NJ Highlands Council Feeling The Heat On Proposed Warehouse Approval – Cancels Scheduled September Meeting
Growing Public Opposition To Warehouse Developments On Rural Farmland
[Update below]
In a terse public notice, the NJ Highlands Council cancelled the scheduled September monthly meeting allegedly due to “quorum issues”. This cancellation follows a similar cancellation of the August monthly meting:
NOTICE OF MEETING CANCELLATION – NEW JERSEY HIGHLANDS COUNCIL
Please be advised that the meeting of the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council scheduled for Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 4:00 pm has been cancelled due to quorum issues. Our next scheduled meeting is Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 4:00 pm.
The Council is facing strong public opposition to proposed massive warehouse developments (for details on these developments, see:
Local opponents of the project in Phillipsburg, Pohatcong, and Lopatcong are organizing and they submitted numerous public comments opposing the “redevelopment plan”, so the Council is now fully aware of just how bad this proposal is.
A vote on a staff recommended approval was on the agenda for both meetings that were cancelled.
Prior to the consecutive meeting cancellations, the public comment period on the proposed warehouse development plan was extended. That’s another indicator of backpedaling.
So, at this point it seems pretty obvious that any “quorum issues” are cover for the Council’s avoidance of facing the public opponents and openly deliberating and voting on this “redevelopment plan” that makes a sham of the Highlands Master Plan.
The opponents aren’t going away and the opposition is building. The Council mistakenly may think that delays dampen public opposition, but delays only allow opposition to build.
The Highlands Council will have to face the music at some point in time, and we urge them to step up to the plate and defend the credibility and integrity of the Highlands RMP by denying this sham.
[Update 9/16/24: I wrote to ask Highlands Council Executive Director Ben Spinelli “Am I right”?
His terse reply:
No, you’re not.
I interpret that to mean that he’s getting no pushback (heat) from the Governor’s Office or DEP for his embarrassing approval of the staff Report that recommended approval with conditions. So, Ben is feeling no “heat” that matters (to him), the public sentiment now just become white noise (or what political theorist Sheldon Wolin called an essential feature of “managed Democracy”.).