Freehold Twp. board delays
townhouse hearing until Aug.
By PAUL GODINO
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The Planning Board has delayed proceedings on an application filed by Hovbilt Inc. to build Adelphia Greens II, a townhouse development on Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524).
Adelphia Greens II will consist of 96 townshouses to be built in Freehold Township along the Howell border. Adelphia Greens, a community of about 200 townhouses, has been built in Howell along Route 524 and Wycoff Road.
Initially scheduled to be heard July 19, the Adelphia Greens II hearing was cancelled due to a misunderstanding of township policy by the applicant. According to township policy, plans must be submitted to the planning office for review 10 business days prior to a Planning Board meeting in order for them to be ready by the scheduled meeting.
In this case the plans were updated and said to address several concerns that had been expressed by township professionals about previous plans they had viewed. Planning Board officials said the updated plans were delivered to the township short of the required time.
As a result, board Vice Chairman John Mascone, sitting in for chairman Robert McGirr, who was disqualified from the issue, started to read a list of concerns provided by the professionals in their reports to the board.
At that point township Committeeman Raymond Kershaw, who sits on the board, asked why the case was being heard when there were still so many technical issues that needed to be worked out between the applicant and the town’s professional staff.
Hovbilt attorney Peter Buchsbaum said the applicant had submitted the updated plans that addressed many of the issues. However, since the plans arrived too close to the meeting date they were not reviewed by township representatives and there were no reports from the professionals stating that the changes satisfactorily addressed their concerns.
Buchsbaum requested that his client be allowed to proceed with the presentation because the applicant had prepared several witnesses to testify on the site plans.
Initially, the board granted Buchsbaum’s request, although several board members disagreed and said they believed the hearing should be postponed.
"I think it would put you at a disadvantage to go ahead at this point," said Mayor Dorothy Avallone, who sits on the board. "We are very confused with all of this and there’s no way we can track and go back and forth."
Buchsbaum agreed to postpone the meeting so the plans could be reviewed by the township and so any outstanding concerns could be addressed.
Many of the issues of concern surround the planned extension of Halls Mill Road through the Adelphia Greens II property. The applicant said final specifications of that road — which were not received — are necessary in order to address the concerns of the town’s professionals in areas such as parking and the sewer system.
Township Assistant Planner Guy Leighton also said the applicant will be required to seek two variances. One is because the proposed townhouses will be two stories plus a loft, which exceeds the township’s two-story height limit. The other variance is needed because the plans show 10 townhouses in several of the proposed buildings, exceeding the limit of eight units per building.
Buchsbaum said his client disagrees with town’s position that variances are required and said the reasons supporting that contention will be presented at the public hearing, which has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16.
In other news, Planning Board members voted 6-3 to deny Ronardi Freehold Enterprises the right to amend plans at the Mount’s Corner shopping center, Route 537 and Wemrock Road, to include a 50,000-square-foot Acme supermarket. Avallone and Planning Board member Robert Shortmeyer, who missed previous meetings on this issue, were eligible to vote after listening to tapes of the meetings they had missed. Shortmeyer voted in favor of the resolution (to deny the supermarket) with Mascone, Kershaw, McGirr, Jack Allen and Richard Gatto. Avallone voted against the resolution with Helen Ward and Joseph Louro.
"I think this plan is superior to the original plan," Avallone said. "I think the developer has been more than cooperative with the Planning Board, the township and with the neighbors, especially the Raintree residents. The people who were here before us 30, 35 and 40 years ago didn’t want us either. But you know what? We’re all here."
Board members also heard reports concerning the Freehold Township Board of Education’s Long Term Facilities Plan, which include the construction of a new elementary school on Wemrock Road at the Route 537 intersection. The reports stated that the plans were in accordance with all planning and zoning ordinances, and a positive resolution will be voted on at the next meeting.

