Middle Twp, State Gov’t ‘Perfect Together’

To The Editor:
Middle Township When you consult Webster to understand the word “vision”, the number one definition is “something seen in a dream, trance or ecstasy.” That sounds just right for the visioning workshops being conducted for Middle Township’s future development.
gave up it’s future when the last group of good citizens assembled, worked hard, had a plan adopted by the Planning Board (six years ago) which was almost completely ignored by the governing body.
Recent inconveniences, traffic jams and horrible accidents are the result of development with no plan. The future is more of the same unless we can rip out the mess created in the last decade and start over. I suspect that unbuilding may be a bit difficult to pull off.
The simple truth is, we have no highways and nowhere to put them. The last highway built here was the Garden State Parkway, about seventy years ago. Other road widening efforts have created funnel like patterns that are a nightmare to traffic control. I am not certain the overpasses proposed for the GSP, while helping certain traffic issues, may very well worsen others. We are already overdeveloped for our unique circumstances as a corridor within a peninsula on the Jersey shore. Members of our governing body know these things better than anyone else. The invitations to the public for input to future development as well as affordable housing are a ruse and ironically the first plan our governing body has embraced in these matters. New Jersey is run by developers who have found how to infiltrate the political arena. Recent legislation giving back millions to developers, when in fact these cost were already passed on to the consumer, proves who is in control. Middle Township’s government and the state government are certainly “perfect together” in this venture. The recent sting to expose corruption in our lovely state used a developer as bait, need I say more.
At first, I was pleased to see this unexplained shift in philosophies by our leaders. I was anxious to get the ball rolling on the issues that have been a major concern to me for so long. As I explored the possibilities and discovered there were none, I realized what these clever folks were doing. Our leaders have destroyed the future of Middle Township and are now ready to hand over the blame to anyone willing to take it. I am too old to be part of this near futile exercise.
I have seen our leader’s approach to Smart Growth where just about every part of the Township would get a “Center Designation” to accommodate higher density. I have listened during meetings where their only goal was to see how much could get squeezed in. I remember well, when Matt Blake of the American Littoral Society defined Middle’s plan as a “developer’s wish list.”
SAM KELLY
Swainton