To the Editor:

I lived in Newtown for 30 years, sold real estate for 25 years, and served on the Legislative Council for 22 years. Though I do not live there now, both of my boys still live and work in Newtown. Something has happened here. It used to be Nicer In Newtown. It used to be zoning was intended to protect the property value of neighborhoods surrounding impending zoning applications, and all town properties for that matter. Now P&Z is considering a project which may destroy the character and values around Taunton Lake and fragile ecosystem of Taunton Lake itself. There is now an application in front of P&Z for 29 non-age-restricted condos to front on Mt Pleasant and have access to Taunton Lake. This doubles the lakefront properties in one project. The lake is a one-of-a- kind area in Newtown encompassing about 30 homes around the lake. Folks who live there love and protect the area with great care. In fact, they were out in great numbers opposing this proposal at all the hearings.

When, as a realtor, I went before P&Z with Art Spector (the "dean" of planning in Newtown for years) as the principle voice, I always did very careful homework to be sure what I was presenting would benefit the neighborhood, the area, and the town. This is certainly is not true of the condominiums. Traffic on Mt Pleasant at 4 o'clock or any time that Route 84 is tied up and the cars detour off at Exit 9 become bumper to bumper on Mt Pleasant and all through town. Adding 30-plus cars or construction vehicles would exacerbate a problem already in need of mitigation.

Many of the homes on the lake are of high value; there are very few lakefront properties. The town recognized these facts by instituting a much higher tax rate on "waterfront" property. How do the condos support the values of those homes? How does the density of the project support the zoning surrounding the lake and the lake ecology, the nearby neighborhoods? A project with this many questions is a project which really should not be approved. This project is not consistent with the neighborhood whatsoever. How the town could have rezoned this parcel is a question. This is not good spot planning or zoning. If approved this might set a unfortunate precedent. I have to ask, is this Nicer In Newtown?

Melissa Pilchard

Hanover Road, Newtown and Golfview Drive, Little Egg Harbor, N.J.         December 28, 2016