New master plan tightens
town’s grip on new homes
By tara petersen
Staff Writer
A new master plan is in place calling for more open space preservation and a slower rate of development in parts of Monroe.
The Township Council adopted the updated plan at its Aug. 4 meeting. It pursues more farmland preservation, open space, parks, and walking and bicycling paths, while allowing for a new age-restricted development zone, 10 new traffic lights and the careful planning of commercial zones.
"The design is that 50 percent of Monroe would stay green forever," Councilman John Riggs said Monday.
A crucial element of the plan is a zone change from requiring 3 acres per home to 6 acres per home. Officials said this change affects approximately 5,400 acres surrounding Federal Road, spanning the area between the township’s border with Cranbury to Manalapan.
"This affects around 20 percent of the township," Riggs said.
The new zone is called the Rural Residential Farmland Preservation, or RR-FLP zone.
Landowners within the zone will be given incentives to sell the development rights on their properties to the township, ensuring the land will remain agricultural.
The low-density housing requirement also discourages developers from building in the RR-FLP zone.
Developers who buy a 60-acre parcel in this zone, for example, would now be limited to building 10 houses rather than 20. Clustering is encouraged, however, so that each home can be put on a plot as small as a half-acre, taking up only 5 of the 60 acres in that example. The remaining land can be dedicated as preserved open space.
Another option would be for a farmer to sell his development rights to a developer with the idea that the rights are transferable. In the same 60-acre example, the 10 homes allowed in the zone could be built on land the developer owns elsewhere in the township, which would in effect increase the allowable housing density of the designated building site. However, the farmland would be entirely preserved.
The master plan also states that Planned Retirement Communities (PRCs) should be encouraged at a slower pace. Only one PRC zone, south of Prospect Plains Road near the Cranbury border, was created as part of the new master plan.
Other parts of the plan include increasing areas available for active recreation. Recommended parks include a 37-acre park at Avenue K, and a 15-acre portion of state-owned land along Spotswood-Englishtown Road. Walking and bicycling paths are tentatively planned throughout the township as part of a greater countywide plan.
The Neighborhood Commerce (NC) zones, which generally allow small shopping centers, were examined more closely in relation to existing residences. The amount of land included in the NC zones at both Jamesburg-Helmetta and Bordentown roads, and at Matchaponix Avenue and Gravel Hill Road, is being reduced in size since they are adjacent to residential areas. An NC zone was added, however, at Mounts Mills and Spotswood-Englishtown roads. The NC zone was also changed to encourage more village-type developments rather than strip malls.
Four of 10 traffic lights proposed by the plan are currently under consideration. Those lights would be located on Prospect Plains Road, at Applegarth and Cranbury Station roads, at Perrineville and Union Valley roads, and at Perrineville and School House roads.
If all 10 signals are eventually installed, it would double the number of lights currently in the township.
Riggs said growth in the township is expected, and has been steady over the last several years.
"(Monroe) is extremely desirable in terms of location. We have the next to lowest tax rate in the county, the lowest crime rate in the county and very good schools," Riggs said.
Officials estimate that the township is around 36-percent developed. With the adoption of the new plan, the goal of keeping at least 50 percent as open space is almost guaranteed, officials said.