 35 years," deCamp said. "They are just inspirational," which he said was in part because none of the group sought the spotlight in the cause. "They just did it out of passion to protect the property."

DeCamp also praised Brick Township engineer Elissa Commins, who had been steadfast in opposing D.R. Horton's stormwater management proposal that included the use of pervious pavement on residential streets. The pavement requires specialized maintenance equipment and handling and the developer had planned to turn over responsibility for the streets to the township, which would have forced Brick to spend a significant amount of money for what was about 1 mile of roads in the proposed development.

"She (Commins) was really straight forward and looked after the taxpayers' nickel," deCamp said.

Not everyone was supportive of the purchase. Resident Victor Fanelli criticized the potential tax impact, not only of the purchase but of the loss of potential for tax revenue.

"What are you talking, $500,000, $600,000 a year?" he asked. Starkey replied that would be the gross tax revenues, but said Fanelli's assessment didn't take into account the cost to educate the additional children that could come along with a project of five-bedroom homes.

After the meeting, residents of the Save Breton Woods group thanked council members for the bond introduction and took a celebratory photo with Ducey as they thanked him as well.

"We saved Breton Woods!" one said excitedly. "We did it!"