On Jan. 22, the Upper Freehold Planning Board met to continue its public hearing on the changes for the township’s master plan. I was very upset to see what appeared to be unenthusiastic reactions from several Planning Board members to the public’s support of 4-acre zoning and the clustering of larger tracts of land to create large open spaces.

On Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., the same Planning Board will meet to hear testimony on the proposed master plan. I hope as many of us as possible will attend this meeting and tell the appointed members that we don’t want our town destroyed.

When I asked the question about how much our property taxes would increase if 2-acre zoning was approved as part of the new master plan, I was surprised to learn that the Planning Board had not yet considered the costs. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that more development means higher municipal costs. We’ll need more town employees with increased costs because probably more people will have to be full-time employees. At some point, we’ll have to pay for a municipal police force because we’ll have more residents. Close your eyes and imagine a town that will look more like suburban New Jersey than a rural community with a country code. If a few town farmers have their way, you’ll see street lights and sidewalks spreading rapidly throughout our town. I am grateful that one Planning Board member restated my questions, and the mayor indicated that it was important to address my concern about property tax increases. I hope the Planning Board will have answers at the next meeting.

Recently, two people ran for council on a platform which included supporting open space. As a person who joined the majority of our town to vote for the establishment of an open space tax and the expansion of the farmland preservation tax, I hope that our new councilman and the re-elected deputy mayor will hold to their campaign slogans and support preserving open space and farmland.

Preserving open space doesn’t mean creating recreation lands. And preserving farmland without preserving any open space is unacceptable. Preserving open space means just that … protecting environmentally sensitive lands and making them forever green. That’s watersheds, aquifer lands, forested lands, and streams. In particular, I challenge Deputy Mayor Bill Miscoski to follow through on his promises to support open space, and I hope he will let us know how he expects to protect open space without 4-acre zoning.

This master planning process is the key to saving our town from being overrun by overdevelopment. It’s a shame that a vocal minority can try to force sprawl on our town.

We pay our property taxes and wonder why a few large landholders think they can burden the rest of us with large developments and increased property taxes. The rest of us have rights too! Four-acre zoning is already a compromise position. To lower the proposed the acreage number from four is a farce and only benefits developers and not town residents.

The people of Upper Freehold have spoken and said we don’t want our town to look like a sprawling part of suburbia. I hope the Planning Board will join in our vision for keeping Upper Freehold the beautiful and rural community it is.

Sue Kozel is a resident of Upper Freehold