In the News - Lebanon Borough
Mixed reactions to census report in Somerset, Hunterdon counties
STAFF REPORT
Officials had mixed reactions to the release of figures by the U.S. Census Bureau that shows, in some cases, significant growth in Somerset and Hunterdon counties between 2000 and 2007.
In the four-county region covered by the Courier News, Middlesex County’s population grew 5.1 percent from 2000 to 2007, compared with statewide growth of 4.46 percent. Somerset County grew 8.76 percent, Hunterdon County 6 percent and Union County 0.4 percent in that time period.
Somerset County has grown by 26,062 since 2000, an 8.76 percent spike, and by 3,482 in from 2006 to 2007, a 1.1 percent jump.
The fastest-growing municipalities in Somerset County since 2000 have been Montgomery (5,542 more residents, 31.7 percent growth) and Green Brook (1,266 more residents, 22.4 percent growth).
Hunterdon County, meanwhile, has has grown by 7,359 residents since 2000, which represents a 6 percent swell. The county population remained relative stagnant from 2006 to 2007, increasing by just 0.1 percent.
“I’m not sure exactly how accurate those numbers are,” Lebanon Borough mayor Mark Paradis said in response to being told his borough had the quickest growth rate in Central Jersey, to 1,896 residents in 2007 from 1,065 in 2000. “There has been growth, and we do have one development, the Heights, where the majority of our growth is, but that’s only 120 units and permits have been issued for all but two buildings.
“We have another development on the other side of Route 22 that will be 150 units but it’s a false sense of population since no permits have been issued for those yet,” Paradis said. “It’s going to really skew your figures. It’s a great community to live in, but I think it’s giving the census bureau a false sense of what we currently have by basing it on permits issued instead of on occupancy. We’re one square mile and the official population is 1,650, so adding 831 sounds high. There are also a lot of people living in Clinton Township and Tewksbury who have Lebanon addresses, which is also hard to track.”
Bill Corboy, mayor of West Amwell, was surprised at first to hear that the population in his township jumped to 2,930 in 2007, from 2,383 in 2000. That’s an increase of 547 residents.
“We only have about 900 homes in the township, but we have had one large development with I believe about 98 homes, and another with 48 homes,” Corboy said.
“We’ve pretty much committed ourselves to be a farming and open space community, and we’ve done a good job. Every community is going to experience growth, and given our 21 square miles, that’s probably not really bad at all.”
Lambertville saw its population decrease, according to Census figures, from 3,868 residents in 2000 to 3,744 seven years later.
Mayor David Del Vecchio blames Lambertville’s population decrease on empty nesters and lack of room.
“We’re all built out, and we’re the least percentage of school age children any place in the county,” Del Vecchio said. “We just purchased one of the last pieces of land this past year on an open space question, one development, Orleans, was downsized from four townhouse units to an acre to 2.2 units to an acre. It’s been the same for two different censuses, we haven’t moved much either way for probably about 15 years.”
Some towns in Somerset County have seen population increases, including Montgomery, Raritan Borough and Warren.
Raritan Borough Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak said her community’s population surge is likely due to a large number of seniors moving out and young families moving to town.
According to Census figures, Raritan’s population climbed to 6,970 in 2007, compared with 6,338 in 2000.
“It could be a double-edged sword,” Liptak said, noting that more people could mean a need for more police and rescue services. Conversely, she said, new people bring “fresh talent” to the town.
Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Xie Birge pointed to the effects of development as a reason for its population boom.
“The majority of this increase is from the huge amount of housing construction approved by our Planning Board in late 1990s and early 2000s in Montgomery; therefore, the beginning of this decade carries a significant share of this growth,” she said. “Since then, we have successfully controlled growth by aggressively preserving open space, partnering with nonprofit groups and other governmental agencies to reduce the cost to our taxpayers.”
Under Commiteewoman and former mayor Louise Wilson’s leadership, Birge said the township also has adopted “smart planning” concepts to help direct growth away from “environmentally sensitive portions of town, and diversify its ratable base while avoiding ratable chase as seen in other towns.”
Warren has seen the addition of 1,636 residents in the past seven years, according to Census numbers, and Mayor Gary DiNardo quickly ticked off the approximate number - 1,600 - when asked about the increase and what accounted for it.
“Since Warren is such a desirable place to live - it’s between Route 78 and Route 22, nestled within the Watchung mountain range - so it has a lot of green,” DiNardo said. “We’re very protected.”
DiNardo said new residents, whom he generally described as homeowners, could have also been attracted to the township because of its “tough zoning laws” aimed at preserving open space and Warren’s proximity to New York City.
Although DiNardo said traffic in the township has increased in recent years, he attributed the added congestion to nonresidents who cut through Warren to get to neighboring towns.
The mayor also said the township has not seen any notable increase in crime.
“We’re fortunate, but we do need to be careful because obviously it’s a nice community,” DiNardo said. “And we have a wonderful police department that has really focused that undesirables stay out and that communities are well-policed.”
Courier News staff writers
Brandon Lausch, Walter O’Brien, Kara L. Richardson and
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann
contributed to this report.
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