Upper Township Committee splits 3-2 in favor of change to aid Beesleys Point Redevelopment
PETERSBURG — Township Committee voted 3-2 Feb. 27 to allow an electrical substation be built at a different spot in the Beesleys Point Redevelopment Area — nothing more, nothing less.
But it’s much more complex than that because the move not only would facilitate plans to build a wind farm off the coast, but connecting to the power grid at the site actually is part of Ørsted’s proposal. A PDF of the ordinance to amend the 2021 redevelopment plan even includes the logo of Ocean Wind, the project proposed by the Danish wind-energy company in partnership with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG).
Township Committee has made it clear it supports the proposal for a wind farm insomuch that it benefits plans to develop the target area along Great Egg Harbor Bay, where they hope to see commercial, residential and recreational amenities that would boost the township tax base. They even declined to join the growing list of Republican officials calling for a moratorium until Congress takes up the issue.
Committeeman Curtis Corson cited a congressional hearing planned March 16 on the issue in calling to table the ordinance. Committeeman Victor Nappen joined him but the motion failed when Mayor Jay Newman, Deputy Mayor Kim Hayes and Committeeman Mark Pancoast dissented. The vote to approve the ordinance passed by the same tally. It was the second time in two months that the freshman committeeman sided with Corson in the minority, also backing him for the mayor’s post.
Jim Maley, special counsel for the redevelopment project, explained the change would establish zoning standards for only a small part of the redevelopment area at the former B.L. England Generating Station site, known locally as “the coal pile.”
Maley said Township Committee has been working with PSEG on plans to build an electrical substation, which would be used to connect the proposed Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind farm to the power grid.
The proposal includes construction of as many as 98 wind turbines 15 miles off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties to generate 1,100 megawatts of power. Multiple other projects are also in various stages of development for a large area stretching from the northern coastal tip of North Carolina to just south of Massachusetts.
As part of the project, transmission cables would run under the beach and streets in Ocean City, along Roosevelt Boulevard to Upper Township and connect with the substation in Beesleys Point.
Ocean City officials have so far unsuccessfully fought against having the cables run through the resort.
Maley said the zoning standards pertain to things such as buffers from potential development of the rest of the property and ensuring electrical lines will be underground as they approach the site. He said the zoning parameters in place for redevelopment of the rest of the property would not change.
He said an electrical substation is a permitted use on the property and has been for 40 to 50 years, and its relocation is vital to redevelopment plans. He said the Planning Board deemed the amendment consistent with the township master plan.
Maley said if the amendment were not approved, PSEG would build its substation where it is currently allowed but it would be a deterrent to the best use of the property.
During committee comments, Pancoast said the substation is a permitted use and moving where it will be built would benefit the redevelopment plan.
Corson agreed that moving it would benefit the township but thought it best to wait.
Nappen agreed, saying the substation proposal and wind farm plan cannot be separated and therefore there are more questions than answers.
Hayes said a power substation is not a new concept for the redevelopment site — there already is one there belonging to Atlantic City Electric — and the township could either let things happen or engage with the developers to make it the best situation for residents.
Newman said he was elected to represent the people of Upper Township and feels that moving the substation would be in their best interest.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff