Weather: A mix of clouds and sun. High 66F
-Zmanim Fast of Taanis Esther begins tomorrow morning at 5:46 AM shkiah is 7:04 pm fast ends 7:45 PM or after hearing megilah
- Senate passes bill to make daylight savings time permanent starting November 2023. This will have major ramifications for zmanei tefilah in the morning
- Covid cases are ticking up again in Israel, China and Europe some countries reevaluate the rules before restrictions are lifted.
- Oil drops again, now more than 25% below recent high
- Bingo with extended Purim hours open till 1:00am
- Aisle 9 mini market will be opening their second location in Jackson after Pesach it is located at the newly constructed shopping plaza on E, Veterans hwy corner of Hope across from Wawa (LNN). There are several stores open including Snip It barber shop.
APP Has a new Lakewood reporter with a front page story today about Lakewood area residents who are saving lives in Ukraine and the heter to be mechalel shabbos for pikuach nefesh "To save Ukrainian lives, Shabbat rules can be broken for Orthodox Jewish Chamber The Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce used Bitcoin to purchase large buses and ambulances in Poland to help evacuate people from Ukraine".
- LPD in conjunction with National Chaplains association publish a post about Purim the customs traditions and what to expect see Here
WSJ Poll: Half of Americans doubt Biden will run in 2024.
- Snow fell in Eretz Yisrael today with light flurries in Yerushalyim and heavier snow in the surrounding mountains
- Lakewood Planning board meeting tonight 6:00 pm at the township municipal hall watch Live stream
Here Agenda
HERE on the agenda:
A correspondence that is fast tracked from the April Meeting for the board to vote on the Resolution adding 2 properties on Pine street to the Cedarbridge development giving it 35 year tax abatements Committee Resolution 2022‐137 & Ordinance 2022‐015 – Amendment to the Cedarbridge Redevelopment Plan to include Block 855.01 Lots 19 & 26.01 in the non‐condemnation area in need of redevelopment
- Yeshiva gets 3 Million to construct day care center: In April of 2021 the Lakewood township passed a
resolution expressing Support For the efforts of Beth Medrash Govoha to increase childcare opportunities, especially for those low income families who are eligible for childcare block grants vouchers; and seeking federal funding in the fiscal year of 2022 appropriation process to support this important project. and Construction Of A Day Care Facility To Provide Childcare Slots To Facilitate Upward Mobility And Economic Development In The Township. Local Lakewood Reporter Onejerseyschoor on Twitter "Included in the $1.5 trillion federal funding bill which the Senate approved late Thursday night is a $3 million grant for Lakewood's Beth Medrash Govoha to "fund the acquisition of land on which to construct a nonprofit day care center with 20 classrooms. According to the bill's text, the center will accept CCDBG vouchers as part of an effort to "ensure the new facility serves low-income families and allowing families to access quality, affordable childcare close to their home, school and/or place of work."
Special Feature Shiur given by Horav Michoel Sorotzkin shlit"a on עמלק וזרעו – מרפידים ועד בני ברק A comprehensive journey throughout entire תנ"ך in reference to עמלק & his descendants in all generations באגדה ובהלכה
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/0rYYYrxvFrw
Gotta wonder why is adding lots to cedarbridge tax free zone being fast tracked? Total insanity, anyone on the planning board who recommends is being paid off.
ReplyDeleteThe Board's review of proposed Ordinance 2022-015 to expand the Cedarbridge tax free benefits to 2 new parcels NOT in the Cedarbridge Park area and NOT in need of redevelopment is crazy!
DeleteIn fact, a brand-new building at 1515 Pine St. has already been constructed on the site so there's no longer any redevelopment on the site to be done.
The Planning Board had originally scheduled the review for their April 5th meeting, but since residents have become informed of the scheme, they decided to fast track the recommendation process by pushing it up to tonight's meeting.
Certain powerful interests are concerned about the expected outcry from the public as more taxpayers are made aware of the unfair and unjust deal to forfeit 35 years of property taxes on prime location properties that are no different (and certainly not worse) than any other property in town. Other developers constructed class A buildings throughout the town, but they are only eligible to request 5 year abatements, not 35. For some mysterious reason, this developer is getting special treatment.
Also, the Board will not allow public comments on this "correspondence" item on tonight's agenda. It used to have a public portion to discuss anything general related to Planning, but it got rid of that part of the meeting a while ago.
The board members want to be able to play dumb and say they didn't have full knowledge of what they were voting on. The committee will then blame their approval votes on the planning board's recommendation. They've all played this game before, and the taxpayers end up being the losers and shelling out the newly-lost tax revenues.
How dare they!? There is no reason to give away our tax revenues to developers – especially for this one because Regency Development already built his office building at 1515 Pine St. Furthermore, Block 855.01 is not in any way an underperforming area which might necessitate this ridiculously huge incentive to spur development so these parcels can contribute to the township’s tax base.
DeleteOn top of the huge tax-breaks they plan to give him, they are ALSO providing him with a total of 66 free municipal parking spaces (on 2 separate parcels) for the use of his commercial tenants. The committee attempted to rationalize in their Ordinance (2020-017) that the Lakewood First Aid and EMS building can also benefit from the extra parking (48 spaces on this parcel), though it already has more than enough and there’s zero need for this creative land giveaway.
The committeemen are working overtime to please this highly influential property owner because their political lives are at stake if they don’t properly arrange for all his revenue generating needs – for properties that he purchased only very recently.
They also state in the new Ordinance 2022-015 that “due to evolving land use conditions, it has become necessary” to do this. This language is a classic example of unclear political talk that might sound all official but means nothing. What they’re really saying is that since a certain Mr. property owner now came into possession of these parcels, their condition has evolved, and they now require an upgrade to relieve them of their long-term tax burden. All other landowners in Lakewood, including those with brand new class A construction, are not entitled to this special treatment.
Their Ordinance claims to rely on a so-called “Investigative Report” submitted by the property owner’s “professional” for the purpose of making it look real, but anyone that actually reads it will immediately see the several omissions, mistruths, and other misleading statements throughout the screed.
One of the two lots (26.01) is on a totally different block not across the street from Cerdarbridge. It has frontage on East Spruce St. and no frontage on Pine St. It is behind the OEM/EMS building. However, since the 5 Committee-men voted to grant this lot’s owner “cross access easement” to use the newly planned parking area on OEM’s lot 17, (which does front Pine St.) they now consider lot 26.01 it to also have “frontage on Pine St” and quite amazingly it is now deemed eligible to be included in the Cedarbridge zone and receive its coveted tax-free benefits. In fact, the owner renamed his address from the original 1483 EAST SPRUCE STREET to be now known as 1515 PINE STREET so he can take advantage of the property tax benefits, currently up for a vote.
This guy might be patting himself on the back for his creativity, but we should not be picking up the expensive and unjust tax bill he’s leaving for us to pay.
The planning board should vote to not extend the cedarbridge designation to the two new lots. Why would they want to enable stealing from taxpayers?
DeleteNewly created lot 26.01 and lot 19 touch by a corner only, in the real world the are not connected, only theoretically with geometry.
DeleteWhy is nobody investigating the owner of lots 26.02 & 26.03. How can we forget how he was begging the board for development right for the back of the lots so that he and his family can live behind the yeshiva... but now instead of faculty housing it's an office building. Every other long lot on that block has a huge backyard, but this lot gets an office building and now has the chutzpa to ask for a 35yr tax break!!!!
DeleteThis ordinance is insane. No wonder our taxes keep going up up and away. Just stop the bleeding and special favors already..
DeleteAnon 2:48,
DeleteAfter that applicant received his development approvals, he flipped it to the current owner for one dollar so he can build a daycare center. But the new guy doesn't want to work so hard in a highly regulated business and a new commercial office building not that far from the Cedarbridge Park could bring in more money for less work.
However, the real kicker is his sneaky plan is to now make his recently purchased properties even more lucrative by getting 35 YEARS OF FREE PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENTS for an already-constructed building.
And if that's not enough of a slap in the face of the taxpaying residents, he also got our committee members to give him another 66 parking spots for his building's use. That's 48 spots on a portion of OEM's lot 17, and an additional vacation of the paper street America Avenue to the east of his lot 19 (purchased in June of last year) to create 18 more parking spots.
It gets even worse, but I'm trying to avoid making your head spin from the sheer insanity of the elaborate scheming that's been going on while many of us have been sleeping. But don't fool yourself into thinking that the committee members aren't aware of exactly what they've been doing all along..
Can someone please ask a committee member for their side, so we can at least hear it?
DeleteMaybe they have some more info that we don't know.
the developers gave shochad to the board by increasing their salaries now they will do anything in return. undermining the tzibur who they represent
ReplyDeleteThe planning board members are:
ReplyDeleteMoshe Neimann
Justin Flancbaum
Bruce Stern
Eli Rennert
Jacob Meyer
Yair Stern
Helmreich
Let’s watch if they vote for this giveaway scam.
I don't know from where you get your info, but here is a list of the Lakewood Planning Board
DeleteMayor Raymond Coles
Justin Flancbaum
Committeeman Albert Akerman
Moshe Raitzik
Eli Rennert
Hector Fuentes
Yechiel Herzl
Levy Isaacson
Jacob Meyer
Bruce Stern
Moshe Neiman
Yechiel Herzl
Yair Stern
Shlomo Pichey
Anon 4:35,
DeleteThe information you posted is from the township website which is inaccurate. For instance, Mr. Herzl is no longer associated with the Board. The township manager's office conceded that a lot of personnel information on the Advisory Boards & Commissions page needs to be updated. So, you can stand corrected.
Fuentas hasn't been on the Board for some time. Herzl and Isaacson are gone too. Coles and Akerman have never sat in on a meeting and always tell everyone that they don't get involved in Planning board members.
DeleteThe above comments about lot 855.01/26 should be posted by itself, and not buried as a comment.
ReplyDeleteThe public should imitate the truckers
ReplyDeleteVoting is ineffective on its own
The rich get richer they dont have enough so now they squeeze the tax payers for more getting abatements while lakewoods poor pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the severance pay wasn't big enough.
DeleteThe lot owner's "professional planner" is telling the Board that the owner will still be paying PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) so he won't be getting totally free property taxes. But she avoided explaining how much the actual payment will be, because it's such a pittance of what the taxes should be that it's a joke. It's such a crazy good deal that it's what they call "a steal of a deal"!!
DeleteMr. Stern (which used to work for BMG and its Cedarbridge arm under its old management) made a motion to approve the tax abating ordinance. Mr. Flancbaum seconded and made an argument in its favor. Mr. Meyer voted Yes as he does on everything that he doesn't understand.
DeleteMessers Helmreich, Neimann, Pichey, and Yair Stern voted No.
Adam Pfeffer asked if the board would reconsider the motion at the next meeting, because the committee members need to blame this deal on the planning members. This whole deal stinks so bad that they need a scapegoat.
That's terrible, he should be getting the lot tax free entirely.
DeleteWhy is a planner giving an opinion about taxes, that should be lawyers expertise. Is a planner qualified to give a professional opinion about taxes?
Remember this is only a recommendation, the township committee is not bound by this. The nerve to ask to reconsider at next meeting. I'd like to see his pfeffers reaction if someone ask the board to reconsider an approval of he client at next meeting.
DeleteWhen flancbaum is pushing for someting, you know it's a favor for someone