As I look back on 2022, I can definitively say that land developers and business owners
are actively looking to recover from lost time and money since the beginning of the world health
pandemic, Covid-19. I come to this conclusion based on my seat as the Municipal Manager for the
Township of Lawrence. From early 2020 to early 2022, one aspect of my job decreased dramatically,
and Covid-19 filled the void with new and different challenges. But the winds of change are upon us
again, with developers and business owners acting with a sense of confidence in the future. Whether
we like it or not, Lawrence Township remains an appealing option to those seeking to invest their time,
effort, and money in their business pursuits. To some, that's a good thing, and to those who view new
and different things negatively, it isn't.
What
aspect of my job "decreased dramatically," you ask? The answer is, meeting
with property owners, developers, and their professionals as they "pitch"
their idea for a new "this or that" in our community. Judging
by comments on the various social media sites, at public meetings, or to me
directly while I am out and about in town, there seems to be a lack of understanding
about the development process and the local government's involvement in it. So,
I thought I would take a stab at giving a broad and general description of what
typically happens before land developers submit applications to the Zoning Board or
Planning Board (with board members from each appointed by our elected governing body "council members").
Before
a property owner or developer commits their time and money to a given project,
more often than not, they will reach out to a local official (i.e., Mayor, Municipal
Manager, or Zoning Officer) and request a meeting to get a sense of whether their
idea would be received positively or not in the community. Usually, they have prepared concept plans and
offer a general description of their vision.
Jim
Parvesse (Municipal Engineer/Zoning Officer) and I take these meetings because,
in our form of government (Council-Manager), the elected officials are
part-time, and the Mayor's role is limited beyond the governing body's collective and significant legislative power. We differ from Hamilton, Ewing, Trenton,
Princeton, and others because voters do not elect our Mayor directly, and the Mayor is not a full-time position. Instead, the
elected council members select the Mayor (by a majority vote) to serve a
two-year term. In addition, those same elected officials appoint the Municipal
Manager to a full-time position to oversee the day-to-day operations of the
municipal government, much like a Chief Executive Officer in a private
corporation. As a result, it falls on the Municipal Manager and staff to take
these meetings. They are called "courtesy meetings" and are not
required by law. However, it is a good practice for the town and the developer to
meet to discuss potential projects because it is often where bad ideas die or potentially
good ideas are improved before the developer submits an application for
consideration by the planning or zoning board. There is no science to these
meetings nor polls conducted in the community. We provide some honest and, at
times, critical feedback that may guide the next steps taken.
Importantly,
the township does not seek out land development within its borders; it is not a
function of our government. What we (i.e., elected and appointed officials of
our town) do is less direct. We work hard to make our community a desirable
place to live, work and play and let the economics take care of the rest. We
are not "Big City USA" and don't have an economic development
department in our municipal operations. So, when developers call to meet with us,
it is not a return call. They initiate it, and as a responsible government, we
take the call and take the meeting no matter what. But here is the critical
part, no decisions or agreements are EVER made between developers and municipal
officials behind closed doors. It doesn't happen here. Neither myself nor our
engineer (Mayor or council members) has the legal authority to approve or deny development
applications. The development process is an open, public process that occurs at
the Planning Board or the Zoning Board upon proper notice to the public, where
all can participate and express an opinion before the appointed members vote to
approve or deny applications based upon the facts and the law which they have
taken an oath to abide.
And,
here is the kicker, even if Jim or I (or the Mayor or Council Members) hate the
development project for whatever reason (i.e., it's too big, too loud, too much
traffic, or we "don't need another one of those," etc.), the
developer has the legal right to move forward and make the application before
the Zoning Board or Planning Board (which I am a voting member of) for consideration. When that happens, the
community tends more often than not to support our negative feeling about the project, and they come
out in droves to express their opinions.
Also, it is common for us
to meet several times with the same developer of a proposed project who works
with us to implement the improvements we express are needed before they file their
application. Those are received better by the boards and the community because they are scaled-down and
have the elements we value as a community. And sometimes, a project that we think is excellent
for the community is met with strong opposition (usually by those living near the site). The board members earn their keep at those times by approving or
rejecting the application. In the end, however, all should rest assured that we
always follow the lawful process before development occurs in our
community.
