Owner disputes designation as site in need of redevelopment
By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
BEESLEYS POINT – After a lengthy virtual meeting, and over objections from the owners of the sprawling property, the Upper Township Planning Board backed efforts to designate the site of the former B.L. England power plant as an area in need of redevelopment.
The next step falls to Township Committee.
At the meeting, held remotely, planning consultant Tiffany Morrissey presented her findings, outlined in a detailed report planned for the board. The property meets the criteria to be designated as an area in need of redevelopment, she told the board. Some areas of the property have been vacant for a decade, she said, and there are other limitations at the site which would make it unlikely that a private entity would develop the property.
The designation gives the township broad powers to redevelop the site, according to James Maley, an attorney hired to advise the township on the matter. They could include offering tax breaks or other incentives, or the ability to use condemnation at the site.
That power has the owners of the property concerned.
Attorney Jennifer Porter represented RC Cape May Holdings LLC at the meeting. She said the company does not necessarily oppose the designation of the site as an area in need of redevelopment, but argued that the inclusion of condemnation powers could make it more difficult to redevelop the property.
She also challenged some of the characterizations of the property, where cleanup work continues and the owners are up-to-date on their municipal taxes.
Morrissey outlined the criteria for an area to be declared in need of redevelopment, and how they apply to more than 300 acres at the B.L. England site. She cited the state’s energy master plan, which envisions a pivot away from fossil fuels toward solar and wind energy, including a planned wind farm off the coast that could play into the future of the site.
Buildings such as the cooling tower, smokestack, oil storage facilities, those housing air scrubbers and more will likely need to be removed, she reported, while she sees little chance they could be repurposed for other uses.
There are also concerns about contamination at the site, she reported, outlining a lengthy list of chemicals believed to have impacted the groundwater, while also discussing the extensive wetlands on the property.
In addition to the power plant, the site is also home to a long-disused golf course and other amenities.
She described the plant itself as abandoned, and said buildings appear to be vacant and in disrepair.
“Vacant buildings are inviting to squatters, and commonly create a nest for criminal activity such as drugs and vandalism,” she said in the report. “Vacant buildings often create a perception to neighbors or potential investors that the area is unsafe and that the condition of the vacant structures invite crime, which leads to disinvestment.”
Representatives of the owners took issue with several elements of the report, particularly the characterization of the property as abandoned.
Over the course of the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, Porter presented testimony from staff, including from consultant Russ Arlota, who said the site is secured and maintained.
“We’re very active on that property,” he said. “It’s maintained. It’s secured. It’s closed to the public.”
He said there had been no instances of squatters, vandalism or crime at the site.
Some electricity-related activity continues at the property, he said, including an Atlantic City Electric substation. The utility is in the process of upgrading its power lines crossing Great Egg Harbor Bay, he said, with discussions under way with the wind power company Ørsted to potentially buy a section of the property if the decision is made to land the power generated by wind turbines off the coast at the property.
Ørsted officials say they have not yet decided where that will take place, with the expectation they will use two of three potential sites. Arlota expressed confidence that B.L. England will be among the properties.
“We are optimistic that will occur,” Arlota said.
He said the company has spent more than $15 million on properly closing the plant and preparing the site for a new use, including $10 million on remediation.
Porter argued that rather than being a hinderance to redevelopment, RC Cape May Holdings was instead in the best possible position to continue the remediation of the property and to encourage its redevelopment.
That would go better if condemnation by the township was not on the table, Porter argued, suggesting the idea could scare off investors rather than encourage them.
In response, Maley said that element of the proposal is up to Township Committee, not the Planning Board. All that the board was asked to decide is whether the site qualifies as an area in need of redevelopment.
He said the township and RC Cape May Holdings have been working closely together on the future of the property, describing it as a strong, productive relationship. The primary objection is the inclusion of the condemnation powers in the plan, he said.
“I haven’t really met any property owners in this situation who are in favor of that,” he said.
In any case, he said, the inclusion of that element of the designation does not mean the township would seek to take the property, which would require a fair-market compensation to the owner.
“To exercise that authority is expensive and difficult to do,” he said, describing it as a “last, last resort.”
The board unanimously accepted Morrisey’s report in a resolution vote.
Earlier this year, Township Committee formally requested the Planning Board consider the site as an area in need of redevelopment. The recent vote will allow the township governing body to take the next step and officially designate the property as in need of redevelopment, which under state law will give the township more leeway in working to redevelop the land.
Township officials have discussed the possibility of a marina district for the site, which could see a mixed use of boat slips, residential development and commercial use.
The electricity generating station closed in May 2019. Opened in 1961, the plant had meant reliable power and jobs for decades but had also been repeatedly cited as a source of air pollution in violation of the Clean Air Act.
RC Cape May Holdings bought the plant in 2006, for a reported $12.2 million, with plans to convert the coal- and diesel-fired plant to natural gas. But those plans collapsed after years of legal fighting over a proposed pipeline to transport the gas to the plant, in part through a section of protected Pinelands.