JACKSON To gather feedback on a significant Green Acres Diversion for the Township’s Jackson Mills Compost Facility and Camp Joy, officials have set up a public scoping meeting.
The Office of Transactions and Public Land Administration (OTPLA) of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has a Green Acres Program encumbrance on both properties.
The Jackson Mills Compost Facility (Block 2201, Lot 2) at 334 Jackson Mills Road required the diversion of 8.091 acres of parkland as part of an after-the-fact requirement in order to continue operating the Compost Facility. The 0.510 acres of the former Camp Joy (Block 5806, Lot 4), which is situated at the intersection of North New Prospect Road and Larsen Road in Jackson, are also included in the parkland diversion.
The hearing is scheduled for August 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jackson Township Municipal Building, located at 95 West Veterans Highway.
In 1998, the State House Commission authorized a diversion to enable the Jackson Board of Education to receive a portion of the Camp Joy parcel for the construction of Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School.
Following construction, the Green Acres Program discovered that a sizable retaining wall and related slope stabilization for the school building had been built outside of the state-approved diversion area.
When the initial Camp Joy acquisition and 1998 diversion occurred, the right-of-way width was 49.5 feet (24.75 feet from the centerline), however current township tax maps show that the New Prospect Road right-of-way (County Road) is 60 feet wide (30 feet wide from the centerline).
The Crawford Rodriguez Elementary School, which currently occupies the land, will be able to continue operating as a public education facility and give the County an unencumbered public right-of-way for future infrastructure improvements if the major diversion and compensation associated with the former Camp Joy property are legalized.
The Jackson Mills Compost Facility Diversion and the Camp Joy Diversion will be resolved through a planned land swap that would compensate Green Acres with a total of 43.01 acres of replacement land (based on the 5:1 ratio of 8.601 acres diversion).
Jackson has the option to pay monetary compensation for the diversion regions, at least 10 times the market worth of the diverted land.
All interested parties are welcome to attend and take part in the scoping hearing, according to a township release. The Township of Jackson can be contacted by email at [email protected] or by phone at 732-908-4767, 95 West Veterans Highway, Jackson, NJ 08527, with written comments regarding the proposed disposal.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Transactions and Public Land Administration, Public Land Compliance Section, 401 East State Street, 7th Floor, Mail Code 401-07, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420, Attention: Thoby Jeanty, or [email protected], should receive a copy of any comments. This diversion request will be open for public comment until August 26 or during the scoping hearing.
