Trained as an attorney, I enjoy the alchemy of taking a piece of vacant, neglected land and preparing it for a family home.  Land use laws – especially Pinelands Commission regulations – can deprive landowners of their land.  In some instances, land is effectively condemned by the government. 

            Land is condemned, not in a legal sense, but condemned by the confusion of the process.  Most people just give up and walk away.  My challenge is to break through the regulatory barriers, maximize the economic value of land and bring buyers and sellers closer together.  My goal is to get land approved for its highest and best use.

            I got my start in government working as a research associate for one of the sponsors, Congressman Jim Florio, of the 1978 federal legislation that created the Pinelands National Reserve.  My own political career was highlighted as Chairman of the New Jersey General Assembly Natural Resources Committee.  Most of my legal career has involved working for government, including as a zoning board and land use attorney.

            Understanding the way of government is essential, but my training in biological sciences as an undergraduate at Rutgers University has provided a good background for working through the subjects of wetlands science, soils science and understanding the challenges of Threatened or Endangered (T&E) animal and plant species.