What's going to happen to the 120+ acre farm currently listed on LandAndFarm.com and known as the Wilson Farm?
We will continue to follow this property to see what occurs with the '21 single-family one acre residential lots'.
For further information about the property, click on the title of this post to access the LandAndFarm website.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Are We Paying Too Many Taxes?
On the Star Ledger's website you can see how we rank as Pembertonians in relation to the property taxes paid for living in this beautifully rural community compared to over 500 other municipalities in New Jersey. We are ranked at no. 496 out of 526, just 30 from being the lowest. This amazing website allows you, the taxpayer, access to information about home sales, property taxes, development, crime, and so much more. Just click on the title to access the database.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Towns around joint base seek a say in its growth Jobs and development are at issue as an Army-Navy-Air Force complex takes shape in South Jersey
Philadelphia Inquirer - Sun, Aug. 3, 2008
Towns around joint base seek a say in its growth. Jobs and development are at issue as an Army-Navy-Air Force complex takes shape in South Jersey.
By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer
Each side has its needs: The military wants its space. The towns want to cash in. The nation's only contiguous Army-Navy-Air Force megabase is seeking land buffers around its 60 square miles in Burlington and Ocean Counties. Military leaders don't want homes or schools next to airfields.
The 10 surrounding towns, meanwhile, would like help preserving land and coordinating business development. Local leaders don't want to see the restaurants and shops in their communities duplicated on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
The high-stakes give-and-take is under way between military and civilian officials who have been plotting the future of the New Jersey towns and the martial giant in their midst.
Their discussions are part of a $300,000 study expected to provide a road map for land use, preservation, zoning changes and retail development on both sides of the fence.
Funded mainly by the Defense Department, the study will affect decisions involving thousands of jobs and vast capital investments. More than $500 million in construction has begun at the bases, with an additional $179.1 million approved Friday by the House of Representatives. And neighboring Wrightstown is planning a $60 million town center, including a new hotel.
"Controlling local development around the bases is very important," said Rep. Jim Saxton (R., N.J.), who led the fight to save the bases from military cuts in 2005.
"I assure you there are bases around the country that are closed today because of overdevelopment outside the gate. It's this type of community support which has kept the bases open."
The study follows 2005 Base Closure and Realignment recommendations that direct Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst to be transformed into Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst by 2011.
It "will provide a blueprint for Ocean and Burlington Counties and their towns to protect the bases from encroachment, and protect the 17,000 people who work there," Saxton said.
McGuire Air Force Base is the largest employer in Burlington County, and Fort Dix is one of the largest. Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst is the biggest employer in Ocean County. The three bases have an annual economic impact exceeding $2 billion.
They are surrounded by Wrightstown, New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township and Springfield in Burlington County, and by Lakehurst Borough, Manchester, Jackson and Plumsted in Ocean County.
"We need to ensure that the elevated activities on the base over the next 10 years work harmoniously with the towns and their land-use plans, that transportation issues are addressed, and that any new residential and commercial development addresses both the communities' needs as well as those of the military," said Burlington County Freeholder Joseph B.
Donnelly, who oversees the county's Department of Economic Development and Regional Planning.
"It stands to reason that more military activity means more commercial activity in the housing market. However, new development into the areas closest to the base is also an issue, and also has to be considered as part of the planning effort."
The military doesn't want "incompatible land uses, such as residential housing, in a flight crash zone," said Mark Remsa, director of economic development and regional planning for Burlington County.
"Maybe it would be better to have a warehouse or a golf course" near airfields, added Dave McKeon, director of planning for Ocean County. "The key part of this is having no encroachment."
Burlington County has already preserved more than 20,000 acres of land and hopes to preserve an additional 20,000 near the base, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Saxton.
In Ocean County, funding from the Navy, the county, and the Pinelands Commission is being used to preserve open space on the northern border of Lakehurst near Route 571, officials said.
"Some land has been purchased. We're looking for other opportunities," said Navy Capt. Phil Beachy, Lakehurst's commanding officer. "Encroachment limits our ability to do the mission we're here to do. If we can't do our mission, it will have to go elsewhere."
Public town-hall meetings on the land-use study will be held in Burlington and Ocean Counties in the coming weeks. No dates have been announced. The study is expected to be completed in about seven months and will act as a nonbinding master plan.
While the bases focus on buffer zones, the towns plan to benefit from the growing numbers of military and civilian workers at the bases.
The local economy was hit hard in the last two decades by the ups and downs of the bases, which were regularly threatened with closure as missions changed.
Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, prompting the shutdown of Texas Road through Fort Dix and creating further hardship. Motorists had to go many miles out of their way to cross the area, and traffic bottlenecks developed in normally quiet places such as Pemberton Borough.
But the designation of McGuire, Dix and Lakehurst as a joint installation and new investments there breathed new life into the bases and municipalities.
While some communities, such as New Hanover, hope to protect their rural character - with outside funding - built-out towns, such as Wrightstown, hope to provide services to the bases.
The borough is planning a $60 million downtown center, including a 120-room hotel and conference center, a restaurant, a bank, retailers, and possibly medical offices.
"We're looking for ways to benefit the bases and the people living around them," Mayor Tom Harper said. "Wrightstown wants to complement the bases. What can we build here that you need and don't want to build on the base?"
McKeon, of Ocean County, said, "We're looking for common goals where there is a win-win situation for everybody."
Towns around joint base seek a say in its growth. Jobs and development are at issue as an Army-Navy-Air Force complex takes shape in South Jersey.
By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer
Each side has its needs: The military wants its space. The towns want to cash in. The nation's only contiguous Army-Navy-Air Force megabase is seeking land buffers around its 60 square miles in Burlington and Ocean Counties. Military leaders don't want homes or schools next to airfields.
The 10 surrounding towns, meanwhile, would like help preserving land and coordinating business development. Local leaders don't want to see the restaurants and shops in their communities duplicated on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
The high-stakes give-and-take is under way between military and civilian officials who have been plotting the future of the New Jersey towns and the martial giant in their midst.
Their discussions are part of a $300,000 study expected to provide a road map for land use, preservation, zoning changes and retail development on both sides of the fence.
Funded mainly by the Defense Department, the study will affect decisions involving thousands of jobs and vast capital investments. More than $500 million in construction has begun at the bases, with an additional $179.1 million approved Friday by the House of Representatives. And neighboring Wrightstown is planning a $60 million town center, including a new hotel.
"Controlling local development around the bases is very important," said Rep. Jim Saxton (R., N.J.), who led the fight to save the bases from military cuts in 2005.
"I assure you there are bases around the country that are closed today because of overdevelopment outside the gate. It's this type of community support which has kept the bases open."
The study follows 2005 Base Closure and Realignment recommendations that direct Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst to be transformed into Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst by 2011.
It "will provide a blueprint for Ocean and Burlington Counties and their towns to protect the bases from encroachment, and protect the 17,000 people who work there," Saxton said.
McGuire Air Force Base is the largest employer in Burlington County, and Fort Dix is one of the largest. Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst is the biggest employer in Ocean County. The three bases have an annual economic impact exceeding $2 billion.
They are surrounded by Wrightstown, New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township and Springfield in Burlington County, and by Lakehurst Borough, Manchester, Jackson and Plumsted in Ocean County.
"We need to ensure that the elevated activities on the base over the next 10 years work harmoniously with the towns and their land-use plans, that transportation issues are addressed, and that any new residential and commercial development addresses both the communities' needs as well as those of the military," said Burlington County Freeholder Joseph B.
Donnelly, who oversees the county's Department of Economic Development and Regional Planning.
"It stands to reason that more military activity means more commercial activity in the housing market. However, new development into the areas closest to the base is also an issue, and also has to be considered as part of the planning effort."
The military doesn't want "incompatible land uses, such as residential housing, in a flight crash zone," said Mark Remsa, director of economic development and regional planning for Burlington County.
"Maybe it would be better to have a warehouse or a golf course" near airfields, added Dave McKeon, director of planning for Ocean County. "The key part of this is having no encroachment."
Burlington County has already preserved more than 20,000 acres of land and hopes to preserve an additional 20,000 near the base, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Saxton.
In Ocean County, funding from the Navy, the county, and the Pinelands Commission is being used to preserve open space on the northern border of Lakehurst near Route 571, officials said.
"Some land has been purchased. We're looking for other opportunities," said Navy Capt. Phil Beachy, Lakehurst's commanding officer. "Encroachment limits our ability to do the mission we're here to do. If we can't do our mission, it will have to go elsewhere."
Public town-hall meetings on the land-use study will be held in Burlington and Ocean Counties in the coming weeks. No dates have been announced. The study is expected to be completed in about seven months and will act as a nonbinding master plan.
While the bases focus on buffer zones, the towns plan to benefit from the growing numbers of military and civilian workers at the bases.
The local economy was hit hard in the last two decades by the ups and downs of the bases, which were regularly threatened with closure as missions changed.
Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, prompting the shutdown of Texas Road through Fort Dix and creating further hardship. Motorists had to go many miles out of their way to cross the area, and traffic bottlenecks developed in normally quiet places such as Pemberton Borough.
But the designation of McGuire, Dix and Lakehurst as a joint installation and new investments there breathed new life into the bases and municipalities.
While some communities, such as New Hanover, hope to protect their rural character - with outside funding - built-out towns, such as Wrightstown, hope to provide services to the bases.
The borough is planning a $60 million downtown center, including a 120-room hotel and conference center, a restaurant, a bank, retailers, and possibly medical offices.
"We're looking for ways to benefit the bases and the people living around them," Mayor Tom Harper said. "Wrightstown wants to complement the bases. What can we build here that you need and don't want to build on the base?"
McKeon, of Ocean County, said, "We're looking for common goals where there is a win-win situation for everybody."
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