Dear Mayor Mayer:
As a concerned, 20-year tax-paying resident of Gloucester Township who has raised six children here and am now expecting my third grandchild, all of whom live in Gloucester Township, and as a candidate for a council seat in the 2013 general election, I would like to ask you a few simple questions on behalf of myself, my children, my grandchildren, and all the concerned residents in Gloucester Township.
All the buzz this week in town has been about the newly proposed Gloucester Premium Outlets to be located directly off the newly constructed exit of Route 42 near the Camden County Community College. I, in fact, attended the Tuesday evening, 23 July 2013, Planning Board meeting where the signage, lighting, and sidewalk access was discussed and approved. At that meeting I asked whether there were going to be any incentives offered to the developers of the outlet project. I do not believe I was given a straight answer to my question. At first my question about incentives was met with incredulity as if no one understood what I was talking about or believed what I was asking. When I tried to clarify and defined incentives as things such as tax abatements, again, it seemed like I was speaking in a foreign language and I was eventually told that nothing like that had been discussed yet and would have to be taken up later if the developers desired to pursue such a path.
Believe me, if I were investing a ton of money in a project such as the Gloucester Premium Outlets I would want to know beforehand what all the details were down to the last penny and that would include information about incentives. No shrewd business person would do otherwise.
So, two days later the Gloucester Township Patch publishes a story that states “Mayor David Mayer said this week Gloucester Township is considering offering the developers of Gloucester Premium Outlet a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement.”
Additionally, Patch reported that you said “it will bring 1,000 jobs and thousands of shoppers to Gloucester Township.”
May I ask what kind of jobs you think will come to Gloucester Township? Is there a construction company in Gloucester Township that can supply the work force needed to construct this new outlet or will most of the construction jobs be filled with out-of-towners and the contract awarded to an out-of-town construction firm? Once the outlet is completed will there be more than just low-end sales clerks jobs offered at the site?
I have never heard one township resident say they thought their tax burden was fair yet if this deal goes through with a tax abatement, and I can’t see how it will fly without one, are we to be asked to bear yet another burden on our shoulders?
A few weeks ago I attended a Saturday evening free concert at the Shoppes at Cross Keys center. The center has hired a planner to schedule such activities in an attempt to draw people from the local community to the shopping center. I don’t think more than twenty people showed up for that event. On top of that, it was a Saturday evening at 7:00 PM and the shopping center itself was empty as well as the fact that there are already a number of closed down shops there.
So, please, Mr. Mayor, tell us why we need an outlet mall, enticed by a 25-year tax abatement, offering low-end sales jobs, in our township when we can’t populate the store fronts we have now and the stores we do have can’t draw enough patrons to stay open.
I am publishing this open letter in the Gloucester Township Patch for all to see in hopes that you will honor the pledge you made to more transparency and that you will come online to answer my questions and the questions of your constituents, the residents of Gloucester Township.
Sincerely,
Paul J. DiBartolo
