NJ News & Views

[Editor's Note: At 9:40 a.m. on February 1, 2010, this story was edited for style, content and accuracy.]

Last year, the Corzine administration approved a Lakewood plan to close its municipal budget shortfall by deferring a $10 million tax payment to the district.

The newly-installed Christie administration may have nothing to say about it.

On January 14, two days before a new administration took office in Trenton, Lakewood committeemen adopted a corrective action plan based on a township audit of 2008 municipal finances - not a state-mandated forensic audit.

Last week, NJ News & Views called an official in the state office of Local Government Services, which approved the 2009 Lakewood municipal budget.

The state Division of Local Government Services is part of the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA).

The state official confirmed that Local Government Services requires a corrective action plan whenever a municipal government reports a budget shortfall, but said that office would not have received a corrective action plan adopted as recently as January 14.

The reporter sought to ask the official if the state received and approved the Lakewood corrective action plan prior to the committee's January 14 vote to adopt it.

The official declined to discuss the matter further.

Whether the state has or has not yet taken action on the Lakewood corrective action plan, the public will not know anything about it; the official said the corrective action plan and the division's response to it would not be posted on the state Web site.

The Lakewood Township Committee provided just as little information to the public and the media at their January 14 meeting.

A brief 2-part resolution provided the township's solution to preventing a future budget shortfall.

08-1., recommended by accountant Thomas P. Fallon of Fallon & Larsen LLP, called for the liquidation of all interfunds prior to year end.

"Interfunds are analyzed on a monthly basis," the resolution stated. "All known interfunds will be liquidated prior to year end where applicable."

An interfund transfer is an accounting transaction that moves fund balance (reserves) from one fund to another fund. By definition, transfers cannot occur within the same fund.

Fund accounting is the practice by which resources are maintained in separate fund accounts to provide proper stewardship over the resources entrusted to local government. When transfers among funds become routine administrative practice, either stewardship is lacking or the accounts (funds) were not properly established or budgeted.

Interfund transfers are classified as mandatory or non-mandatory.

Non-mandatory transfers are authorized only by the governing body. Unlike mandatory interfund transfers, there is no legally binding requirement to make the transaction.

Short-term loans or advances from one fund to another are referred to as interfund loans. The financial obligation is designated as an interfund receivable/payable.

Prior to the committee's adoption of the consent agenda that included the resolution to approve the corrective action plan, Township Manager Frank Edwards responded to a reporter's question about it during the meeting's public forum.

"In an ideal world, (you're) not supposed to have receivables in one fund," Edwards told the reporter for NJ News & Views. "(Our) goal is to eliminate interfund transfers as much as possible."

The township may have no other choice.

Public policy is now the focus of a Federal probe.

Under the new administration of Governor Chris Christie, it could also become the focus of a state probe.

The state is already conducting a forensic audit of district finances.

Every year for the past decade, members of the Lakewood Board of Education certified there was sufficient funding in district accounts to pay its bills.

That was not always the case.

In June 2007, the board ended the 2006-7 school year more than $1 million in the red.

The state Department of Education recommended a forensic audit of district finances under 2006 legislation. If the state auditor finds evidence of malfeasance, board members could face criminal charges.

That will not be the case with members of the Lakewood Township Committee.

Instead, the state approved a plan that further reduced available district funding in order to prevent the township from operating in the red as well.

The Lakewood corrective action plan does not ensure that Lakewood will change public policy.

08-2. of the township corrective action plan calls for the Tax Collector's Office to consistently adjust taxpayer accounts promptly upon the refund of tax overpayments by the Finance Office.

"Increased communication between the Tax Collector's Office and the Finance Office will commence through the Finance Office providing the Tax Collector's Office, on a monthly basis, a report listing all refunds of tax overpayments for the previous month," the resolution stated. "The Tax Collector's Office will then have a full accounting of refunds of tax overpayments and will adjust the affected taxpayer accounts."

In an August 13, 2009 blog posting, Lakewood advocate Yehuda Shain reported that the township was no longer reimbursing Lakewood property owners that agreed to settle challenges to their tax assessment.

"Lakewood Tax Refunds - NO MONEY Available! [I.O.U's]," Shain headlined his blog posting, then asked his readers, "Are you aware that Lakewood is not refunding taxpayers reductions(?) They are telling them that the mortgage company needs to contact them etc…The taxpayer would never know unless they contact mortgage company who informs them that (they) never received the credit/refund."

For the past several years, Shain has provided counsel and representation to Lakewood property owners challenging their tax assessment at county tax board hearings.

"I have an attorney who signed (Stipulations of Settlement) for tax court 60 days ago," Shain reported on his blog last year. "Lakewood is telling him there is no money so we will be refunding the money with interest when we refund it to you."

A reporter for NJ News & Views e-mailed Shain to request comment. The reporter asked the name of the attorney and the amount of interest that was being promised to taxpayers that settled the challenge to their tax assessment with the township.

Shain did not respond to the request for comment.

The 2008 and 2009 municipal budgets reported that Lakewood had $7.5 million in surplus during the 2008 budgeting process and at year-end.

In March 2009, NJ News & Views asked Lakewood Chief Financial Officer (CFO) William Rieker how much was budgeted in surplus. Rieker declined to disclose the amount.

The reporter also asked Edwards how much was in surplus for 2009. Edwards also declined to provide the amount.

More recently, the reporter requested to inspect all correspondence between the township and its auditor relating to the 2008 audit and corrective action plan under the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

Lakewood Township Clerk Mary Ann Del Mastro told the reporter there was no correspondence.

The reporter also made an OPRA request for a CD copy of the recording of the January 14 committee meeting, at which Edwards discussed the corrective action plan.

Del Mastro declined on the advice of counsel, according to e-mail exchanged between the reporter and attorney Jan Wouters.

Wouters is an associate employed by the law firm of township attorney Lawrence E. Bathgate II.

Both Wouters and Bathgate provided legal counsel at the January 14 committee meeting.

In media interviews last year, Mayor Steven Langert, then deputy mayor of Lakewood, indicated that municipal surplus was intended to be spent, not budgeted in reserve.

During the 2009 budgeting process, the state approved deferment of more than $10 million in July school taxes to August, creating a $5.5 million municipal budget surplus instead of a $4.5 million deficit.

Five months later, Edwards publicly stated during the November 19, 2009 committee meeting that the township had "virtually" no surplus.

Public policy is to blame.

In 2008 and continuing into 2009, committeemen spent $12 million the township did not have by adjusting the assessments of some Lakewood property owners and then reimbursing them the amount of back taxes they overpaid plus interest, according to sources and confirmed by Shain's blog posting.

For years, the committee approved non-mandatory interfund transfers by "loaning" underfunded accounts the necessary funding - a financial practice also employed for years by the Lakewood Board of Education.

The interfund loans could not be liquidated at year-end because public policy has also supported a program of development and redevelopment through tax exemptions and tax abatements.

Many Lakewood property owners also seek to reduce their taxes by setting up non-profit organizations in their homes that qualify for a tax exemption, which further depletes township revenues.

Last year, the township committee adopted an ordinance to reassess all Lakewood properties, even though the township completed a revaluation less than five years ago at taxpayer expense.

The township reassessment will not result in reduced property taxes.

By reducing property owners' assessments, the township will have to raise taxes to compensate for lost revenue.

Owners will not have a similar mechanism to increase the value of their property; many Lakewood properties will be worth less than the mortgages that financed their purchase.

In an October 31, 2008 Washington Post editorial, Harvard Business School Professor John Quelch discussed the American dream of home ownership following a nationwide collapse of the housing market, which he attributed to public policy.

"The injustice of the current crisis is that citizens who acted responsibly and were saving for their retirement have seen the values of their homes and 401(k) plans collapse," Quelch wrote. "Responsible citizens, and their children and grandchildren, will pay in extra taxes to clean up the mess."

Quelch told his readers that public policy was unlikely to alter that future.

"...government promises to come to the rescue, with both parties supporting a fiscal stimulus in the form of tax rebates and infrastructure spending that will pump more money into the economy, run up the deficit further and mortgage our children's ability to achieve their American Dreams," he wrote.

[Editor's Note: At 5:05 p.m. on January 25, 2010, this story was edited for style, content and accuracy.]

On Tuesday, January 26, Jackson voters that turn out for a district referendum will be asked to approve funding for improvement of public property.

As Jackson's public school enrollment continues to drop, that property could someday belong to someone else.

For the third time in less than a decade, the Jackson Board of Education will ask voters to approve a multi-million dollar referendum. This time the board is not seeking funding to construct a new school, but proposed improvements to aging ones that may not be cost effective - or necessary.

In 2002, the year Jackson voters approved a $103 million referendum by 10 votes, public school enrollment had grown by 414 students to a total enrollment of 9,167 students.

By 2005, the year voters defeated a referendum proposal to bond $32.5 million for construction of a seventh elementary school, but approved $11.7 million for improvements to Jackson Memorial High School and Christa McAuliffe Middle School, district enrollment had increased by only 69 students over the previous year, for a total enrollment of 9,758 students.

The district enrolled only 42 more public school students in 2007 than it had in 2006, totaling 9,862 students - an increase of 695 students over five years.

Although a district spokesperson previously told NJ News & Views that the October 2008 district enrollment had decreased by 60 students to a total of 9,802, the same spokesperson more recently provided different figures for that year.

According to a January 15, 2010 Application for School State Aid (ASSA) comparison, the district reported a drop in its October 2008 enrollment by 209 students, for a total enrollment of 9,653.

In October 2009, the district reported a further decrease in enrollment by 73 students, for a total enrollment of 9,580.

On Tuesday, the board will ask voters to approve four referendum questions that primarily fund improvements to the district's two high schools.

Prior to the construction of a high school in Jackson, students from that township and Manchester were bused to Lakewood High School in the Princeton Avenue location, according to Gus Acevedo, a former member of the Jackson Board of Education who discussed its history in a 2006 interview.

Acevedo said he was a member of the first high school class to graduate from Jackson Junior Senior High School in 1965 and not from Lakewood High School.

The Clayton Middle School was later built within walking distance of the building that was renamed Jackson Memorial High School in honor of those who died during the Vietnam War. In 1993, completion of the Fine Arts Center connected the high school and middle school in one educational facility now known as Jackson Memorial High School.

The Fine Arts Center separates the Clayton and Reider wings.

In January 2002, voters approved funding for construction of Jackson Liberty High School, which opened for class in September 2006.

In September 2006, a total of 3,022 students enrolled in Jackson's two high schools. Jackson Liberty High School opened with 706 students, while 2,316 students attended Jackson Memorial High School.

In 2007, a total of 3,062 students enrolled in Jackson's two high schools, increasing enrollment by 40 new students. Jackson Liberty High School enrolled 1,086 students, while Jackson Memorial High School enrolled 1,976 students.

In October 2008, a total of 3,075 students enrolled in Jackson's two high schools, increasing enrollment by 13 students. Jackson Liberty High School enrolled 1,379 students, while Jackson Memorial High School enrolled 1,696 students.

For the first time last year, the district reported a decrease in total high school enrollment.

In October 2009, the district reported a total of 3,032 students enrolled in both high schools - a decrease of 43 students. Jackson Liberty High School enrolled 1,343 students, while Jackson Memorial High School enrolled 1,689 students.

Jackson Liberty High School was designed to enroll many more.

In 2004, the Tri-Town News reported that the state-of-the-art school under construction could be expanded to three floors instead of two.

The following year, a neighboring school district was also investing in state-of-the-art improvements to its public schools, according to the October 10, 2008 article, "Schools Find Green Is Paying Off," by New York Times reporter Fran Silverman.

"Toms River Regional Schools in New Jersey put solar panels on all district buildings in 2005; since then the panels have generated 2.5 million kilowatts of energy," Silverman reported.

Toms River School Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco told Silverman that the district earned $1 million annually since installing the solar panels by selling extra solar energy back to the utility company and saved $650,000 in overall energy costs.

Those figures may be too good to be true for all schools.

Silverman reported that the Toms River district received $7.2 million toward the $20 million project from the State Board of Public Utilities and an additional $7 million in state school construction grants. It also applied for interest-free loans from the federal government. All of the aid reduced the cost to the district to $6 million.
 
However, Silverman also reported that the state is no longer offering the utilities grants because it cannot meet the demand.

Silverman said Ritacco continues to encourage school officials to purchase solar panels through special financing or new rebate programs.
 
“We tell other schools that the panels are great,” Ritacco was quoted in Silverman's report. “Any way you can get them and put them in, you should."

That is one of the four referendum questions the Jackson board will ask voters to approve on Tuesday.

Bond Proposal No. 1 (Solar Energy Project) asks voters the following referendum question:

"The Board of Education of the Township of Jackson in the County of Ocean, New Jersey is authorized: (a) to undertake the acquisition and installation of solar panels, including any necessary roof repairs, electrical system upgrades and related work at Jackson Memorial High School; (b) to appropriated $7,043,750; and (c) to issue bonds of the Scho9ol District in the amount of $7,04r3,750. The Board of Education is authorized to transfer its unexpended bond proceeds between the approved Bond Proposals.

"The final eligible costs approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education are $7,043,750. The State's debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due on the final eligible costs of the project."

In 2005, the Jackson board funded repair of the Memorial High School roof through that year's referendum - the same year it could have followed the example of the Toms River Regional School District and gone green at a reduced cost to Jackson taxpayers.

The Jackson board is also asking voters to approve installation of a heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system at Jackson Memorial High School.

Bond Proposal No. 3 (HVAC at Memorial High School) asks voters the following referendum question:

"The Board of Education of the Township of Jackson in the County of Ocean, New Jersey is authorized: (a) to replace the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems and any related work at Jackson Memorial High School; (b) to appropriate $6,700,000; and (c) to issue bonds of the School District in the amount of $6,700,000. The Board of Education is authorized to transfer its unexpended bond proceeds between the approved Bond Proposals.

"The final eligible costs approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education are $6,700,000. The State debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due on the final eligible costs of the project."

Instead of proposing to install solar panels and HVAC in a school building almost half-a-century old, the board can ask voters to approve funding to expand Liberty High School, which already has HVAC, and install solar panels on the newer high school's roof.

The Jackson board is proposing different improvements to Liberty High School.

Bond Proposal No. 4 (Irrigation System at Liberty H.S.) asks voters the following referendum question:

"The Board of Education of the Township of Jackson in the County of Ocean, New Jersey is authorized: (a) to install an irrigation system, including any related work at Jackson Liberty High School; (b) to appropriate $3,790,230; and (c) to issue bonds of the School District in the amount of $3,790,230. The Board of Education is authorized to transfer its unexpended bond proceeds between the approved Bond Proposals.

"The final eligible costs approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education are $3,790,230. The State debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due on the final eligible costs of the project."

In a Power Point presentation posted on the district Web site, the board cited a change by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the interpretation of an unidentified state law. Due to the change in interpretation, the board proposed to build a man-made pond at the school, similar to those used on golf courses, to provide a "green" and eco-friendly solution by recycling rainwater for a proposed irrigation system.

"We currently do not have full utilization of athletic areas (at Liberty High School)," the presentation noted.

In legal papers dated December 15, 2005, the board condemned a portion of property at Westgate, an Orthodox mixed-use development located adjacent to an athletic field at Liberty High School, in order to install a sanitary sewer easement. In exchange for the condemnation, board members agreed to pay the cost of privacy fencing at one section of the development, but not where the sewer easement was located.

The condemnation agreement provided hookup of water and sewer to Liberty High School, but at the expense of Jackson taxpayers, according to provisions of legal documents.

"The residents that reside on the defendants' properties shall have the same right as the general public to use the Board of Education's exterior athletic fields," stated the agreement.

By making access to the high school's athletic fields a condition of the legal agreement for water and sewer easement, the board made Jackson taxpayers liable for any injuries sustained by Westgate residents playing on district property.

If voters approve the referendum question on Tuesday, they may once again be assuming an unnecessary cost.

In 2008, Westgate residents stated at a meeting of the Lakewood Township Committee that they saw township personnel maintaining retention basins at Westgate.

Committeemen denied the charge, but last year agreed to pay for fencing around the remaining basin the developer refused to install, according to a December 8, 2009 letter from Yossel Slomowitz, Administrator of the Westgate Homeowners Association, obtained through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

"All of you have taken our safety issues very seriously," Slomowitz wrote committeemen. "Our residents met with you this past year to share our plight regarding the open retention basin. At this time, the township committee graciously committed to assisting us with the necessary funds ($16,000) to erect the safety fence."

Slomowitz reported that residents had been less successful in discussing the basins with Lakewood district officials.

"The issue has recently gotten more severe recently due to the fact that the Lakewood Board of Education will not allow for a bus stop near the basin due (to) the children's safety," he wrote.

According to sources, Lakewood committeemen promised to pay for fencing around the basins in August, after adoption of the 2009 municipal budget

In June 2009, Lakewood committeemen adopted a municipal budget after receiving state approval to defer over $10 million in July school taxes payable to the district. Although deferral of the July school tax payment created a $5.5 million surplus, committeemen delayed payment of the $16,000 fencing until after the state approved reauthorization of the township's Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) in September and a change in UEZ boundaries in November to included a portion of Westgate.

While Lakewood taxpayers have not publicly questioned or opposed the payment of tax dollars to maintain private property at Westgate, Jackson taxpayers may be less willing to fund improvement of Liberty High School athletic fields for non-resident use without further disclosure by the Jackson board.

In its online Power Point presentation, the Jackson board maintained it had separated referendum projects into four questions so that voters could evaluate each funding element separately.

"Each question stands alone," the presentation page asserted. "If approved, the implementation of the projects in one question are NOT contingent on the approval of another question."

That isn't true.

Bond Proposal No. 2 (All School Upgrades) asks voters the following referendum question:

"The Board of Education of the Township of Jackson in the County of Ocean, New Jersey is authorized: (a) to undertake various improvements, renovations, information technology upgrades and security system upgrades to Jackson Memorial High School, and security system upgrades to Jackson Liberty High School, Christa McAuliffe Middle School, Carl W/ Goetz Middle School, Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School, Lucy N. Holman Elementary School, Switlik Elementary School; (b) to undertake the related site work and acquire the necessary equipment for such improvements; (c) to appropriate $11,925,000; and (d) to issue bonds of the School District in the amount of $11,925,000."

Bond Proposal No. 2 would serve as a funding mechanism for other approved referendum questions, despite the Jackson board's assertion that each stood alone:

"The Board of Education is authorized to transfer its unexpended bond proceeds between the school facilities projects within Bond Proposal No. 2 and between the approved Bond Proposals."

As a result, the Jackson board may have overestimated funding for Bond Proposal No. 2 or underestimated funding for the other three referendum questions.

"The total final eligible costs of the projects approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education are $11,325,000, consisting of $7,830,510 for Jackson Memorial High School, $747,125 for Jackson Liberty High School, $374,350 for the Christa McAuliffe Middle School, $512,200 for the Carl W. Goetz Middle School, $230,685 for the Crawford-Rodriquez Elementary School, $265,230 for the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School, $359,155 for the Switlik Elementary School, $280,450 for the Howard C. Johnson Elementary School, and $389,975 for the Elms Elementary School. The State's debt service aid percentage will equal 40% of the annual debt service due on the projects' final eligible costs."

Bonding Proposal No. 2 would allocate the majority of funding, if approved, to Jackson Memorial High School for facility improvements.

As district enrollment continues to fall, Jackson may no longer need two high schools.

As more married students attend Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, described by sources as the world's largest rabbinical college, more families will own or rent homes in the surrounding townships. The majority of those families will send their school-age children to non-public schools, increasing the demand for district services, but not necessarily the enrollment in district public schools.

According to the Jackson Tax Assessor's map, posted on the township Web site, the township's densest population is at its border with Lakewood, not the part of town where Memorial High School is located.

That could soon change as well.

On January 25, one day before the Jackson district referendum, the Jackson Planning Board is scheduled to discuss a determination of net density at Jackson Mews, proposed by developer Mitch Leigh in 2006.

In 2007, the board denied Leigh's proposal to build 2,531 homes on a 610.5-acre, predominantly wetlands site in Jackson.

The site is located on West Commodore Boulevard (Route 526) and Jackson Mills-West Freehold Road (Route 638) in an area zoned for Planned Mixed Unit Residential Development (PMURD).

The site is also located on Germa Road, Whitty Road, a portion of West Fish Road and an existing easement on Athabaskan Way.

In 1989, Leigh received planning board approval of dense residential development on the same site, which he called Leigh at Jackson.

Leigh never built it.

Instead, Leigh renamed the project Towne Centre and in 2002 proposed to build it as a mixed-use development that would include an arts and entertainment component, as well as housing and commercial construction.

Leigh lobbied local government to rezone the site as a Town Center, but could not generate public support for a zoning change, township officials said.

According to Leigh's spokesperson, Tom Bovino, the state plan zoned the site Town Center in 1989.

In 2004, the Jackson Planning Board denied Leigh's application to develop a subdivision of Leigh at Jackson after they said Leigh's professionals failed to submit all required studies before the scheduled hearing.

Bovino said Leigh has continued to litigate the 2004 planning board denial in order to secure the right to develop the project according to Town Center zoning.

Township officials told a reporter in 2006 that local government never adopted the zoning.

The site is already zoned for dense development. However, Town Center zoning would enable Leigh to build the project at reduced expense if Jackson applied for and received Plan Endorsement.

Plan Endorsement ensures that municipal, county, regional and State Agency plans are consistent with the State Development and Redevelopment Plan and with each other. An endorsed plan entitles municipalities and counties to a higher priority for available funding, streamlined permit reviews, and coordinated state agency services.

Lakewood Township recently adopted a proposed Smart Growth Plan under the Plan Endorsement process. The Lakewood Smart Growth Plan includes Cedar Bridge Town Center, the location of a baseball stadium, residential housing and a corporate park with only infrastructure installed.

The plan also calls for construction of affordable housing, even though Lakewood fulfilled its Mount Laurel obligation decades ago.

Leigh has proposed to include affordable housing components that would help Jackson meet its Mount Laurel obligations, too. In return, he has pursued township approval to rezone the development site - both at town hall and in court.

Any member of the public or the media seeking to inspect Leigh's lawsuits will not be able to find all of them at computer terminals in state Superior Court Civil Records in Toms River, the seat of Ocean County government.

According to a 2009 e-mail response by Jackson Mayor Michael Reina, both parties were told by state Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso to negotiate a settlement to Leigh's 2004 lawsuit. Reina said both parties were told not to publicly discuss the negotiations.

Reina later said negotiations failed and that Grasso had remanded the application back to the Jackson Planning Board for action.

Although the matter is scheduled for public discussion, Grasso effectively sealed the Leigh at Jackson court file during Lakewood's Smart Growth Plan hearings by not recording his instructions to Jackson officials and Leigh representatives. As a result, according to a member of Grasso's staff, the file was archived and unavailable in computer records to anyone from the public or the media looking for it without a file docket number.

If approved by Jackson officials, a Town Center zoning change could turn Jackson as well as neighboring Lakewood into a city subsidized by local, state and Federal taxpayers.

No other media outlet has reported the scheduled discussion at 7:30 p.m. Monday night or its relationship to Tuesday's referendum to fund improvements to Jackson public schools.

All state superior court judges must take an oath of office to uphold the United States and New Jersey Constitutions, which both protect freedom of the press.

A free press disseminates public information.

One year after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, America's third president discussed freedom of the press with America's first president.

"No government ought to be without censors," Thomas Jefferson wrote President George Washington in a September 9, 1792 letter, "and where the press is free, no one ever will."

[Editor's Note: At the February 4, 2010 meeting of the Lakewood Township Committee, members failed to motion a vote to adopt the ordinance on second reading reported in this posting, effectively killing it. The ordinance updated the definition of housing in the township's code book, referred to as the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).

According to attorney Jan Wouters, members of the Lakewood Planning Board proposed so many changes to the ordinance after the committee's first reading of it that the ordinance would have been substantially changed.

Wouters said the ordinance would be reintroduced for first reading at a future date he did not disclose.

Less than a week after this story was posted on NJ News & Views, the Lakewood Township code book was removed from the township Web site. No updated version was posted to replace it as of January 23, 2010.

NJ News & Views continues to support the editorial opinions expressed in this posting.]

On February 4, Lakewood committeemen will hold second reading and possible adoption of an ordinance that would update the township's code book, referred to as the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).

After that date, anyone looking for the new ordinance in the copy of the code book posted on the township's Web site still won't find it.

The online code book was last updated May 11, 2006.

The committee has made numerous changes to it since then.

Last week, committeemen began the legislative process to change the UDO once again, but the updated version will only be available at the township clerk's office during business hours.

At the January 14 meeting of the Lakewood Township Committee, members approved first reading of the ordinance, which includes an amended definition of all housing that will be built in Lakewood under the amended Smart Growth Plan that committeemen also approved at the same meeting.

The township submitted the Smart Growth Plan as part of the state Plan Endorsement process. If approved, Plan Endorsement would enable Lakewood to increase the percentage of impervious coverage permitted on environmentally sensitive areas, including the safety zone for Lakewood Airport, a publicly-owned business in the industrial park.

Under the proposed Smart Growth Plan, the airport would be continue to be included in an industrial node, but the entire township is zoned for mixed-use development.

In 2005, Deputy Mayor Marc (Meir) Lichtenstein volunteered to serve on a subcommittee of one to investigate redeveloping the airport for a different use.

After meeting with Federal and state officials, Lichtenstein said the township would have to reimburse $10 million in Federal and state grants the township used to buy the airport in the mid 1990s if it were redeveloped for another purpose.

According to a report in the Asbury Park Press, one of those alternative uses was residential development.

All residential developments consist of dwellings, according to the township UDO.

Chapter XVIII, Article II of the revised Lakewood UDO defines a dwelling as "a building having one (1) or more rooms providing living and sanitary facilities for one (1) family including cooking or provisions for the same."

The UDO definition of a dwelling does not include trailers or campers.

"…trailers or campers as defined herein shall not be or be considered as buildings or dwellings within the scope of this chapter," the ordinance also stated.

In early 2006, committeemen adopted an ordinance that permits installation of school trailers on school construction sites with only administrative approval of the zoning officer.

Township officials have reinterpreted the ordinance after its adoption to permit business owners to install trailers maintained in any condition on non-public school property, even if it is not a construction site.

Included in the amended UDO definition of a dwelling are several classifications of housing. The revised housing classifications consist of:

a.) Garden Apartments, described as "a dwelling unit which is designed for, and occupied exclusively as, the residence of one (1) Housekeeping Unit…above or below, or adjacent to them in the same building;"

b.) Multi-Family Dwelling, described as "two (2) or more dwelling units located within a single building, with a private entrance to each dwelling unit;"

c.) Single-Family Detached Dwelling, described as "a building containing one (1) dwelling unit…not attached to any other dwelling by any means and is surrounded by open space or yards;"

d.) Townhouse, described as "a dwelling which is designed for, and occupied exclusively as, the residence of one (1) housekeeping unit…attached by means of one (1) or more common fire walls to two (2) or more other townhouse dwellings in the same building. Townhouses may not have any other dwellings above or below them within the same building."

According to the amended UDO definition of a townhouse, any unit in excess of two units will be considered a multi-family dwelling.

e.) Two-Family Dwelling, described as "a building on a single lot containing two (2) dwelling units, one unit above the other, each of which is totally separated from the other by an unpierced ceiling and floor extending from exterior-wall-to-exterior -wall, with a common stairwell exterior to both dwelling units and having separate private entrances to each dwelling unit;" and

f.) Duplex, described as "a building on a single lot containing two (2) completely side-by-side dwelling units, each of which is totally separated from the other by an unpierced wall extending from ground to roof with both dwelling units and having separate private entrances to each dwelling unit."

Both Duplex entrances must face the street to meet the amended UDO definition. Front-to-back dwelling units will not be considered to be a duplex under the amended definitions.

For almost two years, Lakewood developers benefited from the committee's adoption of an ordinance that failed to also redefine all classifications of housing built in the township.

In August 2008, committeemen adopted an ordinance requiring annual inspections of most properties in town that have a basement that can be rented out as an apartment. Because the 2008 ordinance did not define all housing in town affected by the inspection ordinance, Lakewood developers no longer had to apply to the Lakewood Zoning Board of Adjustment for a density variance as long as the proposed housing met certain architectural specifications and had a basement.

The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Division of Codes and Standards established Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) under New Jersey Administrative Code Title 5, Chapter 21. Adopted January 6, 1997 and last revised on June 15, 2009, the state RSIS classifies housing into the following classifications of dwelling units:

a.) Single-Family Detached Housing, described as "any single-family detached dwelling on a single-family lot;"

b.) Townhouse, described as "attached multi-family dwelling units where the only separation between dwelling units is vertical;"

c.) Apartment, described as "a dwelling unit located within the same building with at least three other dwelling units;"

d.) Low-rise Apartment, described as "an apartment in a building that has one or two levels (floors);"

e.) Mid-rise Apartment, described as "an apartment in a building that has more than two levels (floors) and less than ten levels;"

f.) High-rise Apartment, described as "an apartment in a building with more than ten levels (floors);"

g.) Mobile Home Park, described as "generally, trailers shipped, sited, and installed on permanent foundations and in areas that typically have community facilities, such as recreation rooms, swimming pools and laundry facilities;"

h.) Retirement Community, described as "residential units similar to apartments and condominiums, usually restricted to adults or senior citizens, and located in self-contained villages. Special services, such as medical, dining and retail facilities, may be available."

i.) Recreational Home are described as "dwellings usually located in a resort containing local services and complete recreational facilities. These are often second homes used by the owner or rented on a seasonal basis."

Applications for residential development in Lakewood must meet the state's minimum RSIS. Under the township's UDO, that has not always been the case.

In 2006, Fairways resident William Hobday sued Lakewood Township, the Lakewood zoning board and Somerset Development LLC. Hobday alleged in his lawsuit that the zoning board granted so many variances and waivers to the applicant of a neighboring site that approval of the application amounted to a zoning change, which only the township committee has the legislative authority to enact.

Hobday charged that the application, filed by Managing Partner Raphael (Ralph) Zucker of Somerset Development LLC, did not meet the state's minimum RSIS.

Hobday prevailed - at his expense to litigate the case and at taxpayer expense to defend it.

Three years earlier, the Fairways Homeowners Association first sued over a similar application filed by the same applicant and also prevailed - at homeowners' expense to litigate the case and at taxpayer expense to defend it.

Under the Lakewood UDO, developers are only required to meet the minimum RSIS standards for parking, which is based on the number of bedrooms in the classified dwelling unit. Since dwelling units in most Lakewood developments now being constructed are sold or rented to families with more members than the number of bedrooms in the dwelling unit, the developments provide inadequate parking for residents.

The problem is further complicated by the growing number of investors that have purchased single-family homes throughout Lakewood and rented them out to as many tenants as possible, creating multi-home buildings in neighborhoods not zoned for them.

In 2007, Lakewood Township settled a lawsuit filed in 2006 by the Lakewood Landlords Association, a group of property owners that sought to block unscheduled inspections of single-family homes they illegally rented out as multi-family dwellings. Residents living in rental homes owned by the landlords parked their vehicles on the lawn because there was insufficient parking for all vehicles on the property driveway or street, blocking access by emergency response vehicles.

Some property owners have paved over the front lawns of rental homes in order to provide overflow parking.

The committee's failure to legislate changes to the UDO that exceed the minimum requirements of the state RSIS benefits special interests, not the public committeemen were elected to represent.

On November 25, 2009, Moshe Zev Weisberg, chairman of the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC) posted a comment on The Lakewood Scoop that acknowledged the township was attempting to address the parking problem, but not by legislating a solution.

"(The LDC does) pay for PUBLIC parking lots in the downtown area and ‘developers’ may benefit from that along with shoppers and other stores," Weisberg wrote. "We have bought and paid for about five lots. As you may or not know, the downtown zoning allows for building without regard to providing parking (sick!). As a result both businesses and customers run into major parking issues. That is the plain and clear truth. Until that is changed – by the Township Committee – not us, we need to live with that reality."

The LDC oversees the township's Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) program.

Weisberg is not just a township official. He is also a member of the Vaad, a political interest group that makes endorsements for elected office. Because the Vaad can coerce a large bloc of Orthodox Jewish voters to elect endorsed candidates, the Vaad is also an influential lobby group.

In 2007, Weisberg spoke in opposition to an ordinance that would have required annual inspections of all rental properties in town - not just those with basement apartments. The ordinance would have ensured the public's safety, as well as compliance with RSIS for neighborhoods in which the rented dwelling unit was located. The annual rental inspections would have been conducted at the property owner's expense, not at taxpayer expense.

Although four of the five committeemen were either Lakewood landlords or had business relationships with Lakewood landlords, none of the committeemen abstained from voting on the ordinance, which was defeated after Weisberg publicly questioned its fairness prior to the vote.

No member of the Lakewood Township Committee has been elected to the local governing body without the Vaad's endorsement since John Franklin was elected in 1993.

Franklin stepped down before the end of his 3-year term to accept the position of Lakewood Public Works Director.

In 2006, a reporter for NJ News & Views asked Mayor Marc (Meir) Lichtenstein why he appointed so many developers, attorneys and special interests, which included members of the Vaad, to the advisory committee that made recommendations to revise the master plan and the UDO.

Lichtenstein said their appointment was intended to reduce the number of applicants that had to ask for zoning board variances to develop residential properties.

Ironically, the more housing that township developers build or redevelop under the township's Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) program, the more money the state will have to pay in property tax relief to new homeowners that buy them.

Local taxpayers that shop in Lakewood's UEZ will be subsidizing a larger portion of the state's cost.

According to a discussion at the December 8, 2009 LDC meeting, LDC officials pledged to dedicate half-a-cent of each 3.5 cents collected on the dollar in reduced state sales tax for property tax relief.

Last year, the state Urban Enterprise Zone Authority (UEZA), which oversees the LDC, appropriated approximately $1.8 million in project funding for past property tax relief that was not paid to the state.

According to 2009 Mayor Robert Singer, a dual office holder that also represents Lakewood as its state senator, Governor Jon Corzine said half the amount taken would be returned to the LDC.

That didn't happen, according to the December LDC discussion. Weisberg said the UEZA kept all of the money taken for property tax relief.

Although the state approved the UEZ program to bring jobs and commerce to designated municipalities, Lakewood has increasingly used UEZ funding to finance projects that reduce availability of public information to those who work.

A decade ago, the township, the LDC and the Lakewood Industrial Commission funded the first Lakewood Township Web site. In 2005, committeemen approved funding requested by Mayor Charles Cunliffe for a more active Web site, which included current and archived meeting agendas and meeting minutes for the township committee, planning and zoning boards, LDC and the industrial commission.

Last year, a new administration hired a new Web master - Ben Heinemann of BP Graphics.

Heinemann is not just a local businessman. Like Weisberg, he is also a member of the Vaad, a political interest group and lobbyist.

Heinemann's services as Web master are funded through township property taxes, the sale of township land and a reduced state sales tax collected by members of the township's UEZ.

According to documents obtained from the LDC through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), Heinemann signed an agreement with the LDC on April 13, 2009 - after he told NJ News & Views he was already responsible for maintaining the township Web site.

For weeks after the January 1, 2009 Reorganization meeting , the Web site's monthly calendar of meetings and events was not updated. The township also stopped providing a printed copy of the monthly calendar at the municipal building reception area.

Committeeman Menashe Miller, the liaison to the Web site in 2009, did not return calls for comment.

Under terms of the agreement, BP Graphics was tasked with negotiating Web hosting services by a third party, not providing them. The cost of Web hosting services was to be paid or reimbursed by the township.

"Following review of the above-noted proposals received, it was determined that BP Graphics, Inc., 315 Fourth Street, Lakewood, NJ 08701 was deemed qualified for appointment as a vendor of the Lakewood Development Corporation to perform such services as noted above," the agreement stated.

The agreement was signed by Heinemann and Weisberg - a conflict of interest since both are government lobbyists that belong to the same political interest group.

In 2006, Heinemann proposed that the township exchange a municipal parking lot across the street from his office building, which his business had outgrown. As part of the exchange, Heinemann proposed to build a parking garage inside his new office building that the township would maintain at taxpayer cost.

Area merchants opposed the plan.

In 2007, Heinemann proposed to exchange his office building for a portion of the municipal parking lot adjacent to the municipal building on Third Street. He offered to relocate LDC offices and the Lakewood Heritage Museum to his current office building after he moved out of it. Heinemann proposed that the township build a 6-story parking garage on another portion of the municipal building parking lot adjacent to the Inspection Department, which would be connected to his new office building by a separate walkway or tunnel.

That same year, Mayor Raymond Coles signed an affidavit included with a Smart Growth Downtown Parking Solutions Grant stating that no lobbyist had influenced the township's decision to apply for the grant or stood to profit from it, even though Heinemann had given a presentation at a committee meeting to discuss his proposal to the public.

Under the proposed Smart Growth Plan adopted by the township committee, municipal offices would be relocated to the proposed Cedar Bridge Town Center and the municipal building block would be redeveloped for retail use - not necessarily additional parking since the UDO does not require downtown property owners to provide it.

Weisberg as well as Heinemann is an unregistered government lobbyist. Although Weisberg is Chairman of the LDC, he is employed as Director of the Lakewood Community Services Corporation (LCSC), which receives UEZ funding through the LDC Job Link program.

A reporter recently contacted Weisberg for comment at his place of employment. A voicemail recording identified the business as Higher Education Management, not the Lakewood Community Services Corporation.

According to Ocean County online tax records, the LCSC is headquartered in a residential property located on Carey Street that is owned by Beth Medrash Govoha, described by many sources as the world's largest rabbinical college.

Aaron Kotler, also a member of the Vaad, is Director of Beth Medrash Govoha and shares the same affiliation as Weisberg and Heinemann as associates of a political lobby group with government influence from which its members benefit.

In 2009, Heinemann was contracted to be paid a total of $30,000 for his services as township Web master.

On October 21, 2009, BP Graphics submitted a proposal for redesigning the township Web site.

Instead of proposing that all ordinances be posted online, estimated two years ago at a cost of $5,000, or that the current UDO be posted on the Web site so that anyone could view it anytime, or that an e-mail address be provided for each committee member and all township officials, Heinemann proposed a redesign of the site's appearance in accordance with his stated budget - $6,000.

Heinemann also proposed creation of "a more engaging, dynamic (possibly Flash) header for the 'home' page," which he said would "enable the usage of multiple images and messages, while the animation keeps the attention of the end user."

Committeemen can provide visitors to their township's Web site with better value for taxpayer dollars.

Instead of hiring professionals to contract out Web design services that do little to inform the public, Lakewood's public and non-public school children could intern as the township's Web master. The experience would prepare students for a career upon graduation at little to no cost to taxpayers.

Adults with experience in Web design and Web hosting could supervise students' work. The arrangement would give adults supervisory experience they could put on a resume.

The cooperative venture would enable two generations of job applicants to find employment with a company or for themselves, while achieving the goal of the UEZ program - to bring commerce and jobs to town.

More importantly, it would also remove the township Web site from political influence and censorship.

No matter how it is disseminated, information consumed by the public is only as useful as it is complete and accurate.

In "Passages from the Life of a Philosopher," published in 1864, Englishman Charles Babbage, the father of the programmable computer, described his reaction after members of both houses of Parliament asked whether his proposed difference engine could compute a correct result using incorrect data.

Babbage wrote, "On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?'"

For Babbage, the answer was self-evident.

"I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question," he told readers.