We need to encourage Morris Township to see that now is the time for them to cut off Delbarton, and for nonbiased township residents and even Delbarton supporters to see that it is best for them to take large sums of open space money which is being made available: - Can Delbarton's proposed retirement development be built?

Delbarton's representatives claim that Delbarton's plans to build a retirement village in the Washington Valley are going well. Yet newspaper articles say they can't get a sewer. The experts advising Delbarton have never understood the barriers they face. Primarily, neither Morristown nor Morris Township can provide a sewer for the proposed retirement community.

- Why should the Delbarton community have to abide by these restrictions?

Environmental restrictions have been put in place to protect Washington Valley's environmental and cultural treasures. In the mid-1990s Delbarton agreed to sewer restrictions so that the school and abbey could get government-subsidized sewer service.

- Delbarton says it needs money that will be generated by the retirement village to care for elderly monks. Shouldn't they be allowed to do this on their own property?

The proposed retirement village is a commercial development for affluent seniors, not the monks of St. Mary's Abbey. The 600-resident CCRC is primarily a high-density condo development, including cottages and a 355,000-square-foot, five-story apartment building, proposed for the top of a ridge with steep slopes, trout production streams, endangered species nesting sites and old growth forests.

The property is not zoned for this building, which is out of character for the area and would open the door to suburban and commercial sprawl.

- How is Delbarton financing the development? How much money has been spent?

As of last spring, Delbarton said it had spent $500,000 of its own money. The Abbey's partner in this venture, retirement community developer RLS of Hartford, Conn., is paying for lawyers, engineers, public relations specialists and other application costs. RLS therefore has a primary role in continuing to try to force this application through.

- What is happening now in Morris Township about this project?

The Township Committee is considering an ordinance to rezone the property for a retirement community. The township already has allocated an added $90,000 specifically for its master plan deliberations on the Delbarton property. Since Delbarton's proposed development cannot be sewered, this money was wasted. The rezoning of Delbarton would waste additional tax dollars.

- What other options besides the proposed retirement village does Delbarton have?

There is a considerable amount of public and private money on the table for preserving Delbarton's open space. This money would yield a better return than selling the land to a private developer for single-family homes, which Delbarton is permitted to do under its current zoning. Such a resolution would give many millions of dollars to Delbarton, while preserving the area for all citizens to enjoy.

WARREN BOBROWMorris Township

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com