Town square hearing
brings new witness
MIDDLETOWN — Witnesses and attorneys bantered back and forth last week over land use issues and whether a variance is ultimately needed to build a town square.
According to Township Planning Director Anthony Mercantante, along with the new witness, William J. Herman, a land development consultant, the third board hearing on the issue drew a crowd of close to 70 at Middletown High School South on the evening of May 23. It also drew debate over wetlands and what should go where in the development and whether any of it needs to go in an industrial zone off Kanes Lane.
The hearings concern whether a variance is warranted for the Mountain Hill Group, LLC, to build a 137.5-acre, $150 million mixed-use development on Route 35 north between Kings Highway East to Kanes Lane.
Only 85 of the 137.5 acres are zoned for the planned development use, which allows a mixed-use town center. Mountain Hill wants all 137.5 acres to encompass the center, saying that the uniform development of it, under the parameters of one rather than two zones is critical to aesthetics and viability. They brought in Herman to attest to that fact, as the professional who came up with the basic layout and mix of uses for the conceptual development, Mercantante said.
The development proposal calls for 742,612 square feet of retail, 232,210 square feet of office, and 203,016 square feet of recreational space and 243 residential units.
Attorney Gary Fox, representing developer Mountain Hill, said granting the variance would make things more consistent and better planned for both developer and residents’ enjoyment, Mercantante said.
He added that attorneys representing opposing factions maintained that the only reason the developer wants the variance is to encroach on wetlands that exist in the 52 acres of industrial zone.
By doing so, they contended, there would be two coups for the developer: the development would be larger, and the open space requirement for the entire tract would be satisfied by counting the estimated 50 percent of wetlands in the industrial zone as open space when, as such, they couldn’t be built on anyway.
Herman estimated granting the variance would actually make the development more contained, Mercantante added, saying Herman talked about other developments he had worked on and why the uses proposed in this one were balanced and laid out the way they were for optimum results.
Opposing attorneys maintained that if certain uses were moved around a little, there wouldn’t be a need for a use variance. Herman contended that doing so would upset the carefully plotted puzzle.
There is another meeting scheduled for June 24 at 7 p.m. at town hall and yet another special meeting on June 26 at High School South at 8 p.m. in an attempt to hasten the process, Mercantante said.