Laughable Laws

Bizarre rules often remain part of many states’ regulations
Ocean City, NJ makes the news

By BRANDY S. CHEWNING
Texarkana Gazette
Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:19 AM CST

Wacky laws are still around—those bizarre rules and regulations that either slipped in under the radar or are long overdue for retirement. Many of them are so old that there is no way to validate if they are still active. Several Internet sites dedicated to the endless job of listing goofy stuff suggest they remain in existence.

Because it is nearly impossible to research these laws and their points of origin, the following list may not include them all. Buried deep under decades of dusty papers and signatures, here are the crown jewels of our government’s foibles.

In Texas, a proposed anti-crime law would have required criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.

The Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.

And everything is bigger in Texas, including the ego. The Lone Star state even created a program attempting to control the weather.

In Texas, you can also be legally married by introducing someone as your spouse.

“Texas recognizes a type of marriage referred to as ‘marriage without formalities,’” said Ross Peavey, an assistant of state Rep. Stephen Frost, D-Atlanta. The requirements for this arrangement are for the couple to have “agreed to be married, have represented to others that you were married, and have lived together in (Texas) as husband and wife.”

A representation of marriage can be as simple as filing joint income tax returns.

Arkansas once had a statute stating the Arkansas River could rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock. There are city ordinances in the state saying dogs cannot bark after 6 p.m., and making it illegal for a person to sound a vehicle horn at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9 p.m.

Arkansas once had a statute stating the Arkansas River could rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock. There are city ordinances in the state saying dogs cannot bark after 6 p.m., and making it illegal for a person to sound a vehicle horn at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9 p.m.

In Arkansas there is also a time limit on voting, stating that ballots must be marked in five minutes. State Rep. Steve Harrelson, D-Texarkana, said the law is intended for efficiency.

“I doubt most voters even realize it to be a state law,” he said.

“I’ve never heard of the five-minute rule being enforced and I highly doubt it would ever be an issue.”

Horse tripping events are not to be promoted in Oklahoma. Tattooing is also banned there, but that law is in the process of being reversed, seeing as how tattoo parlors are a thriving business in that state.

Louisiana is very strict regarding practical jokes. Pranksters can be fined up to $500 for ordering a pizza to be delivered to a friend without them knowing. It’s known as Louisiana RS 14:68.6, governing the “unauthorized ordering of goods or services.”

Also in Louisiana, biting someone is considered simple assault. But biting someone with false teeth is upgraded to aggravated assault.

In Nevada, you can still hang someone for shooting your dog on your property. But if you need extra cash in Las Vegas, don’t try pawning your dentures. It’s a crime.

The wackiness also takes to the highways. This was probably enacted regarding vehicles in tow, but a little clarification would be nice. California has a law stating no vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 mph.

Alabama actually had to make it illegal for the driver of a vehicle to be blindfolded.

In Illinois, you can be arrested for vagrancy if you don’t have at least a dollar bill on your person. Ironically, vagrancy can draw a $201 fine in Mississippi. Panhandlers in Memphis, Tenn., are required to have a license before they can beg and although it’s free now, the permit used to cost $10.

In Oregon, $10 is the fee required to have a burglar alarm. What’s worse, the permit application says: “Without a permit on file, law enforcement may decline to respond to alarm!”

There are various laws prohibiting humans from bothering frogs, rabbits, squirrels and skunks. But that’s OK, because in response, Tennessee is cracking down on the disturbance created by frogs. They can’t croak after 11 p.m.

In Joliet, Ill., roosters wishing to crow must step back 300 feet from any residence. Hens are only required to back up 200 feet to cackle. And in Maryland you can’t take a lion to the movies.

California and Ohio forbid setting a mouse trap without a hunting license, and although it is legal to hunt bears in Alaska, it is illegal to wake one to take its picture.

Don’t try to help out in New Hampshire. Anyone caught picking up trash, building a bench for a park or cleaning up the beach can be fined $150 for “maintaining the national forest without a permit.”

No more than six females may live in a residence in Maricopa County, Arizona. In Ohio the limit is five, and in Missouri it’s down to four. Those laws track from the old days when so many females under one roof was considered a brothel.

In San Diego, homeowners with Christmas lights still on their houses after Feb. 2 may be fined up to $250. In Maine, lights must be down by Jan. 14. What’s odd is the law that states slot machines are prohibited in outhouses in Bexley, Ohio.

Many of these are holdovers from the old blue laws, designed to enforce moral standards. The concern for ethics generally centered around Sunday, and strictly govern the activities of that day. The outlawing of liquor sales on Sunday is a blue law. Several states have repealed blue laws, deeming them unconstitutional. Many others just aren’t enforced, but just as many are still upheld. Here are some examples of laws and ordinances invented over the years:

Many states have made it illelgal to hunt on Sundays, as well as sell cars. New Jersey honors that special day by outlawing pinball. And there’s apparently some tie between sins and hamburger—at least to the belief of the northerners. Ocean City, N.J., made it unlawful to sell raw hamburger on Sundays, and hamburgers can’t be eaten that day in Minnesota.

Many old world laws refer only to and severely limit women. In Maryland, a woman is not allowed to go through her husband’s pockets when he is asleep—she must wait until he wakes up. Montana has made it a felony for a woman to open mail addressed to her husband.

According to a Michigan law, a woman’s hair legally belongs to her husband, and she cannot cut it without his permission. Even an Arkansas law once stated female teachers who cut their hair short would not receive a pay increase.

“During the (legislative) session, there are normally a few dozen bills dealing with repealing outdated and antiquated statutes,” Harrelson said.

But you can also wonder how some of these even came to be in the first place. There are regulations on what can be transported across state lines, but in one state, a person may not cross state lines with a bird atop his head.

Lehigh, Neb., has outlawed doughnut holes, and Nebraska bar owners can only sell beer if they are simultaneously cooking soup. It is illegal in two states to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

Several legal goofs are clearly misprints, or just poorly worded. For example, In Elko, Nev., every person who walks a city street is required to wear a mask. An Idaho law says if a man gives his sweetheart a box of candy, it must weigh at least 50 pounds. And a city ordinance in Belvedere, Calif., reads: “No dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash.”

But there are some laws we would probably be grateful to have enforced. In Port Arthur, Texas, obnoxious odors may not be emitted in an elevator. And North Carolina passed a statute making it illegal to sing off key.

Connellsville, Pa., passed a law stating pants could not be worn lower than five inches below the waist. And we’ve all gone to see a movie and gotten stuck behind someone wearing a tall hat, blocking our view. The state of West Virginia punishes that offense with a fine from $2 to $10.

Wacky State Laws

10. You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows. California
9. It is a crime for barbers to threaten to cut off kids’ ears. Indiana
8. The cut-off age for riding motorcycles is 88. Idaho
7. Women must have written permission from their husband to wear false teeth. Vermont
6. A pickle is not ruled a pickle unless it bounces. Connecticut
5. It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling. Arizona
4. Residents are required to pay property tax on their dogs. North Carolina
3. It is illegal for cab drivers to reach out and pull potential customers into their cabs. New Mexico
2. Defacing a milk carton is punishable by a $10 fine. Massachusetts
1. Boogers may not be flicked into the wind. Alabama

Tiny N.J. towns are resisting push for them to merge
By Paul Nussbaum
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Mon, Jan. 22, 2007

In a state known for its small municipalities, the smallest of the small are two Camden County boroughs that don't have enough residents between them to fill a school bus.

Tavistock (population 8) and Pine Valley (population 19) are historic relics, golf clubs posing as towns. Each has a mayor and borough commissioners, a clerk, solicitor, tax assessor, tax collector and school district, though neither has any schools. Pine Valley even has a police force of seven.

New Jersey, home of the nation's highest property taxes, is contemplating consolidating some of its 566 municipalities, 616 school districts and 486 local authorities to try to save money. Gov. Corzine has urged voluntary mergers and service-sharing, while some legislators are calling for mandatory consolidations.

The issue returns to center stage in Trenton today as the Senate is scheduled to consider a bill to establish a commission to recommend which local governments should be consolidated.

Twenty-six municipalities in New Jersey have fewer than 1,000 residents and an additional 49 have fewer than 2,000 residents. (After Tavistock and Pine Valley, the smallest municipality is Walpack Township in Sussex County, with 35 people, followed closely by Teterboro in Bergen County, an industrial community adjacent to Teterboro Airport, with 50 residents.)

In South Jersey, some of the other smallest municipalities are Cape May Point (241 residents) and West Wildwood (448) in Cape May County; Fieldsboro (522), Washington Township (621) and Wrightstown (748) in Burlington County; Hi-Nella (1,029) and Audubon Park (1,102) in Camden County; and Newfield (1,616) in Gloucester County.

The towns are so small they often have trouble finding enough candidates to run for school board or borough council, and most of their school districts exist only to send students to out-of-town schools. But they are as protective of their domains as any metropolis.

Leaders of 14 small towns and school districts rallied in Metuchen earlier this month against the efforts to compel merged services.

"I don't see where we'd save anything" by consolidation, said John Ott Jr., who spent 18 years as mayor of Pine Valley and is now one of three borough commissioners. "What would we lose? Our independence. And name me one place where big government is efficient."

The state's tiniest two towns are early 20th century creations, both focused on the golf courses that are their raisons d'etre. But in other ways, they're very different.

Pine Valley Borough, created in 1929, is home to Pine Valley Golf Club, whose course is often rated the best in the world. In fact, Pine Valley Borough is Pine Valley Golf Club. Only the 1,000-plus golf club members are allowed to own one of the 22 homes in town, and the only way to get to be a member is to be invited. The only road into town is unmarked.

Tavistock Borough, by contrast, is a bustling place, because its country club is a favorite venue for banquets, weddings and meetings for neighboring communities. Much of Tavistock's appeal is that it serves liquor, while nearby Haddonfield, Collingswood and Haddon Heights don't. The borough was created in 1921, carved out of Haddonfield by golfers who wanted to dodge the borough's ban on Sunday golfing.

New Jersey had a boom in new towns in the early 20th century, as growing townships were sliced into smaller fiefdoms, with their own governments and schools. At least 97 of New Jersey's municipalities were incorporated between 1900 and 1930.

"We do need to start looking at some of our smaller communities... because services could be provided in a more efficient manner," said Camden County freeholder director Louis Cappelli Jr. But he noted that "once they're established, it's hard to get them to go away."

Assemblyman Robert Gordon, a Democrat from Fair Lawn who was a member of the joint legislative committee on consolidation, said little towns such as Pine Valley and Tavistock had to be willing to consolidate or share services or property tax relief is a pipe dream.

"If we continue on the course we're on, New Jersey will become unaffordable for a lot of people," Gordon said. He said he remained "cautiously optimistic" the Legislature would pass measures to give towns incentives to consolidate. But he said he recognized there were "major impediments."

"Which police chief gives up his job? Which fire chief? Which mayor?"

Cappelli said Tavistock and Pine Valley were not typical examples of small municipalities because of their golf course connections. He said, though, he saw "no reason for Pine Valley to have its own police force... that makes no sense."

Efforts at consolidation are a tough sell, because local communities of any size, are loath to lose their control, independence or identity. The last successful merger of two municipalities in New Jersey was in 1952. Cappelli said, "New Jersey residents want to maintain their local identity while reducing government spending. And without sharing services, it's hard to achieve property tax relief."

Pine Valley, with property valued at $34 million, collected $552,680 in taxes last year, about 80 percent of that from the golf club. It spent $411,907, with its biggest expense a police force of four full-time and three part-time officers. Its school district is responsible for five students, who attend nearby parochial and public schools. The deputy borough clerk - a former manager of the golf club - doubles as the school board secretary and the special-education coordinator. The borough received $94,470 in state aid, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.

The police force is necessary, Ott said, to protect the golf course from vandalism and to look after homes that sit empty when residents winter in Florida.

Tavistock, whose property is valued at $16.5 million, collected $255,044 in taxes last year. It had a municipal budget of $107,800, and received $44,153 in state aid, according to the state Department of Community Affairs. Its school district has one student, who attends Haddonfield schools. Tavistock paid Haddonfield $16,195 for police, fire and other services.

Tavistock's longtime mayor is George Buff 3d, scion of the founding family of Penny Plate Inc., a pie-plate manufacturer in Cherry Hill. His fellow commissioners are fellow country club member John Aglialoro and club greenskeeper Thomas Grimac. Buff did not return phone calls.

"They're a part of our community, even though they maintain their own identity," Haddonfield Mayor Letitia Colombi said. "They pay us a stipend for police and fire, their sewage goes through our sewer lines."

George Wolf, the general manager of the country club and a former Tavistock resident and borough commissioner, said that "if other boroughs were able to do what we do, combine and share services, it would be more efficient. If they all have to have their own police and fire forces, it becomes expensive. Why can't they consolidate forces to eliminate layers of service?"

Cappelli said some other small municipalities were also sharing services; he cited the merger of police forces by Collingswood and Woodlynne and by Audubon and Audubon Park. In Ocean County, Long Beach Township provides police dispatching services for Beach Haven borough.

But most New Jersey municipalities, of all sizes, have shown little interest in consolidating. Pine Valley's Ott said small towns weren't likely to go away: "We like it this way."

Even as he defended the little borough's independence, though, Ott complained of the cost of state-mandated requirements.

"There's too much government in New Jersey," he said.

Shore rentals heat up as home sales cool off
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — Fewer people may be buying a piece of the shore, but more are renting part of it.
Real estate businesses are reporting a surge in rentals even as home sales decline along the coast. An increase in rentals as high as 40 percent has been recorded by some real estate companies. Most are seeing a jump in the 10 to 15 percent range.

“We're up about 10 percent from this time last year and up another 10 percent from the year before that,” said Frank Shoemaker, of Berger Realty on Asbury Avenue.

Shoemaker said the company did about 9,500 rentals last year and has a full-time rental department manned seven days a week.

It used to be that the same agents who sell homes did all the rentals. But now many firms are establishing separate rental departments in which the agents do only rentals and are extremely responsive to their clients' needs.

Many firms are finding the rental business keeps them afloat as home sales lag. Rentals are up 15 percent for Farina & Boeshe Real Estate Co. in Sea Isle City, and David Farina said it has been a blessing.
“The strength of our rental business is an oasis any time you get a down market with sales,” Farina said.

One of the larger increases is at the Homestead Real Estate Co., a West Cape May firm aggressively seeking rental clients.

It wasn't always this way. Owner Dagmer Chew didn't branch out into the rental business until four years ago.

“I resisted the rental business. I was forced to do it by economics,” Chew said.

Chew said she was expecting a 10 percent surge in rentals between September and January, and rentals rose 40 percent from the same time period a year ago.

“If we didn't have this rental department, we'd be hurting,” Chew said.

The business of shore rentals is changing. In the past, potential vacationers would drive to the shore during the coldest time of the year to begin scouting for a home to rent. Plenty of this still goes on, but vacationers can also take advantage of the Internet.

“We have an online virtual tour of every property. Family members across the country can take the virtual tour and pick out a house,” Chew said.

She remembers starting in real estate more than a dozen years ago when long weekends, such as Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, were a time to haul renters around to look at properties.

“I'd take a beach bucket of keys, get in the car and schlep a bunch of people around. It's all automated now,” Chew said.

The automation also helps getting all the paperwork done. The renter can drive to the real estate office when they arrive in town and pick up the key. Homestead offers linen service, a property manager to respond to any problems, maps of the area, quick credit card payments and other amenities. Like many firms, they now have a rental department with agents who do only rentals.

“We don't call them tenants anymore. We call them guests,” Chew said.

Better rental properties and improved services could be part of the upswing. There could also simply be more vacationers renting as shore hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts and other accommodations get replaced with condominiums. Some say the most recent upswing may be as simple as warm weather at the start of this winter.

Ron Giordano, of Atlantic Beach Realty in Stone Harbor, said more people are checking out properties on the Internet and visiting the shore to look at properties.

“For the rentals, the people have been showing up. Usually January can be a slow month, especially when the Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs,” Giordano said.

There is another upside to rentals, noted Greg Giancola, of Caldwell Banker Sol Needles Real Estate in Cape May.

“It's part of our salary and also part of the people maybe buying in the future,” Giancola said.

Rentals are up at Caldwell Banker 10 to 15 percent, and each new renter is a potential buyer as the market for home sales thaws. In fact, many real estate agents say the market over the past several weeks is showing signs of life. It's too early to tell, but maybe a surge in rentals is a good sign for the future

Shore rentals heat up as home sales cool off
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007
Press of Atlantic City


OCEAN CITY — Fewer people may be buying a piece of the shore, but more are renting part of it.
Real estate businesses are reporting a surge in rentals even as home sales decline along the coast. An increase in rentals as high as 40 percent has been recorded by some real estate companies. Most are seeing a jump in the 10 to 15 percent range.

“We're up about 10 percent from this time last year and up another 10 percent from the year before that,” said Frank Shoemaker, of Berger Realty on Asbury Avenue.

Shoemaker said the company did about 9,500 rentals last year and has a full-time rental department manned seven days a week.

It used to be that the same agents who sell homes did all the rentals. But now many firms are establishing separate rental departments in which the agents do only rentals and are extremely responsive to their clients' needs.

Many firms are finding the rental business keeps them afloat as home sales lag. Rentals are up 15 percent for Farina & Boeshe Real Estate Co. in Sea Isle City, and David Farina said it has been a blessing.
“The strength of our rental business is an oasis any time you get a down market with sales,” Farina said.

One of the larger increases is at the Homestead Real Estate Co., a West Cape May firm aggressively seeking rental clients.

It wasn't always this way. Owner Dagmer Chew didn't branch out into the rental business until four years ago.

“I resisted the rental business. I was forced to do it by economics,” Chew said.

Chew said she was expecting a 10 percent surge in rentals between September and January, and rentals rose 40 percent from the same time period a year ago.

“If we didn't have this rental department, we'd be hurting,” Chew said.

The business of shore rentals is changing. In the past, potential vacationers would drive to the shore during the coldest time of the year to begin scouting for a home to rent. Plenty of this still goes on, but vacationers can also take advantage of the Internet.

“We have an online virtual tour of every property. Family members across the country can take the virtual tour and pick out a house,” Chew said.

She remembers starting in real estate more than a dozen years ago when long weekends, such as Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, were a time to haul renters around to look at properties.

“I'd take a beach bucket of keys, get in the car and schlep a bunch of people around. It's all automated now,” Chew said.

The automation also helps getting all the paperwork done. The renter can drive to the real estate office when they arrive in town and pick up the key. Homestead offers linen service, a property manager to respond to any problems, maps of the area, quick credit card payments and other amenities. Like many firms, they now have a rental department with agents who do only rentals.

“We don't call them tenants anymore. We call them guests,” Chew said.

Better rental properties and improved services could be part of the upswing. There could also simply be more vacationers renting as shore hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts and other accommodations get replaced with condominiums. Some say the most recent upswing may be as simple as warm weather at the start of this winter.

Ron Giordano, of Atlantic Beach Realty in Stone Harbor, said more people are checking out properties on the Internet and visiting the shore to look at properties.

“For the rentals, the people have been showing up. Usually January can be a slow month, especially when the Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs,” Giordano said.

There is another upside to rentals, noted Greg Giancola, of Caldwell Banker Sol Needles Real Estate in Cape May.

“It's part of our salary and also part of the people maybe buying in the future,” Giancola said.

Rentals are up at Caldwell Banker 10 to 15 percent, and each new renter is a potential buyer as the market for home sales thaws. In fact, many real estate agents say the market over the past several weeks is showing signs of life. It's too early to tell, but maybe a surge in rentals is a good sign for the future

High-speed chase starts in Longport, ends on O.C. beach
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007

OCEAN CITY — Colleen Weiler was down at the shore early Saturday morning hanging out with some friends at her father's Wesley Avenue home when the last thing she ever expected to happen suddenly did happen.

A speeding SUV — Weiler guesses it was going about 85 mph — flew down the narrow boardwalk with a slew of police cars behind it. The Chevrolet Suburban, running with no rubber on a front tire and leaving a cloud of smoke as the steel wheel hub chewed into the boardwalk, blew right through the metal railing where the walkway ends, she said. The Chevy flew through the air before landing on the beach several hundred yards away, she said.

Weiler said the whole thing took about two seconds.

“It was a lot of action, really fast. We couldn't believe what we saw. We were like, ‘You've got to be kidding.' This doesn't happen in Ocean City in January,” Weiler said.

Weiler witnessed the very end of a high-speed police chase that began in Longport at 3:08 a.m. and ended abruptly at 3:14 a.m. It had been only six minutes since Longport Patrolman Frank Culmone first saw the car, now identified as stolen from Somers Point, driven by construction worker Gerald E. Bell, 35, of 638 Wesley Avenue, police said. Culmone saw the car speed by him and blow through a stop sign, and suspecting a drunken driver, he followed, police said. Patrolman Jason Parratt in another cruiser joined the pursuit.

Longport Police Sgt. Bill Hewitt said once the officers put on their flashing lights, Bell really hit the gas. He blew right through a closed toll booth at the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, running right over the orange cones, police said.
“They shattered because it was cold. When he went through, there were orange pieces of cones flying everywhere,” Hewitt said.

The Longport patrolmen said they followed Bell into Ocean City, where they saw him hit a curb and a tree, blowing out the front passenger side tire; Ocean City responded but was still catching up to the chase as Bell entered the Boardwalk at Fifth Street, police said. The Longport offices had to make a decision.

“On a summer night, we wouldn't have gone on the boards. If you know Ocean City at 3 o'clock in the morning, there isn't anybody out there,” Longport police Sgt. Stephen Cianci said.

Weiler said there had been joggers on the boardwalk as late as 2 a.m. but by 3 a.m. all was quiet. Weiler, who lives in Bucks County, Pa., and her friends were still awake.

“It's a weekend down at the shore with friends,” Weiler said.

The Suburban went from 5th Street to 23rd Street, to where the boardwalk gives way to a drop of several feet and then the beach.

“He got airborne,” Cianci said.

Police said Bell, who was not hurt, fled on foot but was arrested a short time later hiding near a bulkhead. He's now locked up at a cell at the Longport station facing charges of drunken driving, eluding police, reckless driving, hindering apprehension, being an unlicensed driver and numerous other motor vehicle violations. Charges for the car, which was reported stolen, and receiving stolen property, for some items found in the car, are also expected. Bell also could be held responsible for damage to the car and the Boardwalk, police said.

“There's a groove that goes down the entire boardwalk,” said Mark Miedama, who was outside with his wife, Dana, right after the accident.

“The sirens woke us up. I thought it might be a fire,” Dana Miedama said.

With three children in the house, she quickly locked the doors in the Wesley Avenue home because she didn't know whether the driver had been caught yet.

“Of course, at 3 in the morning you panic,” Dana said.

While Dana Miedama was locking the doors, Weiler and her friends were on their deck buzzing about what just happened.

“It was just too fast. It was like the speed of lightning. It was nuts,” she said.

The Miedamas say the police did a great job.

“Everybody says nothing ever happens here, but when we get something, we get something big,” Hewitt said.

Cianci said it was the type of chase you see on television, although there is no aerial footage of the event.

“It was over before a helicopter could start an engine,” Hewitt joked.

Bail for Bell had not been set as of Saturday evening. Once that is done, he is slated to be transferred to the Atlantic County jail.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com

Somers Point tells planners to end redevelopment activity near hospital
By MARTIN DeANGELIS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7237
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

SOMERS POINT — City Council voted Thursday to stop the city's formal redevelopment activity in the neighborhood around Shore Memorial Hospital.
In an unusually short meeting in front of a small crowd, the council agreed to tell the city's Planning Board to stop a redevelopment study that a different council ordered the board to start in August 2005.

That study was born at a raucous meeting in front of an overflow crowd after a state judge ruled that the city's previous redevelopment planning had been tainted by potential conflicts of interest on the part of three city officials — Mayor Dan Reilly, Carmen Marotta, a former councilman, and Robert McVeigh, the then-Planning Board chairman.

Superior Court Judge Steven P. Perskie said the problem was that the three had taken part in votes or discussions on redevelopment plans that could have affected the value of property that they or close family members owned. He ordered the city to throw out more than a year and a half of formal work on the process and start it over.

The Planning Board has held a long series of hearings on redevelopment since then, but the council has gone through almost a complete transformation in the same period, with six of the seven members either being voted out of office, resigning their seats or not running for re-election.

The city has also spent much of the time since then in court proceedings and/or lawsuit-settlement negotiations with Shore Memorial and its chosen development partner, Bay Avenue Redevelopers. Residents have protested the legal and planning fees the city has run up in the effort to put together a redevelopment project along Bay Avenue, in the hospital's neighborhood.
The current council's vote Thursday night tells the Planning Board to “cease immediately their process” that was started by the August 2005 redevelopment-restarting resolution.

To e-mail Martin DeAngelis at The Press:MDeangelis@pressofac.com

O.C. Council approves parking lot land swap
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007
Press of Atlantic City

OCEAN CITY — City Council approved a land swap Thursday with a downtown property owner so it can expand a parking lot.
Council agreed to swap neighboring city property with Suzanne Mathes, whom the city had threatened last year with eminent domain. Mathes and her husband, Jan, planned to rebuild their home in the 700 block of Central Avenue when they got a letter from the city threatening to seize their land if they refused to sell.

The couple will get a city lot about 12 percent larger than theirs along with as much as $20,000 for expenses they incurred in the swap.

Initially, council planned to pay the Matheses about $13,000 for legal expenses, a water connection fee and storage costs related to the months-long postponement of construction. But the Matheses asked for additional compensation for architectural and attorney fees and a title search.

“Any fees we have asked for are for retracing our steps because of the situation we were put in,” Suzanne Mathes said.

“On Oct. 15, we were ready to build. We got the letter Oct. 16 about eminent domain,” her husband added. “We didn't have lawyer fees and a title search.”
Council agreed to the $13,000 and will pay as much as $7,000 more in fees yet to be determined. The city also will remove the asphalt on the city lot and pay to install a new vinyl fence.

Some members of the public criticized the city last year for threatening to use eminent domain over a parking lot.

“I think they're owed an apology,” Councilman Jody Alessandrine said.

He and Councilman Roy Wagner urged their peers unsuccessfully to discuss the matter behind closed doors.

“This is a very unorthodox way of negotiating,” Wagner said.

Councilmen Gregory Johnson and Keith Hartzell thanked the Matheses for their cooperation in helping the city expand much-needed downtown parking.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:MMiller@pressofac.com

Upper wants to disperse affordable-housing units
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6712
Published: Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Press of Atlantic Citgy

UPPER TOWNSHIP — The township wants to keep developers from building affordable housing where it is not wanted.
The Township Committee introduced an ordinance Monday to amend a measure it passed a month ago. The plan would require that developers meet their affordable-housing obligation within the new developments they build rather than singling out properties elsewhere in the township.

The township acted with speed last year to ensure all future construction applications will include this new affordable-housing requirement. The Township Committee adopted its fair-share plan in December while acknowledging likely changes such as the one it considered Monday.

At last month's hearing, neighbors complained that the plan could heap unwanted low-cost housing on particular neighborhoods while letting builders reap riches in their new developments.

Township resident Ruth Wolforth on Monday reiterated those concerns.

“We should spread these units out across the entire township,” she said. “One area should not have to suffer the entire brunt of this.”
The township's Planning Board formed a committee to examine the specifics of how the township will meet its legal obligation to provide affordable housing.

The township is under state mandate to provide 340 new affordable homes. The township can meet as much as half of that number by paying another town to meet the obligation. The township also has public land it can use to provide affordable homes.

The township is prioritizing age-restricted development to keep the financial burden off its school system.

Last month's ordinance put the onus of responsibility for future affordable housing on developers of new residential or commercial properties. Developers would have to provide one unit for every 25 new jobs created by commercial development. Likewise, they would have to provide one affordable unit for every eight new homes.

The township has created a new trust fund for affordable housing. Developers in some cases can pay the township to meet the developer's housing obligation. Developers who build less than eight units or whose properties create fewer than 25 jobs will have to contribute financially toward affordable housing.

A public hearing on the changes is scheduled for Feb. 13.

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:Miller@pressofac.com

N.J. plans to spray for gypsy moths
Bacteria, chemical part of proposal to control infestation
By MEGGAN CLARK Health/Science Writer, (609) 272-7209
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, January 4, 2007

TRENTON — Ravenous caterpillars will be a costly burden to municipalities throughout southern New Jersey in 2007, as the state tries to combat a mushrooming gypsy moth population.

The gypsy moth caterpillar infested more than 125,000 acres of New Jersey forest last year, compared with just 5,141 in 2003. State officials blamed two consecutive dry springs, which stunted growth of a fungus that kills the caterpillars.

On Wednesday, the state Department of Agriculture announced a plan to spray 78,000 infested acres with Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria that causes caterpillars to become paralyzed, stop feeding and die of starvation or disease. The department also has proposed using Dimilin, a synthetic pesticide that has been criticized by environmentalists, on some of the land.

Municipalities can opt out of the state spraying program, but if they want in, they have to pick up the tab — about $40 per acre in 2006.

One of the hardest-hit municipalities, Upper Township in Cape May County, has 2,335 acres on the DEP's list and will have to pay $112,000, or $48 per acre, Township Engineer Paul Dietrich said. A federal grant could cover half the cost, but it's unclear whether that money will be available.

“We haven't had this much acreage required in a long time,” Dietrich said. “Over the past five or six years, we've had 400 or 500 acres in different locations, but never that much.”
Typically, he said, gypsy moth caterpillars confine themselves to forested tracts, but last year they made their way into well-populated areas. As the caterpillars inundated residents with droppings, residents inundated township offices with complaints.

“We had a lot of people complaining about the gypsy moths. ... They're eating their trees, they're leaving a lot of droppings, and they're a nuisance,” Dietrich said.

Folks also were complaining in Absecon, where 440 acres are targeted for spraying.

“The first thing (residents) saw was the leaves being eaten away and then they saw residue on the ground, and I was told at that point that by the time you see that kind of defoliation, it's too late to spray,” City Administrator Terry Dolan said. “The mayor and the City Council instructed me to contact the state to see if we could become eligible for spraying in 2007.”

He said Absecon will find the money to pay for it “one way or another.”

“From what I know about this whole thing, it gets progressively worse year by year, if you don't address it,” he said. “It is our hope that by spraying in 2007, we can limit the damage in the years to come.”

In Commercial Township, where 509 acres are on the state's spray list, Deputy Clerk/Administrator Jud Moore said complaints were minimal in 2006.

“As far as I know we did not receive any,” he said. “We'll probably talk about it (spraying). ... Usually, when we sprayed in the past, residents were grateful to see us spray, and we want to control our gypsy moth population, so that's what we'll be doing. If there's an outcry from the public, the governing body will look into it.”

There has been some outcry already from environmental groups, including New Jersey Environmental Federation, New Jersey Audubon Society, Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and the New Jersey Sierra Club. About 20 groups recently signed a letter expressing concern about the use of Dimilin.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dimilin is a “restricted use” pesticide that kills caterpillars by interfering with their normal molting process. It also can affect aquatic crustaceans and immature insects that molt. To apply Dimilin, the Department of Agriculture would need both state Department of Environmental Protection and local approvals.

Lynne Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, said Wednesday that the use of Dimilin has not been approved by the DEP, and “even if we get approval to use Dimilin, towns make the ultimate determination of what will be used in their town, if anything.”

In order to legally spray, municipal governing bodies must advertise the plan, hold a public hearing and declare the gypsy moth a “public nuisance,” Richmond said.

The gypsy moth is native to Asia, Europe and Africa, but it was imported to Medford, Mass., in 1869 by French scientist Etienne Leopold Trouvelot, who hoped to breed a more hardy silkworm.

The experiment was a failure, but Trouvelot did succeed in letting the ravenous critters escape from his home, and by 1889 they had eaten nearly every leaf in Medford. They have made their way steadily across the United States ever since, reaching New Jersey in the 1920s. In 1981, according to the USDA, they defoliated a record 12.9 million acres — an area larger than Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.

The caterpillars stripped about 800,000 acres in New Jersey in 1981, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Gypsy moths' most deadly natural enemy is a fungus, Entomophraga maimaiga, a Japanese import that penetrates the caterpillars' bodies, multiplies and releases new spores to attack other caterpillars, killing its host in the process. But the fungus needs abundant moisture to propagate. Scientists believe dry weather in 2005 and 2006 sent the gypsy moth population spiraling up.

Two years of successive defoliation can kill a healthy tree, but many residents are as worried about the “yuck factor” as they are about defoliation. After all, picnicking, hiking and other outdoor activities are no fun when the forest is literally crawling with caterpillars.

“Aside from the eating of their trees ... when they call in to us, I think (people) were more upset that there were so many of them and they were disgusting,” Richmond said.

To e-mail Meggan Clark at The Press:Meggan.Clark@pressofac.com