I'll Never Be Silenced in Fighting for Monroe

You may have heard about the ongoing battle against a real estate developer who has been trying to increase the net density of a construction plan, proposing to build a large, mixed-used development within the vicinity of a bald eagle’s nest.

As someone who cares deeply about preserving the environment and battling overdevelopment, I have vociferously opposed this plan submitted by the so-called “Bald Eagle Developer.”

Following an outpouring of concern from residents about this project, the zoning board decided on March 26 to reject the plan.

Surprisingly, this developer believes the next, natural step in pursuing this project was to file a lawsuit against the town and against me, individually, for exercising my First Amendment rights and publicly sharing my opinions about this flawed plan. 

This developer argues that my comments had an unfair impact on our volunteer zoning board members, a body of smart, independent thinkers who reviewed all documents, heard all testimony and asked many good questions before ultimately deciding to reject the project. 

Once we learned about this lawsuit, we wanted to make it very, very clear that Monroe will not be

bullied by aggressive developers and their lawyers, going beyond the court-imposed affordable housing settlement.

Since the discovery of the nest, the Bald Eagle Developer, known in municipal filings as “SPII-LLC,” reconfigured the development plan by squeezing the original number of court-ordered units into less developable land. To do this, the developer tried to add four-story apartments in lieu of townhouses, maintaining his 206 housing units, yet reducing the commercial component by one-third. 

There’s no way I would keep quiet as a developer is trying to cram 206 new housing units on a smaller buildable footprint. Not only is such a plan wrong for Monroe, but residents needed to know that the area is home to the bald eagle’s nest perched near the Millstone River. Under state and federal law, it can be illegal to construct buildings within 660 feet of the nest. 

Hundreds of residents heard my concerns and turned out for the meeting, in which the zoning board rejected the application.

To be clear -- Suing the town, and me personally, will do absolutely nothing to change the position of me or the zoning board. 

I’ll never be silenced in fighting for Monroe.