Sammis farm hearing

postponed to Aug. 10 By Rosa Kasper vernon - Richard Spoerl, chairman of the Vernon Township Planning Board, canceled the board's July 27 meeting, but it was on such short notice that even some of the body's members didn't know there was no meeting. And so, at 6 p.m., at least one board member, Councilman Neil Desmond, interested citizens and Gloria Sammis, who owns a Route 94 farm that Andrew Mulvihill wants to develop into a hotel/recreation complex, found themselves milling in the parking lot of the municipal building, decrying the unexpected cancellation and resulting delay. Most people had come expecting to weigh in on preliminary site-plan revisions to the Sammis farm project that had been scheduled to be heard that night. Instead, they will have to wait until the board's Aug. 10 meeting, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. "This is a very bad day for me," said a disappointed Sammis. "I just want the issue solved so that I can get on with life. "This is a good project and it would help Vernon bring in ratables." Mulvihill has told the board that his proposed $30-million complex would generate nearly $800,000 a year in taxes. Board secretary Maureen Yelinko said that Spoerl called off the meeting because he wanted to allow time for Kevin Wynn, Sussex National's engineer, and Thomas Lemanowicz, the township consulting engineer, to mull over the July 22, 14-page technical review of the proposed Sammis Farm Hotel and Recreation Center. It was the third and longest in a series of reviews Lemanowicz has prepared. Earlier versions were issued on May 12 and on June 30, and with each revision, Lemanowicz has added to his list of concerns. Lemanowicz concluded his most recent review by noting that the site plan may need waivers and variances for which the applicant may not have applied or even discerned the need. He recommended that the board not take action on the application until the issues are satisfactorily resolved. An issue that could affect the project is Vernon's revised wastewater management plan, which the township has promised to deliver to the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection on Aug. 23. The plan must be in place for the town to put into service sewers that will handle wastewater from the new town center and from future construction of the Intrawest resort at Mountain Creek. Any land not included in the plan on Aug. 23 will not be eligible to be served by the sewers. According to Councilman Neil Desmond, state officials had objected to the town's original management area, saying it was too large. It asked that several lots in the McAfee area, including the Sammis farm, be deleted from the plan. "Unless the Sammis farm is approved before the Aug. 23 deadline, the developer most likely would have to scale back his plans considerably," said Desmond. "If Sussex National can make its case and procure all the required approvals, waivers and variances, then God bless them," Desmond added. To complicate the issue further, in a July 1 letter, the county division of planning informed Mulvihill that the proposed development is not consistent with county strategic growth policy. After the July 25 council meeting, Weiner questioned the county's involvement. "The proposed development is on a state road, so the county has nothing to say about it," Weiner said. "This is Vernon's decision."