Activists file ethics complaint against DEP PEER: State aide worked too close with developers of Tak. site BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Environmental activists filed an ethics complaint Monday, charging that a top aide at the state Department of Environmental Protection provided "coaching" to a developer for an oceanfront project in Long Branch. FILE PHOTO The Life Saving Station No. 5 building on Ocean Avenue, now the Takanassee Beach Club. The complaint was filed before the State Ethics Commission by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). PEER is requesting that the ethics commission investigate the level of interaction between Mary Comfort, assistant to the DEP commissioner, and Jerry Zaro, attorney representing Takanassee Developers LLC. Takanassee Developers are seeking to redevelop the historic Takanassee Beach Club site on Ocean Avenue into a multiunit residential complex. "Unfortunately, New Jersey has a rich and continuing pattern of scandals hatched in secret meetings between state officials and corporate favor seekers," said PEER Director Bill Wolf in a press release. "DEP is supposed to act in the public interest, but in this case, it looks like some in DEP are working for the developer, not the public," Wolf said. Local environmental groups, such as the Surfrider Foundation and the Surfers' Environmental Alliance (SEA), are claiming that the DEP "worked closely with, planned strategy for and coached" the attorney for the developer of the Takanassee Beach Club site in an effort to secure the required permits to develop the historic, oceanfront site, according to the release. Takanassee Developers is seeking approval from the DEP to construct a project at the Takanassee Beach Club site on Ocean Avenue. The developer has applied to the DEP for a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) permit, which is required to develop the oceanfront site. Activists are fighting to preserve the site, which contains three historic lifesaving station structures. The SEA obtained documents, including e-mails between Comfort and Zaro, through an Open Public Records Act, or OPRA request. Activists are claiming that the e-mails reveal that the DEP is working "too closely" with the developer on the Takanassee project and not in the best interest of the public. "The level of interaction revealed in the e-mails between a senior DEP official and the politically powerful attorney for the developer certainly violate the spirit and intent of the state's CAFRA review process and calls into question whether the DEP is, in fact, working to protect the environment and the public interest, or rather is encouraging and protecting the developer," Jeffrey Ross, attorney for the SEAwho initiated the OPRArequest, said in the release. "The documents clearly indicate that the review process is neither fair nor impartial," Ross added. PEER is claiming that the documents obtained through the OPRA request reveal that Comfort collaborated with Zaro to "secure approvals and potential financing" for the proposed Takanassee project, according to the release. "Several e-mails show Comfort coaching the applicant to make sure that he is 'crossing t's' and 'dotting i's' while also arranging private meetings, site visits and luncheons with the applicant," the PEER release states. "This is simply outrageous," Wolfe said. "You have a state official making selective disclosures of predecisional and enforcement sensitive information to representatives of a developer with a known economic stake in the outcome of a permit during the course of DEP review. "Ms. Comfort has clearly undermined the integrity of the permitting process and created an unmistakable appearance of favoring one side in a contested action," Wolfe said. The ethics complaint asks that the ethics commission take the matter up at its next meeting to determine compliance and take enforcement action as warranted against ethical breaches, according to the release. "It is not at all unusual for the DEP to work with parties on both sides of an issue," Darlene Yuhas, DEP spokeswoman said in response to claims made by the environmental groups. "The DEP commissioner met with representatives of the Surfrider Foundation and with representatives of other community organization on the Takanassee matter, but they are not mentioning that," she said. "We have made a great effort to help the community remain informed of the plans for the site. In the beginning of the month we held a meeting for the public. "The DEP has worked with parties on both sides of this issue and it is not unusual," Yuhas said. She added that the DEP is still reviewing the application and has not made a decision on the CAFRA permit yet. Yuhas noted that the public comment period on the application concluded Friday. Wolfe said, "Unbelievable. DEP appears to be defending Ms. Comfort's actions. "This only adds to the growing impression that DEP works for developers, not the public," he said. According to the SEA and the Surfrider Foundation, hundreds of form letters were sent to DEP in early November from community members and activist groups urging the DEP to deny the application by the developer for the CAFRA permit. One of the reasons given was the inability of the public to inspect the full set of development plans and any revisions at Long Branch City Hall as required by DEP laws, according to the activist groups. The following week, an email went from Comfort to Zaro urging Zaro to get the plans on file with the Long Branch municipal clerk's office, according to the activists. DEP career staff handling the CAFRA application itself do not appear to be involved in the coaching of the developer, according to the press release, which states that others in DEP do appear to be coaching. DEP's ethics code prohibits employees from disclosing information not generally available to the public or acting in a way that creates the impression that the public trust is being violated, according to the release. "Now that these egregious violations of DEP's independent decision making process have been revealed to an already suspicious public, it is incumbent on the Commissioner of DEP to take swift and effective action to ensure that any decision will be free from conflicts of interest and political influence, and will foster public confidence in the State's CAFRA application process," Williams said. Plans call for Isaac Chera, principal of Takanassee Developers, to construct 19 homes, a clubhouse, an in-ground pool, a public access way to the beach and five public parking spaces on the 4.8-acre historic Takanassee site. The plans also call for one of the three historic life-saving stations, currently located at the beach club, to remain intact at the site. The remaining two historic structures will be preserved at off-site locations that have not been determined yet, according to plans on file with the DEP. The SEAand the Surfrider Foundation have submitted written comments urging the DEP to deny a CAFRA permit for Takanassee application. The comment period deadline was Feb. 22. In addition to the information revealed in the OPRA request, groups are urging denial of the permit based on DEP's own findings and the Preliminary Analysis provided to the public at a Feb. 7 meeting at Long Branch High School hosted by the DEP. "The DEP's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) clearly indicated the site has significant historical value and demolition of the buildings would have an adverse impact," John Weber of the Surfrider Foundation said. "I am dumbfounded how SHPO says these buildings should be preserved on site but CAFRA thinks it is OK to move them, even though they don't know where yet." The Preliminary Analysis found the property to contain an erosion hazard area and DEP rules do not allow development in erosion hazard areas, according to the activist groups. "It seems outrageous," Andrew Mencinsky, executive director of the Surfers' Environmental Alliance, said. "The data used to determine the erosion rates were from 1866-1933, and the most recent flood maps are over 30 years old. "With the coming sea level rise, we should be looking forward not backwards with respect to erosion," he added.