Brick Township, N.J. residents pleading with local church not to sell 30 acres of undisturbed woods to developer
BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Residents in an Ocean County town are banding together to save one of the last patches of woods left in their area.
CBS2's Meg Baker has more on the fight to stop the construction of more than 50 homes.
Brick Township residents on Tuesday walked her through their neighborhood that borders Breton Woods, the undisturbed 30 acres that is owned by the Church of the Visitation of the Roman Catholic Church. Residents are petitioning the church not to sell the land to developer D.R. Horton, who is planning to build 59 homes.
"It would be devastating to have it gone," resident Victoria Gianakios said.
The proposal will go before the planning board on Wednesday. Environmentalist say another housing development in the Metedeconk Watershed will have huge consequences for wildlife and flooding issues.
"We really cannot tolerate more storm water runoff into these waterways. We need every inch of woodlands. We need every inch of forest. We need every inch of wetlands. Because they serve as a giant sponge," said Janet Tauro, New Jersey board chairperson of Clean Water Action.
"It's a migratory habitat for birds," added Willie DeCamp, president of the group Save Barnegat Bay.
Neighbors say they use the woods for recreational purposes.
"It's the place that, it kind of gets you out of the hustle and bustle, especially during COVID. It was nice to walk back there, be away from everything, watch the hawks, the deer, everything. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's nice and quiet. It's a shame," Brendan Stuck said.
Residents say the area has become overpopulated.
"We are already in gridlock all the time," environmental commission chair Tony Kono said.
Mayor John Ducey said he hopes the church considers the town's proposal.
"We were hoping as a town to be able to purchase it and keep it as open space. We contacted Diocese of Trenton and received no response," Ducey said.
Baker went into the Church of the Visitation and was told the diocese said no interviews.
"Brick town is built out 97%. Do we really want to take the rest of it away by putting up houses? When it's gone, it's gone forever," 35-year resident William Guzzy said.
The mayor and others hope the church will be community minded and make a deal with the town, even if that means less of a profit.
The church bought the land from the town in the 1980s for $10,000. The developer, D.R. Horton, did not get back to CBS2 with a comment.
