Saturday, August 06, 2005

Klockner Woods update

Tuesday, a state appeals court ruled that open space preservation, to avoid development, is a legitimate reason to take land through eminent domain rules. Mount Laurel in Burlington County had a tract that the township tried to take away from a developer for open space. They initially lost in court but this week their appeal was won.

Now, remember that Hamilton Township declined to go to court on Klockner Woods, because they thought they might lose- so they're overpaying for the land instead. Well, lookee here, it probably would have gone the same way as it eventually did for Mt. Laurel. Hamilton says they'll study the decision. Let's hope they start quickly; now there less than 4 weeks to go until the Sept. 1 deadline to begin the purchase. Hmmm.

Hamilton has until Sept. 1st to start paying on their $4.1 million deal, but they've yet to hire an engineer to complete a new survey as requested by the state DEP. The town council may vote on it on Aug. 16th (with only two weeks left to go at that point.) Hmmm.

Why are they dragging their heels?

No comments: