Committee amends Beesleys Point Redevelopment Plan
PETERSBURG — Township Committee moved forward with an amendment to its Beesleys Point Redevelopment Plan on Jan. 23, introducing an ordinance and forwarding it to the Planning Board for review.
Jim Maley, special counsel for the redevelopment project at the site of the former B.L. England Generating Station, explained the change would establish zoning standards for only a small part of the redevelopment area, known locally as “the coal pile.”
He said Township Committee has been working with Public Service Enterprise Group (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 offshore wind proposal includes construction of as many as 98 wind turbines 15 miles off 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 known as Ocean Wind 1, 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.
Maley said the zoning standards pertain to things such as buffers from potential development of the rest of the site 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.
B.L. England was a major factor in Upper Township for nearly 60 years as a source of jobs, electricity and funding, providing the township with energy tax receipts of more than $6 million a year for hosting the plant, making up a large portion of the $15.4 million annual budget.
The Beesleys Point Development Group bought the property, which is more than 350 acres, in November 2021. The sale cleared the way for a proposal that may lead to construction of a hotel, marina, restaurants, retail shops and homes.
Maley said the larger project has not progressed much, noting the designated redevelopment agency has presented some concepts but nothing concrete.
One major change was demolition and removal of the defunct power plant’s cooling tower. On Sept. 29, Controlled Demolition Inc. conducted a two-stage implosion of the tower. Other structures on the site that will be removed include the smokestack, tentatively scheduled for February, and oil-storage facilities.
“The electrical substation has advanced to the point where this is putting the zoning in place,” Maley said, adding PSEG has submitted a site plan application to the Planning Board.
The amendment, designated ordinance 1-2023, now must go before the Planning Board, which will determine whether it is consistent with the township master plan. That meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Township Hall. If so, Township Committee is expected to hold a public hearing and final vote on the measure Feb. 27.
Township resident Chelsea Headley said she thinks it’s premature to approve a substation for a project that still needs the approval of multiple agencies at the local, state and federal levels.
“Given the uncertainties around the higher levels of permitting and review, how could Upper Township even be in the position to consider plans for development of the B.L. England site as it pertains to a substation for offshore wind?” she said. “I implore you to dig deeper in to the very real concerns regarding offshore wind development before considering, approving or proposing any further amendments or resolutions that would effectively give the green light on behalf of Upper Township to construct the Ocean Wind 1 project, as well as the several others in the pipeline behind it.”
She said Township Committee has the opportunity to slow the process until more research is done.
“I understand the push for offshore wind development is bigger than any of us in this room, but Upper Township is in a unique position to bring logic and reason to the table, specifically because of the B.L. England facility,” Headley said. “We are a shore community that relies on a healthy ocean. Please join the majority of the rest of our neighbors in saying that we don’t want to bear the brunt of the damage of the great offshore wind experiment.”
Township resident Bill Harmon was more interested in how the proposed wind farm would do affect his view at the beach.
“My primary concern is the visual pollution out on what is currently our beautiful horizon,” Harmon said. “I can’t imagine the insanity of putting hundreds of windmills out there within sight, just destroying the natural beauty of the environment.”
Calling himself a very concerned citizen of Upper Township, he asked Township Committee to stop the project.
“I’m just asking the committee to do anything it can, in any small way, to deny and fight Ørsted and the construction of this wind farm, most notably terminating any electrical lines on the grounds, the properties of the former B.J. England or Upper Township,” he said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff