Lowly snakes win out against N.J. developers

They're common in other parts of the country. But in New Jersey, the lowly corn snake and northern pine snake are rare enough to get state protection, and the ability to halt development projects in an already crowded state.

The mere sight of the snakes _ common elsewhere in the country, and even kept as pets _ spurs government bureaucracy into action when it involves a piece of Garden State land slated for development.

The sighting of three corn snakes caused enough additional requirements from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission that Bob Meyer recently gave up plans to develop a 110-home project in Medford.

"I think sometimes we create laws and follow the letter of it, and the bigger picture is forgotten," Meyer told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Sunday newspapers.

But Carleton Montgomery, an advocate for preservation of New Jersey's Pinelands, defended the state standards.

"These snakes are part of the ecosystem and they're a predator in the life of the Pine Barrens," Montgomery said. "If you say, 'Well, there's a healthy population of them in Georgia _ let's get rid of them here,' you'd be removing one of the key pieces of the puzzle in our ecosystem."

Anything that can be done to stop the irresponsible developement going on in this state, I’m all for. The infrastructure and economic makeup of the state cannot support the unrestrained developement. There are not new jobs being created in the developing areas, except for retail, which means that the primary breadwinner has to commute on highways that were overburdoned in the seventies. The developers come in and, with minimal cost, raise the tax liability (in excess of the increase of the tax base) of the community, the cost of which is passed on to existing homeowners. The developer walks away without paying anything near his fair share for the cost of additional classrooms, highway widening and municiple (county and state) services. Impact fees that would cover this are legal, but the political structure in NJ is such that the crooks that run it are wont to pass such laws, as it would effect their “campaign” contributions (both above and below the table).

“But the developers provide jobs.” is a lame justification of the developement. Several of the larger (ie:national and regional) developers promote the establishment of shadow companies that act as subcontractors. Entire carpenter crews are made up of Eastern Europeans and drywall crews made up of Mexicans (legal, illegal? I don’t know) and most of their money leaves the country. There are also a handfull of smaller local developers who will hire small subcontractors, finish a developement, file bankruptcy, pay subs pennies on the dollar, start a new corporation and start the cycle all over again. (most of these are politically connected).

With a population density higher than anywhere else in the country, the idea of allowing the state economy based on housing contruction (they’re not making more land), retail or even warehouses is ridiculous. These are all large land use and offer low volumes of employment. If you want to build a refinary, a steel mill or a factory of any kind, I’m all for it. If you want to bulldoze Camden and rebuild it, feel free.

One more arguement against developement:
WE DON”T NEED ANY MORE LIBERALS FROM PHILLY OR NEW YORK MOVING IN. WE HAVE ENOUGH CROOKS ALREADY.

To:Caipirabob

I’ve lived in New Jersey all my life and have yet to meet any native who spoke with a Brooklyn or Bronx accent. They call it Joisey, we don’t.

3 CORN snakes? They are extremely common. They are apparently holding up the construction because Mother Nature exists now.

I've had corn snakes as pets... they are extrememly gentle and good-natured, as well as attractively colored and marked. My parents finally broke down and allowed me to get my first one because its reputation with children was so good.

I was bitten ONCE, and it was my fault... he wasn't going after his food when I thought he should, and put my hand in the cage to try to remedy the "problem". The bite didn't hurt, but the speed was scary for my 12 year old mind. It barely broke the skin. I had a row of timy red dots on my thumb for about 2 days. The dang parakeet gave me far worse.

(I was actually tempted a few months ago at a pet store to get another one.)

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