BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Members of the zoning board continued to hear testimony on an application that proposes a 16-unit townhouse project on Oct. 26. The applicant is Robert Passarella of Bay Dock Holdings, Lavalette.
Although only five voting members were present for the hearing, attorney Robert Munoz, representing the applicant, agreed to complete testimony that was not heard on Sept. 28. Munoz asked to return in November for a vote on the project. The application is seeking a use variance that would allow Passarella to construct homes in a commercial manufacturing zone on Orchard Street.
Project engineer Steve Atkins reviewed the plan to build 16 townhouses and keep much of the 5-acre parcel as a park-like environment. The two-story townhouses (approximately 1,800 square feet) will most likely have three bedrooms and an attached garage. It is expected the units would be priced in the $300,000 range.
The Orchard Street parcel contains more than 2 acres of wetlands, according to Atkins, who said the plan is to preserve that area.
The engineer reviewed statistics that indicated single-family homes produce about 10.1 motor vehicle trips per day, compared with 5.9 trips per day for people who live in townhouses.
He said a traffic study for the proposed project would be provided during the site plan phase.
Atkins said a study revealed that two streets in the immediate area would be impacted by the project — Marcy and Institute streets. His statistics showed that the completed project would generate between a 5 and 10 percent increase in the number of trips per day in the area.
As part of its request for the use variance, the applicant agreed to repair parts of Orchard Street and Railroad Avenue.
One change Atkins noted last week was the treatment of open space at the project site. Plans initially called for the open space to be deeded to and maintained by the borough. Atkins said plans now call for open space on the tract to be maintained by the residents of the development through a homeowners association. He said this change will eliminate any cost to the borough.
The number of bedrooms planned for the Orchard Street townhouses concerned some residents, including Board of Education President Pete DeFonzo. He asked the members of the zoning board to consider the impact that the construction of 16 townhouses could have on borough schools.
“Our enrollment has grown 30 percent in the last five years and no new homes have been built here. We are already bursting at he seams. Consider what this will do to the taxpayers,” DeFonzo said.
Atkins said the “bedroom mix” was not definite, but that it would have some bearing on the ability to maintain the cost of the homeowners association.
Conversely, Gregory Hauke, who is building 10 single-family homes across the street from the proposed Bay Dock Holdings project, said he believes the townhouse project is a “no lose deal.”
“This area has been a disaster for years,” Hauke said. “I had to put up fences on both sides of my property because it became a dumping ground for debris, as well as a haven for drugs. Our police constantly have problems there. We don’t have problems where houses exist. I think this is a very positive step.”
In addition to the 10 single-family homes that Hauke is building, new single-family homes are being built off Institute Street in a project coordinated by Habitat for Humanity.
Those homes will be sold to people who are helping to build the dwellings as part of what Habitat calls its “sweat equity” program.
The Habitat homes will be on a road that has been designated as E Street — a nod to the fact that Freehold native Bruce Springsteen lived for a time on adjoining Institute Street. Springsteen’s 30-year-old group the E Street Band takes its name from E Street in Belmar.