Open Space Preservation Funding will be on the November 3rd election ballot. Colts Neck Township Committee is seeking resident approval, to collect funds for the purchase of land to be preserved.
The concept is simple, if the town buys land, there is less land available for another Livonia, the large apartment complex across from the high school.
A four hundred unit apartment complex (or two 200 units) will generate 6.6 additional traffic trips per day per unit or 963,600 addition traffic trips per year on our charming country roads.
The average person consumes 80 gallons of water per day. Assuming 2 people per unit is over 23 million gallons of water consumed per year for 400 units. Let’s not forget the impervious coverage from buildings and black top, resulting in storm water run off.
Assuming .9 children per unit, would be an additional 360 children impacting the Colts Neck school system. With a cost to educate at over $32,000 per year x 360 new students…would be an additional tax burden of $11,520,000 or $144,897,331 over 10 years with a 5% compounded increase per year.
Then there is the additional cost of school building expansion. The estimate to expand is beyond me.
There is also the additional cost to hire more police should another massive apartment complex be built. The fully loaded cost for a police officers comes with a tax burden of over $250,000 per officer x 2 officers x 10 years = $5 million in extra taxes needed.
Alternatively the purchase of the land for preservation comes with a small increase in our taxes. As a resident of Colts Neck, I welcome the small increase to preserve the open space and retain the charm of Colts Neck for generations to follow.
How many parcels of land are to be purchased is unknown at this time. Currently the County and State funding is available to secure up to 75% of the purchase price.
The preservation should have begun long ago. The longer we delay, the more expensive the purchase price will be.
We don’t inherit the earth from our parents, we are the caretakers for the next generations to follow. Please vote YES on the funding in November.
Kevin M. O’Brien - Colts Neck Resident
