More than 100 residents pack room to hear plans that would increase minimum lot sizes in Upper Freehold.
By: Scott Morgan
UPPER FREEHOLD More than 100 residents packed the room to hear the Planning Board’s recommendations last week on proposed Master Plan changes that would increase minimum lot sizes in 95 percent of the township.
In the first of what Planning Board Chairman Richard Stern said would be several public hearings regarding the Master Plan review, Township Planner Richard Coppola on Dec. 13 introduced to the public the information he and the township have compiled regarding increasing minimum lot sizes from 2 acres to 4 acres.
Mr. Coppola said the Planning Board’s current recommendations were developed from those of the Master Plan Subcommittee, which has reviewed the issue in recent months, as well as state recommendations.
Mr. Coppola said the Planning Board recognizes both sides of the arguments concerning lot resizing, citing both the environmentally fragile nature of the land and the approximately 55 percent increase in population since 1980, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
He cited the market demand for housing, the lack of buildable land, the lack of accessible land and the overall trend toward raising zoning requirements as reasons for looking into changing minimum lot acreage.
Mr. Coppola spoke also of the need to re-evaluate land and water use based on input from the state Department of Environmental Protection. He said the DEP currently is assessing the cumulative impact of septic systems on the environment and the minimum amount of land necessary to support septic systems.
Giving what he referred to as the highlights of the recommendations, Mr. Coppola said the analysis of the township’s existing land use indicates the "rural, agricultural character of Upper Freehold Township." This agricultural distinction is not academic, he said, since Upper Freehold is the northern-most active farming community in the state and that agricultural/rural (AR) zones make up the majority of the township’s land.
Current figures estimate AR zones to consist of approximately 22,000 acres, comprised of 1,688 lots of an average 12.88 acres each. This translates to roughly 95 percent of the township’s land, according to the report.
In his report, Mr. Coppola states, "a most important objective of the township is to safeguard, maintain and promote its prevailing rural, agricultural character." With that objective, Mr. Coppola’s report recommends increasing AR lot sizes from 2 acres to 4 acres, based on some key findings.
Regarding 4-acre zoning, Mr. Coppola’s report said that approximately 64 percent of the township’s lots would be undersized, and, therefore, undevelopable in the AR district. However, roughly 93 percent of the overall acreage would be buildable in the AR zones under 4-acre zoning.
Mr. Coppola said, however, that with the rezoning of the AR districts, the township should provide density bonuses "via a Farmland/Open Space Conservation cluster option" to owners of at least 150 acres of land. These landowners, in turn, would have to agree to permanently deed-restrict at least 65 percent of the overall land as farmland or open space. The 150 acres, he said, could be a single parcel or several lots equal to 150 acres or more.
Other proposed zoning changes include redefining the existing village neighborhood area along Yardville-Allentown Road as a community commercial district and changing the existing highway development area, which sits near Exit 8 of Route 195 to a new regional commercial district that would include expanded land areas on both sides of the interchange.
Village neighborhood refers to an area requiring sewers and apartments, whereas community commercial outlines more shops and small businesses, according to Committeeman and Planning Board member Bill Miscoski. Mr. Coppola said regional commercial zoning means the district could cultivate retail development and permit banks, drive-in facilities, offices, restaurants, hotels and motels.