Ponderloge Tract

Audubon opposes golf course on Cape site
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, March 9, 2006

LOWER TOWNSHIP — The New Jersey Audubon Society is going on the offensive against turning the 239-acre Ponderlodge tract into a public golf course.

Eric Stiles, the society's Vice-President for Conservation, said in an interview this week that golf courses are too environmentally unsound to be on lands managed by the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife. The bankrupt Ponderlodge Golf Course was recently bought by the state Green Acres Program with the intention to turn it over to the division to manage.

“It's not the Division of Fish, Wildlife and Golfing,” Stiles said. “It's the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Stiles said golf courses “pump tons of water” and use toxic chemicals that “turn male frogs into female frogs.” He said the golf course now is a “biological wasteland,” but the division would turn it into a “wildlife oasis.”

Stiles said the society, which has 23,000 members in the state, including 3,000 in the 1st Legislative District that includes the township, will oppose local civic groups that want a public golf course on the property.

The society supports a Fish and Wildlife proposal to turn the tract into a bird sanctuary and public park. Stiles said he would even support active recreational uses such as bicycle riding and not just passive recreation such as nature observation. A park, Stiles said, could be used by everybody, while most people do not play golf.

“I'm middle class. I can't afford to go to a golf course, but I can take my kids to the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge or the Forsythe Refuge.”

“I'm asking for a park for people and at no cost to the residents. If somebody comes to your home for Christmas dinner, parks a Cadillac in your driveway and gives you the keys, you don't yell at them for not bringing a bottle of wine,” Stiles said.

The offensive comes a week before a public meeting where the future of the Ponderlodge tract will be discussed by local civic groups and state lawmakers, including Republican state Sen. Nicholas Asselta and Democratic Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, both of whom represent Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic. The meeting is at 7 p.m. March 15 at Township Hall in the Villas.

Mayor Walt Craig and 12 local civic groups, representing more than 4,000 people, are pushing for a public golf course. Craig hopes to get township revenue from a public course and have affordable green fees, perhaps $35 in winter and $55 in summer, which is much cheaper than most area courses.

“My first goal is to have it still maintained as a golf course with the understanding we bring in a professional to run it. There is an 18-hole golf course there that people are used to playing,” Craig said.

A park and birding area would increase local property values and bring money into the local economy, Stiles argues. While “the golf trend” is declining, Stiles said, nature-based tourism is increasing rapidly.

He also notes the property, because it is within the southern 10 kilometers of Cape May County, an internationally famous area for migrating birds, would be a key acquisition for wildlife. People would come to see this wildlife.

“It is truly a field of dreams. Build it and they will come. It's a home run for wildlife and the local economy,” Stiles said.

Craig is not convinced. He said birders by and large stay in Cape May and eat their meals in the Victorian resort, even if they would drive to Ponderlodge to bird.

“Maybe they will run to Papa John's for a pizza and make Ernie happy,” Craig joked, referring to Papa John's owner, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano.

The mayor, however, has a back-up plan. If the state will not allow golf, he at least wants the Ponderlodge core area — which includes a clubhouse, lake and Olympic-sized swimming pool — for a municipal park and conference center. He would also like to open a new entrance to Cape May Beach residents.

Asselta said he is coming to next Wednesday's meeting to listen.

“The meeting is to find out where everybody wants to be on this. The reason we want a meeting is to nail down the public usage,” Asselta said.

Van Drew said he doubts a public golf course will happen unless Cape May County decides it wants one. Van Drew had supported preserving the property and now that that is done, he wants to hear the consensus on what to do with it.

“If we have everybody on the same page, we will throw some weight to try and do that,” Van Drew said.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:RDegener@pressofac.com