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FR EE
February 1, 2020 – February 7, 2020
NOT ON OUR TURF
3rd District Race Takes Testy Turn as Ex-CEO Jumps in from 2nd District By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
Photo By Andy Milone
Some 150 people attended a Shamong Township Joint Land Use Board meeting on Jan. 21 about a proposed plan for using sod fields for private weekend soccer tournaments.
Sod Farm’s Application to Use Its Fields to Hold Soccer Tournaments on Weekends Withdrawn After Residents Pack Land Use Meeting By Andy Milone Staff Writer
SHAMONG—A site plan application by Shamong Township-based Indian Mills Farms, LLC (also known as Tuckerton Turf Farms, Inc.) requesting to use its sod fields at the intersection of Stokes, Burnt House and Three Bridge roads over the next two years for private weekend soccer tournaments has been withdrawn after some 150 people attended a Jan. 21 Shamong Township Land Use Board hearing on it last week, mostly voicing opposition to the proposal. The application stated that if the 168acre plus farm’s full-sized fields were used for the games, there would have been a maximum of 20 fields involved, whereas if the farm’s smallest fields were used, there would have been a maximum of 40 fields utilized for soccer. It also contended that if a mix of fields were used, there would have been a maximum of 32 fields utilized for the tournaments. “Approximately 75 acres of the farm will be used for the soccer tournaments, approximately 45 acres for playing soccer and approximately 30 acres for parking,” the application read. A possible 30 soccer tournaments in total, each lasting a couple of days, from late March until the end of November, would have been hosted during 2020 and 2021 (or 15 per year), if the plan had moved forward, in an effort to market the sod. After December 2021, Indian Mills Farms had anticipated business growth
reaching a point where it would no longer be necessary to continue holding the tournaments. “For two-years only, commencing in March 2020 and ending by December 2021, the farm proposes to conduct soccer tournaments to increase the direct-market sales of the turf that is produced by the farm,” the application read. Attorney William Harrison, representing the applicant at the hearing, contended that by having kids play on the sod, it was marketing the product, and therefore, a permissible agricultural use. “The purpose (of doing this) is not to have kids play soccer, its purpose is to sell sod,” Harrison said. Harrison described how the sod, more commonly known to soccer players as “turf,” would be advertised in emails to teams participating in the tournaments. “Indeed, the very purpose of the soccer tournaments is to have the tournaments played on the turf so the far m can demonstrate the quality of the turf that is grown on the farm,” the application read. Flyers and sandwich boards were also proposed to feature the crop in an effort to expand the farm’s customer base. “I don’t think anyone would think twice if a farm in the area did a crop maze, a strawberry festival, or anything of that nature,” Harrison said. “It is the exact same thing with marketing a crop—the best way to market the crop is to show people playing on a crop so that they see how well
it withstands the play.” D u r i ng publ ic c om me nt on t he application, resident Terrance Leach called the comparison “ridiculous,” indicating it was like comparing apples to oranges. “This is strictly for the profit of this one farm… I am not going to go to a sod fest,” he said. According to the application, parking would have been provided for up to 3,000 cars, but 1,500 cars were expected for an average tournament. “This traffic is not going to just be on Willow Grove Road,” said resident Patricia Browne. “It is not just going to be on Stokes Road. It is going to be on Atsion Road. It is going to be on Tuckerton Road. It is going to be gridlock. I grew up in Brooklyn, and I know what gridlock is like, and we are going to have gridlock here from November to March on these weekends.” The plan also called for food trucks and portable toilets to be on site during the tournaments. However, no permanent structures, such as bleachers or scoreboards, would have been installed. Harrison contended the application received support from the Burlington County Agricultural Development Board. However, many residents argued that the plan was not an appropriate use in the municipal Preservation (Farming) Area zoning district. “Clearly, they don’t meet our standard,” See TURF/ Page 5
MOU NT HOLLY—A chain reaction of events set off by the impeachment of Republican President Donald J. Trump has generated an acrimonious war of words over the entry of a prominent ex-captain of industry into this year’s 3rd Congressional District GOP primary race. The latest candidate to announce his intention to unseat Andy Kim, the district’s freshman Democratic congressman, is David Richter, the former CEO of Philadelphia-based Hill International, a worldwide construction consulting firm. Richter had been, up until this week, challenging the neighboring 2nd District’s incumbent, Jeff Van Drew—that is, until the latter announced he was changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican after opposing Trump’s impeachment by his then-Democratic colleagues who won control of the House in 2018. Richter’s decision to take on Kim instead has caused no small amount of resentment on the part of three other Republican candidates who are hoping to do likewise. Not only have Richter’s rivals in the 3rd District race accused him of political opportunism, but two of them have attempted to associate him with that other prominent presence in the impeachment imbroglio—the family of former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. In addition to vociferously denying such allegations, Richter has claimed to be the new front-runner in the GOP 3rd District race, and accepted an invitation from the Trump campaign to address a Monday night jampacked rally in Wildwood. “Last night, I had the great honor of speaking before thousands and thousands of Trump supporters—hard working, blue-collar men and women who loved what I had to say about the president,” he told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a phone interview the next day. “I don’t think I am going to have any trouble earning their support.” That invitation, he claimed, was extended as an acknowledgement of his decision to step out of the 2nd District race and support Van Drew, which he did on the advice of former Republican Governor Chris Christie. The organizers of the rally were also well aware of his intentions to run in the 3rd District, he said, noting that Christie was not involved in his decision to enter the latter race. Until Richter’s entry, the odds in the 3rd District contest appeared to favor former See RACE/ Page 7
INDEX Are We There Yet?........ 9 Dear Pharmacist............ 8 Dental Column............... 9 Games........................... 6
Here’s My Card............ 12 Leo the Lion Challenge...6 Local News.................... 2
Marketplace................. 15 Opinion........................ 10 Senior Column............... 9 Worship Guide..............11
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