DENNISVILLE – Dennis Township Committee considered an ordinance June 27 to object to the installation of center line rumble strips on certain roads in the municipality and recommended other roads to participate in the program.
“The amount of opposition to this program is huge,” said Mayor Zeth Matalucci. “They can still do larger county roads, but we don’t need rumble strips on the smaller roads in residential areas.”
Several residents at the meeting stated objections to the county plan with Temerity Berry summing up, “This plan is absolutely detrimental to our quality of life. We will never be able to sell our house once we retire if they put these rumble strips in.
“My brother lives close to the road like we do, and my nieces wake up in the middle of the night screaming because of all the noise.” Township Engineer John Gibson responded, “I’ve heard that some municipalities are also objecting. The county believes this is a program that promotes safety, but I think they will listen to our objections.
“There are four roads that I think these rumble strips would serve a useful purpose: Sea Isle Boulevard, which already has them; Weatherby Road (CR 548) near Mauricetown (Cumberland County) which goes through mainly gravel pits so there are no residences there; Woodbine Road only near Corson’s Tavern Road through the Woodbine industrial zone; and Belleplain (state) forest at the Woodbine line where there also would be no disruption of quality of life.
“These four roads are included in this ordinance along with our objections regarding the other roads listed.”
Committee voted unanimously to approve the ordinance objecting to the rumble strip program as presented to the Township by the County.
Public Comments
During the public comment portion, an individual came forward who said as a result of a complaint made at an earlier committee meeting about the practices of a local business the individual had received a “cease and desist” letter.
“It seems when the township went to take a look and went through the process of checking out the situation, the local business had its lawyer send me this letter. Is this really the proper venue to ask such questions in the future?” adding the township ultimately cited and fined the business for lack of permits.
Solicitor William Blaney read a copy of the letter to himself and then said, “Generally, comments made at a public forum are protected unless they are purposefully malicious or false. Such a letter as this should not prevent you from coming to a meeting such as this and exercising your rights. We rely on citizens as part of the community to take care of their own.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
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