Millstone Master Plan to get another revision

Township Committee votes down Plan A rezoning option.

By: Scott Morgan
   MILLSTONE — On Monday night, the Township Committee shot down its first attempt at revising the township’s Master Plan and quickly ushered in an option allowing for cluster zoning for consideration Wednesday night.
   At a special meeting in the Millstone Elementary School gymnasium, the committee voted down a rezoning option known as Plan A, which would have increased minimum lot sizes from 3 to 10 acres.
   The township has, for over a year, been considering downzoning as a way to control rampant development in Millstone. The Plan A option required a supermajority vote (four out of five committeemen had to vote in favor of it) for this option to pass as-is. The ordinance received only three "yes" votes.
   The stipulation for a supermajority stemmed from legal action by a group of large-parcel landowners known as the Concerned Citizens of Millstone, who said a drastic, sudden increase to 10-acre lots was unfair to large property owners.
   To remedy the controversy, committee and Planning Board officials devised a compromise while reviewing Plan A. The result of the review was Plan B.
   Plan B maintains 10-acre zoning but alters Plan A to include a cluster option. Mayor Bill Nurko said Tuesday that Plan B offers smaller landowners — 10- to 19.9-acre parcel owners would have been hit hardest by increased lot sizes, as they would not be able to subdivide under 10-acre zoning — an option to get one additional lot out of their properties. This, he said, was the compromise so many have asked the committee to develop for months.
   Proponents of Plan A argued that it would, at the very least, stem the flow of subdivision applications coming into the Planning Board office. Since October, when the Planning Board made its final Master Plan revision recommendations to the Township Committee, the number of subdivision applications received each month has increased. This has lead some to speculate that some property owners want to get approval to carve up their land (and thus sell off smaller parts of it) before lot sizes increase. These residents wanted to see Plan A passed and immediately adjusted as necessary.
   The logic in passing Plan A now, argued its champions, is that Plan B would need to be introduced, reviewed by the Planning Board and brought back for public hearing up to a month later. This, they said, allows time for more subdivision applications to flood the Planning Board.
   The other major selling point for Plan A is that it allowed for a maximum 1,345 subdivisions, whereas Plan B allows for 1,590. Mayor Nurko said, however, that these numbers are "a worst-case scenario. Not everybody wants to subdivide," he said.
   "You need to pass the Master Plan tonight, to protect yourself," said Carriage Way resident Rich Mullarky. Enact Plan A now, he said, and adjust it soon, but just get things moving.
   "I don’t trust this Plan A at all," said Red Valley Road’s Peter Boris. "These people," he said of Plan A’s proponents, "are trying to get you to pass this 10-acre thing by jamming it down your throats."
   Chadwick Road resident Gary Dorfman, implored the committee to pass Plan A, saying, "every additional lot essentially becomes a tax increase for all the other citizens in town."
   Route 526 resident David Perlman countered, saying, "I’m tired of hearing these damn people bellyaching about their taxes."
   Gary Mangino, a resident of Beechwood Lane and a member of the special interest group Concerned Citizens of Millstone, added that Plan A would not be true to the township’s announced purpose in the Master Plan revisions — preserving the rural character, rather than saving open space.
   Fountain Way resident Bob Kinsey disagreed.
   "I would like to see you guys tonight pass Plan A," he told the committeemen. Waiting to work on Plan B, he said, would go against the township’s efforts to save that same rural character. Without the foundation of Plan A (which he recommended should be revised immediately after passage), Mr. Kinsey warned, Plan B is subject to too much change as it is reviewed and reoffered to the public.
   Committee sentiments mirrored those of the public. Committeeman John Pfefferkorn, who — along with Mayor Nurko and Committeeman Cory Wingerter — voted "yes" for Plan A, said "something has to be done," preferably immediately. Meanwhile, Committeeman Charles Abate, who voted "no" with Committeeman Chet Halka, said Plan B is a better deal and a better compromise.
   In the end, proponents of Plan A’s passage would be disappointed. The committee was set to introduce Plan B as an ordinance for first reading (no public input) Wednesday, after The Messenger-Press’ Tuesday deadline. Once Plan B is introduced, the ordinance would return to the Planning Board for further review before being offered for public hearing.
   Mayor Nurko said, assuming Plan B was introduced Wednesday, that he expects the public hearing to take place on June 18.