Monday April 7, 2014 - Township Board of Supervisors meeting at Township bldg. at 7:30pm
Tuesday April 8, 2014 - Friends of Laurel Wood meeting at Laury's Station Fire Hall at 7:00pm
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Friends of Laurel Wood Status Update
At the March 11 meeting, the assembled group decided as an organization to change to a reactive rather than proactive approach, and let the Township take the lead on requiring the developer to follow the ordinances.
One key consideration in the discussion was the state of the finances. Even though there was overwhelming approval at the Friends of Laurel Wood organizational meeting to agressively move forward, only a limited number of families are attending the meetings, and the amount of funds contributed has been disappointing. Only 58 families have contributed some amount of funds toward our effort. We paid the engineer that we hired to study the slope issue, and have partially paid our attorney fees. Although Tom has worked for a reduced pay scale we still owe him $1,790 and we only had $ 739 in our check book on March 11. Clearly we can not move agressively forward without securing additional member support.
A second consideration is that the Township is aware of the issues, and the Supervisors have been asking the same questions as we have. They are also concerned about the sewage issue, rain run off, and the other variances that have been requested. To date they have held fast that the developer must fulfill the requirements of the ordnance to control development. Since the Township continues to support the ordnance we must ask ourselves if our continued proactive legal and engineering approach is worthwhile.
The consensus of the members present at the meeting after considering both of these issues is that we should move from a proactive approach to a more reactive one. We will:
• Stay organized and active,
• Work with the neighborhood to raise funds to pay our current bills and prepare for future actions,
• Attend Township meetings to show our continued interest, keep pressure on the Townhship, and to monitor for changes, and
• Be prepared to act when the developer files an new plan and if the Township appears willing to give in on some of the variances.
We need each of you to assist in this. Please attend the meetings that you can, but especially talk to your neighbors and strongly urge them to participate and donate funds. We have asked $100 initially and $20 per month thereafter, but understand that everyone may not have that much available. If you can contribute please contribute what you feel is right for you even though it may not reach that level.
One key consideration in the discussion was the state of the finances. Even though there was overwhelming approval at the Friends of Laurel Wood organizational meeting to agressively move forward, only a limited number of families are attending the meetings, and the amount of funds contributed has been disappointing. Only 58 families have contributed some amount of funds toward our effort. We paid the engineer that we hired to study the slope issue, and have partially paid our attorney fees. Although Tom has worked for a reduced pay scale we still owe him $1,790 and we only had $ 739 in our check book on March 11. Clearly we can not move agressively forward without securing additional member support.
A second consideration is that the Township is aware of the issues, and the Supervisors have been asking the same questions as we have. They are also concerned about the sewage issue, rain run off, and the other variances that have been requested. To date they have held fast that the developer must fulfill the requirements of the ordnance to control development. Since the Township continues to support the ordnance we must ask ourselves if our continued proactive legal and engineering approach is worthwhile.
The consensus of the members present at the meeting after considering both of these issues is that we should move from a proactive approach to a more reactive one. We will:
• Stay organized and active,
• Work with the neighborhood to raise funds to pay our current bills and prepare for future actions,
• Attend Township meetings to show our continued interest, keep pressure on the Townhship, and to monitor for changes, and
• Be prepared to act when the developer files an new plan and if the Township appears willing to give in on some of the variances.
We need each of you to assist in this. Please attend the meetings that you can, but especially talk to your neighbors and strongly urge them to participate and donate funds. We have asked $100 initially and $20 per month thereafter, but understand that everyone may not have that much available. If you can contribute please contribute what you feel is right for you even though it may not reach that level.
Proposed Plans Status Update
There is no change in the status of the planned Over-55 Retirement community because the Township did not accept the plans submitted by the developer in January.
The Township stated that the plans as submitted where incomplete in that it:
- Did not comply with the ordnance requirement to have a municipal run sewer system.
- That the rain runoff collection ponds were undersized.
- Other non-disclosed issues.
The developer is working to
resolve the problems and another plan should be submitted shortly.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
March Meetings
Monday, March 3, 2014 - Township Supervisors Meeting at the Township Hall at 7:30pm
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - Friends of Laural Wood meeting at Laurys Fire Hall at 7:00pm
March 25, 2014 - Planning Commission Meeting at Township Hall at 7:30pm
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - Friends of Laural Wood meeting at Laurys Fire Hall at 7:00pm
March 25, 2014 - Planning Commission Meeting at Township Hall at 7:30pm
February Newsletter
As expected the developer of the Over 55 Retirement community submitted a new plan in January 2014. This plan was similar to the last one submitted in 2013 called the “by right” plan but contained some new twists. The most significant is the addition of 5 units in the land recently added to the property on the north-west side of the corner of Overlook and Clearview roads. Other minor changes were also added to maximize the number of units that could be constructed. The good news is that they are no longer proposing the multistory buildings they started out with. The bad news is that they continue to try to use variances to the Township Ordances to cut corners and get around the hard part of the rules. The fact that the Township rturned the application to them to correct some of the problems has given us time to consider what we want to do. Generally speaking the current residents have two choices on how to influence the new development. We could do nothing except attend Township meetings and state our intersts. To date the Township Supervisors have leaned our way and have required the developer to live up to the rules. To what extent this continues or if a deal is made to grant some of the requested variances is yet to be seen.
The second is for us to join in the discussion through lawers and expert testiomony and have a greater influence on the discussions. Results are not guaranteed, but by showing the effort and interest it is more likely that the Supervisors will stick to the ordnance as written.
In our organizational meeting the majority of residents spoke for legal intervention. Everyone was enthusistic that we should hire the lawyer and experts. However contray to that desire the funds required to pay for the lawyer and expers have not been forthcomming. We have struggled to collect enough money to pay our bills. It is not possible for us to move forward with the strategy of engaging legal help unless we collect funds to pay the bills. The Officers can not authorize additional legal work unless there is a reasonable expectation that we can pay for the work we request.
It is time to make decisions on where we are going. We can talk at length about impacts on property values, the possibility of the smell from the sewer system, additional traffic and ways to minimize the impacts. The talk is good, but without speaking with our wallets it is just talk. For those that have contributed to the organization thank you, and please consider a monthly amount. For those that have not contributed we need your financial support to make anything happen. It is you that will make or break this organization. Without sufficient support we are done. We suggest an initial contribution of $100, followed by smaller monthly amounts. If you can not afford that amount we understand but request you contribute what you can afford.
The Township has given us some time to organize. We either take advantage of the opportunity, properly fund the organization and move forward in the discussion. Or we keep together to pay our existing bills, and use the organization to communicate what happens. It is yours to decide and to show your decision by financial support.
The second is for us to join in the discussion through lawers and expert testiomony and have a greater influence on the discussions. Results are not guaranteed, but by showing the effort and interest it is more likely that the Supervisors will stick to the ordnance as written.
In our organizational meeting the majority of residents spoke for legal intervention. Everyone was enthusistic that we should hire the lawyer and experts. However contray to that desire the funds required to pay for the lawyer and expers have not been forthcomming. We have struggled to collect enough money to pay our bills. It is not possible for us to move forward with the strategy of engaging legal help unless we collect funds to pay the bills. The Officers can not authorize additional legal work unless there is a reasonable expectation that we can pay for the work we request.
It is time to make decisions on where we are going. We can talk at length about impacts on property values, the possibility of the smell from the sewer system, additional traffic and ways to minimize the impacts. The talk is good, but without speaking with our wallets it is just talk. For those that have contributed to the organization thank you, and please consider a monthly amount. For those that have not contributed we need your financial support to make anything happen. It is you that will make or break this organization. Without sufficient support we are done. We suggest an initial contribution of $100, followed by smaller monthly amounts. If you can not afford that amount we understand but request you contribute what you can afford.
The Township has given us some time to organize. We either take advantage of the opportunity, properly fund the organization and move forward in the discussion. Or we keep together to pay our existing bills, and use the organization to communicate what happens. It is yours to decide and to show your decision by financial support.
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