Property in the southwestern section of the township zoned R2 or R3 will fall under a new R5 zoning, increasing the minimum lot size to five acres.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY The Township Committee adopted an ordinance expanding the minimum lot size in the western and southwestern sections of the township by a vote of 4-1 Thursday night, inciting the protest of many landowners.
As a result of the new "downzoning" ordinance, property in the southwestern section of the township zoned R2 or R3, for residential development with minimum lot sizes of two or three acres, will fall under a new R5 zoning, increasing the minimum lot size to five acres. In addition, the five-acre minimum allowed in the MR, or mountain residential zone, will be expanded to 10 acres.
Township Planner Richard Coppola said the zoning changes were designed mainly to reduce the buildup of harmful nitrate compounds leeched from area septic systems into the water table. Larger lot sizes lead to more space between homes and their septic systems.
Increasing the minimum lot size also would help ensure that the area complies with the State Development and Re-development Plan, which places the land designated for downzoning in its rural planning area, according to Mr. Coppola. The designation calls for the preservation of contiguous open space, a goal that would likely be served by larger lot sizes, or more precisely, fewer homes.
Because bigger lots accommodate fewer homes, however, the value of the re-zoned land may plummet, at least in the short-term, according to local landowners, many of whom were in attendance Thursday night to protest the ordinance.
"I hear that this is good for the environment, but I don’t know that that’s true. I haven’t seen any evidence," said Frank Drift. "I’ve lived here 59 years, and I’ve watched this committee steal from the people who live here that care, and the people who still live here do care, or they would have sold out to developers years ago."
Mr. Drift said many of the larger landowners depended on the equity provided by the value of the land under two- or three-acre zoning.
"You’re taking away their retirement," he said. "These people don’t have 401K (plans)."
Another local landowner, William Randolph, said the downzoning would force some to sell their lands to developers to avoid the effects of any more zoning changes.
"The message that the farmers are getting is, ‘Hey, if I stick around for another three years, I could take another equity hit,’ " he said.
The downzoning ordinance, conceived by the Planning Board more than a year and a half ago, had strong bipartisan support, as evidenced by the comments of the chairmen of both the Republican and Democratic municipal organizations, Ted Maciag and Alan Bookman.
"In every case like this you have people who are affected," Mr. Maciag said. "But this is what the people of Montgomery support and have supported."
"We’ve been looking at this issue for years," said Mr. Bookman. "And it’s become clear that this is the right thing to do."
The committee members adopted the ordinance, with Republican Peter Treichler casting the only dissenting vote.
"I feel like the conclusions of this report are sound and the premises valid," he said. "But that said, I’m not going to support this because the magnitude of the increase is unfair to the landowners."
The remaining four members of the committee said they favored the ordinance because it benefited the whole community.
"I know that there’s tension between the farmers and the other landowners, and we don’t take that lightly," said Republican Mark Caliguire. "But there are an overwhelming number of people in the town who support this."