They might grow eventually, but so will the surrounding area. Just like many other parts of NJ. No location will permanently be a 'country area'. Only the most naive among us believe otherwise.
People desiring solitude will do what they've always done when progress expands their surroundings: they will move.
And others will stay and enjoy the benefits of progress.
So, the American dream, in your eyes, is to get bullyed by a mega conglomerate who will pave over 20 acres of wetlands and trees, encroach on 2 trout streams, flood the roads with 25% of our entire population at one time, and your reply is to simply move?
And you don't think that sucks? You don't think thats just about the most inAmerican thing you can think of? All because of a shortsighted law which WILL be struck down once we can get these right wing yahoos out of office?
My Opinion:
Rockaway residents will stand up against a project that is too large for the community, as communities are doing across the country. The plan will be rejected. RLUIPA will absolutely go to the supreme court. And if (Lord willing) King George the second loses the election in November we will get some free thinking justices up there to see the inherent unconstitutionality of this law. Our framers NEVER wanted special treatment for one area of citizens as RLUIPA has granted.
And I am not moving out of my community because some bully under the guise of religion thinks they can do anything they want.
My opinion is that if this cc thing does happen, people who live here will do what they have to do to survive. It is our basic instinct. One option is to "flight" (and loose big time bucks on the values of homes - - - but some will take the hit rather than live under these conditions). Others (maybe 20 percent of the town) will consider my option and become their own church (it is so very easy to do) and reap the same benefits as Ireland in terms of tax exempt status and immunity from zoning laws. That group of 20 percent of us who become churches will turn this town upside down because the rest of you in town will now not only be supporting cc, but us too. And ultimately, out of survival necessity, everyone will have to become a church in order not to suffocate under the oppressive taxes. The town will go bankrupt and the state will have to take over and supply money to run this place. It is the basic flight or fight reaction which is basic to mankind.
Taxes are a non-issue here - has anyone noticed the Walmart, Target, Petsmart going up in town? Huge new influx of tax revenues - we will build a school somewhere, that takes will take any property needed off the tax roll. We will build in the best location for our town, 140 GPR. It will even leave us with some future growth potential.
While I agree about the school and think it's ok because it'll benefit our community, I generally disagree when people say, "it's okay to lose the tax revenues because of all the new stores going in."
1. All the new stores are paying for their OWN impact on our community--it's not "found money". We're still in a deficit. Unless of course the new stores are paying more because we're losing revenues elsewhere, which I don't think is possible.
2. I don't mind paying the taxes--when the money goes to benefit my fellow RT residents.
3. If somebody steals a hundred bucks from me, and then I find $150 in last winter's coat pocket, does that mean I should be "okay" with losing the hundred bucks? I'd much prefer to have $250, wouldn't you?
There will be some new money comming into town with the development at the mall. And the polititians will figure out how to spend it - hopefully they will take the school needs into consideration. 140 GPR seems to make the most sense for school expansion needs. This should trump CC's religious expression rights as far as community needs. (don't we have rights too?)
"...When Congress passed RLUIPA, it did so with the intent of benefiting religious groups, by giving them the right to challenge the application of land use and zoning laws to their properties. But the members never considered that the impact of giving religious landowners special privileges would be to demote all other property owners to second-class citizens. This unintended consequence has been disastrous -- and the effect has been felt nationwide.
In cases around the country, property owners are learning the hard way about their second-class status. For example, suppose a religious group wants to come into a single-family residential neighborhood to open a large day care center, a three-story synagogue, or a megachurch -- but it cannot satisfy the land use rules. Nowadays, such groups wave RLUIPA in the air, and too often are allowed to break those rules with impunity.
But lately, a backlash against RLUIPA has been gaining steam, and it is informative for federal and state representatives alike. The federal RLUIPA may well be struck down as unconstitutional..."
