Rivals claim land defender's title

Wednesday, October 29, 2003
By JAN BARRY
STAFF WRITER

RINGWOOD - To hear the borough's Republicans tell it, they are responsible for the fact that three-quarters of this Highlands community is protected state forests and reservoir lands, and only they have a smart growth plan for holding sprawl at bay.

To hear their Democratic challengers tell it, the Republican-controlled Borough Council hasn't spent a municipal cent to purchase open space bought with state, county, and private funds and has instituted policies that encourage developers to build houses on forested slopes in the headwaters of the Wanaque Reservoir.

That's the gist of the clashing campaigns in a bitter battle over four seats on the seven-member council.

"Over the past few years, the struggle for control of Ringwood's government has been plagued by single-issue extremists," states a Republican brochure for incumbents Jerry Holt, Charles Larsen, and Allan Van Eck, who are running with former Councilman Antonio Torchia. "We need honest and responsible people to govern our town. Not people with a hidden agenda."

The Democrats have retorted with a brochure titled "The Mud Stops Here," featuring a photo of silt flowing into a street from a construction site. "Vote for the only candidates," the brochure says, "who oppose steep slope development," namely Democratic incumbent Wenke Taule and her running mates, Joanne Atlas, Thomas MacAllen, and William O'Hearn.

When the volume is turned down, the campaign also finds the two camps addressing the usual long-standing worries: The Republicans say they will continue to hold the line on the municipal portion of property taxes, and the Democrats vow to tightly control municipal expenses and work to hold down school taxes by controlling housing development.

But it's that last issue - how much of such development to allow on Ringwood's ridges - that makes such issues as taxes, recreation, traffic, and water supplies pale by comparison.

The Republicans say they have "done a good job protecting the environment and controlling growth." The Democrats say they would adopt ordinances to restrict construction on steep slopes and to protect municipal and home wells from pollution.

The debate is fueled by the outcome of a special election last year; Taule won a one-year unexpired term, ousting Torchia from the seat he was appointed to when Walter Davison resigned to become borough administrator.

"I'm running for office to keep Ringwood safe, beautiful, and affordable," Torchia said at a candidates' night, reiterating the Republican theme that Democrats would cut off a source of new ratables by rejecting new housing if they win a council majority.

Addressing the Democrats' arguments that new housing can cost more for school and other services than it pays in taxes, Torchia said, "I welcome people with children into this town. I love children. Bring your children to Ringwood."

"I love children, too," said Taule, a mother of three.

"Then stop attacking them!" Torchia said.

While the Republicans try to frame this election as a referendum on their claim to provide "Ringwood's families a uniquely wonderful place to live," Democrats hope to spur a voter revolt against Republican actions. A major controversy is over Planning Board approval in January of a 39-home subdivision on a ridge overlooking West Brook, a trout stream feeding the reservoir.

Holt, as mayor, and Van Eck, as council liaison, voted for the project. The Democrats oppose the project, which is back before the board after an error was found in listing the site in the application.

"If ever a site should be placed in the public trust and preserved for future generations, this is it!" says a Democratic campaign flier. "If ever public officials shirked their responsibilities, this is a prime example!"

Republicans then circulated a flier featuring a photo of Taule's home atop a ridge overlooking Erskine Lake, with the caption: "She's opposed to anybody building a beautiful hillside home ... except for herself."

"Why would the Republicans stoop to this level in this campaign?" Taule said at the candidates' night of her 50-year-old house that is next to a lake community clubhouse. "They must have a lot to lose."

Holt and Van Eck defended their vote for the West Brook project as necessary to provide new ratables to help hold down property taxes. In a letter to a local newspaper, Holt attacked Atlas in her role as a leader of the local environmental group Skylands CLEAN, calling her campaign "the most extreme elements of the eco-activists who would put trees before children and their green agenda before taxpayers, economic growth, and individual rights."

In Van Eck's view, "Landowners have rights, and we have to respect those rights." Even so, he noted, the Republican-run municipal government won court battles to stop a plan to build radio towers on borough property and to limit stone quarry operations on private property in a residential area.

When not butting heads, the two sides sometimes present remarkably similar visions.

"If elected, I will institute a bare bones expenditure policy, control new residential development, and be creative in attracting new, clean industry," Atlas said.

MacAllen, a former Planning Board member, said he would work to "enact ordinances preserving Ringwood's open space and quality of life while balancing the rights of property owners by enabling them to develop in an environmentally responsible manner."

Responding to a Republican claim that Democrats oppose a state referendum to provide funding to repair privately owned dams, O'Hearn, a Cupsaw Lake resident, said, "We support the dam support. We differ with the Sierra Club on this question."

In response to Democratic claims of indifference to water pollution, Larsen said, "I believe the first responsibility of a public official is to protect the public health of residents."

E-mail: barry@northjersey.com

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