Wildlife Ordinance May Never See Light Of Day

A representative of the New Jersey Audubon Society attended the Township Committee’s workshop meeting Wednesday fielding questions about the possibility of adopting an ordinance restricting how residents feed wildlife in town.

Kelly Mooij, the Audubon Society’s director of government relations, attended the meeting on behalf of the society’s members, but said the group was available to answer any questions that the committee may have.

But, Mooij said, there were other means to deal with a specific problem in town other than drafting an ordinance, suggesting that public health regulations may apply in certain problematic circumstances.

“We certainly understand the issues of nuisance,’’ she said. “It’s very difficult to draft an ordinance that specifically targets one issue. We think there are other avenues you can take.’’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Audio of the committee's discussion with Kelly Mooij, government relations director at the New Jersey Audubon Society, is included with this story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But Mooij was addressing a committee who has largely cooled to the idea of a wildlife feeding ordinance, even after drafting one.

“We had an ordinance ready to go, but we’ve tabled it for right now,’’ Committeeman Todd Luttman said.

The committee was slated to introduce an ordinance in February but balked, saying at the time they wanted to hear from the Audubon Society. The ordinance has not moved since.

“We were kind of embroiled in this about a month ago,’’ Committeeman Clinton Hoffman said. “I think we’re going to have to attack it as a health issue. We’ll have to have the health department go in, if they find a problem, then we’ll have to address it accordingly.’’

The local legislation, though shelved, was borne from a longtime dispute among residents in South Wall that had reached an impasse.

Numerous neighbors of Narrumson Road resident Marc Vitale for months complained to the committee that Vitale feeds birds and other wildlife to excess, disrupting the neighborhood peace.

Neighbors have told the committee that after two years of trying they have exhausted other means of resolution, that they continue to be besieged by frequent flocks of scavenger birds that soil their cars, homes and lawns and that the feeding has attracted rodents and other wildlife to the area.

Vitale, in a previous interview at his home, denied that he has done anything illegal and has said that his neighbors are making much ado about nothing.

In response, the committee drafted an ordinance to address the issue, but soon found itself in a legal quagmire.

“To try and define ‘overfeeding’ I think is impossible,’’ Hoffman said. “So you can write an ordinance to prevent overfeeding but enforcing it is impossible.’’

Hoffman said that the township will likely approach the issue from a health code violation standpoint, sending in health code workers to investigate any complaints, instead of adopting a wildlife feeding ordinance.

 “It becomes eminently apparent that it is a health issue,’’ Hoffman said. “If there’s a problem, we’ll address it. And that will be our hammer in which to address the issue.’’