Community, developer should reach accord

Tinton Falls residents should be happy to hear that Sterling Properties, the Livingston developer seeking to purchase the Laurino farm, is inviting the community to hear the details of their plans for the property.

By coming to the community with its proposal for a townhouse development, the company is signaling that it is willing to be a good neighbor. Those living near the property should be thankful for that consideration; it is far more common for developers to try to keep their plans under wraps and disclose as little as possible. That process has left many neighbors to once-vacant land angry and disillusioned with a process that seems to exclude them.

In return for the developer’s openness, those who come out to see the plan and question the developer must understand that they do not have the right to prevent any and all changes in the property.

One group of residents has apparently already organized to, in the words of one member, "preserve the community the (nearby) residents bought into."

Community preservation is certainly a reasonable concept, but it does not mean those residents have the right to stop all development in their neighborhood. Those residents have to understand that when they bought their home, they did not receive title to the property across the street. That land belongs to the Laurino family, and what they do with it is up to them. Obviously, the same holds true for anyone who buys the property.

No matter what the neighbors may say or think, as currently zoned, the property can be used as the site for industrial, office or professional buildings and residences.

Different parts of the roughly 50-acre tract are already zoned for those purposes. The Laurinos, or anyone who purchases their land, has a right to build in a way that complies with existing zoning.

If the developer wants to change that zoning, as Sterling properties clearly does, it will require the cooperation of the borough.

With that in mind, residents should know they can influence the plan, but they shouldn’t expect to stop it.

Unless the state, county or borough buys the property, it will be developed.

Sterling Properties appears to be a reasonable and cooperative neighbor. Residents should try to be reasonable, too. If Sterling doesn’t build on the site, the next builder — and there will be one — may not try to be so fair.