New plan before council centers on preservation

One proposed rezoning
cuts building density
in half over 5,400 acres

By tara petersen
Staff Writer

New plan before council
centers on preservation
One proposed rezoning
cuts building density
in half over 5,400 acres
By tara petersen
Staff Writer

MONROE — A new master plan designed to ensure that more open space is preserved is now before the Township Council.

The council voted Monday to introduce the new master plan recently approved by the township’s Planning Board. One objective in the new plan is to "retain 50 percent of the township" as open space, and in the process preserve environmentally sensitive areas and farmland.

A crucial element of the plan is a zone change from requiring 3 acres per home to requiring 6 acres per home. Officials said this change affects approximately 5,400 acres surrounding Federal Road from Cranbury to Manalapan townships. The zone would be called the Rural Residential Farmland Preservation, or RR-FLP zone.

Other changes include provisions for establishing new "neighborhood commercial" areas, smaller planned retirement communities (PRCs), and more public land, open space and farmland preservation. Also, it proposes 10 new traffic lights, several road improvements, and extensive biking and walking paths.

"Our aim is to preserve far into the future at least 50 percent of open space in the town," Council President Irwin Nalitt said Monday night. "We are around 36 to 37 percent developed now."

According to officials, nearly 1,000 acres in Monroe have been preserved through various means.

Landowners affected by the new RR-FLP zone can either sell to a developer that would be able to build six homes per acre, or the owner can exercise one of four options outlined in the plan. One option is an easement purchase program in which the owner can "voluntarily agree to sell the development rights" to the government, at which time a permanent deed restriction is placed on the property. The owner can continue to farm the land or sell it, but the property will always remain agricultural.

Nalitt said that the sale of development rights is "at a fair market price" that varies, but can be from $10,000 to $40,000 or more per acre.

With regard to PRCs — several of which have been built in Monroe since the early 1970s — the objective is stated to be to "encourage future PRCs, but at a more moderate scale," with the objective of maintaining a balanced population composition.

One PRC zone is proposed south of Prospect Plains Road near the Cranbury border. It is currently an office professional zone.

There have been some concerns regarding retirement communities. Some caution that the township is becoming too much of a "senior citizen town." The positive aspects are recognized by both sides of the issue — allowing more tax-paying seniors without adding children to the school system, which can result in school tax increases.

"They are a boon to the township," Nalitt said of PRCs. "They provide a solid [tax] ratable without adding to the school burden."

Census figures cited in the master plan show that 53.9 percent of Monroe residents are age 55 and over, compared with the Middlesex County average of 20.8 percent in 2000. The number of persons over the age of 65 in Monroe increased by about 143 percent from 1990 to 2000.

The schools have seen a large enrollment increase, too, growing by more than 40 percent from 1994 to 2002. Because of this rapid growth, the Monroe Township Board of Education is considering a building plan for a new, larger high school, and the conversion of the existing high school to a middle school.

Another area being looked at is the "neighborhood commerce" (NC) zone, which generally allows small shopping centers. The plan reduces the land areas in the NC zones "where the predominate land use is residential." The zone is being reduced at Jamesburg-Helmetta and Bordentown roads, and at Matchaponix Avenue and Gravel Hill Road.

A new NC zone is proposed at Mounts Mills and Spotswood-Englishtown roads. The plan also stipulates that construction in the NC zone should be in line with "village type" developments, rather than strip malls.

One residential area north of Rhode Hall Road would be changed from R-30 to R-60, requiring a minimum of 3 acres per home.

The master plan makes note of possible county open space acquisitions in Monroe, including a Jamesburg Park extension, an area off Longstreet Road and a Monroe Park area, totaling 6,894 acres.

Recommended parks include a 37-acre park at Avenue K and a 15-acre portion of state-owned land along Spotswood-Englishtown Road. According to Township Engineer Ernie Feist, phase one of the Avenue K park should begin this fall, but will take two to three years to complete. The park may include a tot lot, baseball fields and a walking trail, he said.

Other parts of the master plan deal with the reality of the growth in the township. It calls for 10 additional traffic lights and three new fire stations. One fire station would be located near Applegarth Road and Center Drive, another near Applegarth and Cranbury Station/Union Valley roads, and a third on Avenue K.

Of the 10 traffic lights under consideration, four are currently being planned, according to Nalitt. One on Prospect Plains Road, near the entrance to Concordia and Greenbriar at Whittingham, was introduced for first reading at the meeting. Another light would be at Applegarth and Cranbury Station roads, while two others would be on Perrineville Road, near its intersection with Union Valley Road and at School House Road.

"Just because we ask for a traffic light doesn’t mean it will go up this year or the next," Nalitt said, adding that it takes time to get approval.

According to Feist, the walking and bicycling paths are part of a greater plan by Middlesex County to encourage other forms of transportation. Bicycle paths will follow the road system, while walking trails will tend to go through wooded areas and parks, he said. He also said that the idea is still just a concept plan.