MONROE- Could mean changes in the Master Plan
By: Al Wicklund
MONROE A proposed ordinance that would amend the township’s Master Plan to permit a planned retirement community to be constructed by U.S. Homes in the area around Old Church Road will go to a vote Monday.
The area, bounded by Union Valley, Applegarth and Federal roads, currently is zoned for single-family homes on three-quarter-acre lots.
Township Council’s approval of the proposal is needed to change the zoning. The Planning Board can recommend changes in the zoning map, but any change to the Master Plan comes under the jurisdiction of the Township Council.
The Planning Board passed a recommendation for the new PRC zone Feb. 28. The meeting had a standing-room-only crowd and had many speakers, pro and con, before the board adopted a resolution calling for an amendment to the Master Plan to provide for the retirement community.
That Planning Board meeting took some two hours of discussion.
Since the proposal has come to the council, there has been no comment from the public.
Through the Planning Board process and at a council meeting, Monroe officials have said the current zoning for residences on three-quarter-acre lots would mean 300 to 350 single-family homes 139 of which have been approved for construction by U.S. Homes and hundreds more children for an already crowded school system.
Under the amendment, the community would be constructed in place of the single-family-home development that U.S. Homes currently has planned to be built on the site.
Those opposed to the new PRC said the township’s housing needs more diversity and greater balance.
Monroe currently has five established PRCs Clearbrook, Concordia, Greenbriar at Whittingham, Rossmoor and The Ponds. Two more adult communities are under construction and zoning changes made last year will permit another two.
Several people favored use of the land for open space, but were told by Mr. Feist that it would take $30 to $35 million to purchase the land to keep it from being developed.