contribute $250K for commuter lot planned on Route 9
Hovnanian to
contribute $250K for commuter lot planned on Route 9
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
After a long and often frustrating attempt to reach a decision acceptable to two different neighborhoods, the Old Bridge Planning Board voted 6-2 Tuesday to allow K. Hovnanian Cos. Northeast to build 386 homes.
The homes represent the second and final phase of the incomplete Oakwoode development.
A major aspect of the approved plan calls for Prest’s Mill Road to be extended past a lengthened Overhill Drive in the newer Oakwoode subdivision. Prest’s Mill Road, currently a dead end, will then become a cul-de-sac.
From that point, a gravel-covered dirt road accessible to emergency vehicles only will be constructed and will connect to one of the still-unnamed streets in Oakwoode.
The decision to extend Prest’s Mill Road into a cul-de-sac and permit construction of the emergency access road between the existing Lakeridge West development and the proposed Oakwoode addition is intended as a compromise to please residents of two neighborhoods, board members said. It supplants Hovnanian’s original plan to extend Prest’s Mill Road to an as-yet unconstructed portion of Trans-Old Bridge Road.
The alternative plan was suggested to the board by Township Engineer John Vincente to allow Hovnanian to complete the unfinished Oakwoode development and still appease approximately 50 Lakeridge West residents vocal in their opposition to the extension of the currently dead-ended Prest’s Mill Road.
Vincente presented the alternative plan following a public portion that ran over two hours and the summations by Hovnanian’s legal counselors, Paul C. Pawlowski and Donald R. Daines. All expert testimony from Hovnanian’s engineers, planners and traffic consultants was completed at the previous hearing on July 30.
The board’s granting of the preliminary and final subdivision allows Edison-based Hovnanian to construct the 386 homes south of Lakeridge West and between Prest’s Mill, Oakland and Spring Valley roads. The subdivision will be comprised of 200 single-family homes and 186 townhouses, including 38 affordable units.
Those 38 affordable housing units are necessary to satisfy the township’s Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) requirements, Daines has said.
As a major condition of board approval, Hovnanian agreed to complete a punch list of items left undone in the existing Oakwoode subdivision and its neighboring Spring Knolls development, both located between Trans-Old Bridge and Oakland roads. The previous developer, an entity of the Kaplan Organization, abandoned the paving of road surfaces and other projects after declaring bankruptcy several years ago.
Consequently, residents of those two developments have complained of unfinished streets, flooded back yards and sinkholes on their properties for over a decade since the homes were completed.
Now that Hovnanian has received approval, it will purchase the property from the previous developer, said Planning Board Chairman Roman Sohor.
Sohor, who cast one of the two opposing votes, welcomed the opportunity to finally resolve the conditions experienced by the Spring Knolls and existing Oakwoode neighborhoods.
However, Sohor also pointed out that he did not want the problems of Spring Knolls and Oakwoode to be resolved at the expense of extending Prest’s Mill Road and consequently increase traffic in the Lakeridge West development.
"As a board member, if you try to do something good for one group of people, you try not to do harm to another," Sohor told the approximately 100 residents of all three developments in attendance.
Addressing the qualms of Lakeridge West residents that constructing the homes and extending Prest’s Mill Road would add traffic to their neighborhood, Sohor explained the board’s quandary.
"I don’t want to see traffic worsened in any area," Sohor said. "By its nature, this development is going to do some of that.
"As a board we need to minimize some of the implications of that," he pointed out.
Board member Charles Mannino joined Sohor’s opposition. In casting his vote, Mannino agreed with residents who complained that the township was being over-built by developers who often file lawsuits if planning boards do not approve applications. He urged them to contact their legislators to try persuade courts and judges not to rule in favor of developers.
Mayor Barbara Cannon, who voted in favor of the application, thanked the residents for their input and interest. She noted the telephone calls and e-mails her office had received regarding the matter.
Among the numerous other conditions that the applicant must meet are the funding of construction of a connector bridge over wetlands on Spring Valley Road. Hovnanian has reportedly applied for state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection permits required to construct that bridge. That bridge will allow residents of the newer Oakwoode area to access Route 9 via Spring Valley Road.
Hovnanian is also obligated to contribute $250,000 toward the construction of a township-owned commuter parking lot planned for Route 9 and Inverness Drive.
As another condition of approval, the developer must provide a barrier of pine trees between the property line of Lakeridge West’s private swim club and recreational facility on Cymbeline Drive and a residence planned for Overhill Road in Oakwoode. That condition came when Lakeridge West residents complained that constructing the new homes would impede upon the privacy of their swim club.
Hovnanian representatives stated that paving and repairs of the roads in the existing Oakwoode and Spring Knolls developments could begin in late September. However, those repairs will not begin until after the board memorializes the application as scheduled for a special meeting on Tuesday night.