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RE 4/11/2007 By BOB THOMAS Staff Writer Former Lebanon Township mayor named CHESTER TWP. former state smart growth leader is moving into the hot seat of one of the most controversial planning councils in New Jersey. The New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council unanimously voted on Thursday, April 5, to name Eileen Swan of Lebanon Township to lead the agency. Swan, a former Highlands Council member, had stepped away from the agency to head the state Office of Smart Growth. She returns to the council as a $121,000 a year successor to Executive Director Dante DiPirro, who left for an unspecified private position. Chester Township Mayor Benjamin Spinelli, currently counsel for the Office of Smart Growth, is expected to be named director, replacing Swan. I bring my passion and commitment, said Swan, who will begin work on Monday, April 16. It's a different perspective. I'll be listening to what people say. My work as executive director will be to get the information they need to the council to let them make the decisions, she said. Freeze Sought Swan also worked as an environmental consultant on Gov. Jon Corzin's transition team, but said she has no information on whether he will enact a construction freeze in the Highlands. Various environmental groups have asked Corzine to consider a moratorium on construction in the Highlands area until completion of the master plan. his style to study an issue thoroughly, get many opinions and then make a decision, she said. But I have no information on what his decision may be. Highlands chairman John R. Weingart said the council would take no official stand on a moratorium. Our position is to implement the act and make it clear by providing information if they want our input, Weingart said. That didn't sit well with Kurt Alstede, a council member from Chester Township, who said the agency should have a position. We have the experts, we have the data, Alstede said. Certainly, we should have a seat at the table. The issue has been taken out of the council's hand by environmental extremists, said the council's vice chairman, Jack Schrier, of Mendham Township. Schrier said a review of current active projects in the Highlands showed no significant threats to the environment, except one court ordered development. Schrier was expansive in his praise of the selection of Swan. She is a marvelous person, he said. Schrier said 16 resumes from well qualified applicants, some from out of state, were submitted to the search committee, which pared final choices to three. Swan will begin work at the North Road headquarters on Monday, April 16. Assistant council director Thomas Borden has been serving as interim executive director. Eileen's experience at the state and local level make her ideally suited to guide us through agency coordination and the municipal conformance phases, said Weingart. Prior to those tasks, Swan must oversee completion of the council's draft master plan. The extended comment period on the draft ends May 11, after a series of eight public hearings and almost 1,000 specific responses from municipalities, county planners, environmental groups and members of the public. Swan said she has followed the work of the council since joining the Office of Smart Growth 14 months ago. I think the staff has done an excellent job. It's our job to ensure adoption of working regulations, she said. Weingart said a large amount of work remains before adoption of a final plan. No deadline has been set for final adoption, but council members and staff have indicated they will remain open to corrections and comments after the May 11 deadline. Swan said that since she's been in Trenton she has developed a network of contacts in various state agencies such as the departments of environmental protection and transportation. She called coordination between state agencies vital to the implementation of the goals of the council. We need to be open and transparent in our relationships with municipalities and county planners, Swan said. We will work with the municipalities to assure that they have the information to make the choice to conform to the regulations. Development is sharply limited in the Highlands preservation area. Each of the 88 towns in the peripheral, Highlands planning area will have the choice of opting in to the regulations once the master plan is finalized, or remaining separate. For those municipalities that opt in, conformance of local ordinances is required to align municipal planning with the goals of the Highlands planners. Swan said the use of transfer development rights (TDRs) will be a primary tool to repay landowners for the value of property affected by development prohibitions. The council has launched a $1 million incentive program to encourage municipalities outside the protection zone to accept use of TDRs. Grants up to $25,000 are available for municipalities interested in absorbing TDRs, which would allow greater density for construction in their communities, in exchange for monetary payments to the municipality transferring the rights. Swan was a mayor, Township Committee member and Planning Board member in Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County. She also served as liaison to the Hunterdon County Agricultural Development Board, responsible for farm preservation and open space acquisition. She managed land issues for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and is the recipient of the state Department of Environmental Protection award for Government Leadership in Land Preservation. ©Recorder Community Newspapers 2007 |