Attorney tells council
developers have sights on 10-acre tract
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Unlike past holiday seasons, there are no wreaths, Christmas trees, ornaments or any other decorations on display at the former site of Frank’s Nursery and Crafts.
The West Long Branch lawn and garden store at 210 Monmouth Road was vacated shortly after the Troy, Mich.-based corporation that owns the building and nursery, declared bankruptcy in September.
Today, it sits quiet, an apparent victim of economic downtown. However, one local resident who is also an attorney and land-use expert has indicated to borough officials, that the land could be developed for age-restricted housing, if the Planning Board permits.
“Several serious builders” are looking at purchasing the approximately 10-acre tract holding the Frank’s building and greenhouse, according to borough resident Peter S. Falvo Jr., an attorney with the law firm of Ansell, Zaro, Grimm and Aaron, Ocean Township
Speaking as a resident during the public portion of a Dec. 1 Borough Council meeting, Falvo revealed that many developers have contacted his firm to find out how to go about buying the land from the defunct retailer in order to construct housing limited to empty nesters at least 55 years of age, Falvo said.
“Virtually every builder has indicated they would like to develop [the Frank’s site] for age-restricted housing,” Falvo told Mayor Paul Zambrano and the council.
The land where Frank’s sits is presently zoned for office/professional use, Falvo acknowledged. Nonetheless, the borough should modify the existing master plan to allow for a possible upscale, age-restricted community, which could consist of as many as 30 to 40 units to be owned by the occupants, Falvo suggested.
As an alternative, Falvo recommended creating an “overlay zone” to permit age-restricted or active-adult housing as well as office/professional zone uses.
Presently, no offer is on the table as the Frank’s, as a corporate entity, will not put the property on the market until after it appears in a New York City bankruptcy court next Tuesday, Falvo explained.
Still, he advised the council to work with the borough Planning Board to try to accommodate any builder who would present a proposal for active-adult housing.
Because generally no children under age 18 are allowed to reside in age-restricted communities, such a development would add to the municipal tax base without adding new students to the local school system, Falvo explained.
In addition, the borough presently does not have any active-adult housing, a situation that causes many empty nesters living in West Long Branch to move to municipalities where such communities exist, he continued.
As many as 10 units, possibly taking the form of three-story townhouses, could be constructed on each of the 10 to 11 acres included in the Frank’s tract, Falvo predicted.
Additionally, the self-contained community would pay taxes but not drain municipal services such as snowplowing or street cleaning because those services would be provided by an on-site homeowners association, Falvo continued. Other age-restricted communities in other municipalities charge an association fee to homeowners to provide those services, he noted.
With all of those pluses, the borough should do whatever it takes to allow any interested builder to use the Frank’s site for an active-adult community rather than seek another commercial use, Falvo pointed out.
Though an office or commercial user would pay taxes, it would still generate more vehicular traffic, he added.
“You could have a very nice development in there with 30 to 40 homes,” Falvo said.
As an example of what he had in mind, Falvo pointed to Nobility Crest, a 120-unit active-adult community now under construction on about 10 acres off Route 66 in the Wayside section of Ocean Township.
That townhouse and condominium community, now being built by The Jerald Development Group of Wall Township, even has its own concierge, he noted.
“Each unit is taxed. It’s all age-restricted,” Falvo said.
In an interview after the meeting, Falvo declined to indicate if Jerald Development has inquired to his firm about the Frank’s property. He would also not disclose the names of any interested developers who have approached his firm about that site.
Prices for the condominium units in the gated Nobility Crest begin in the “low $300s,” according to Jerald Development’s Web site.
Zambrano, who as mayor, also serves on the Planning Board, welcomed Falvo’s comments and agreed that age-restricted housing could be a positive, clean ratable for the borough.
“I for one am for it,” Zambrano said. “Residents have said they wish that there was age-restricted housing here.”
Also speaking during the public portion, resident Joseph Hughes, of Pinewood Avenue, agreed that an adult community at the Frank’s site would be more beneficial to the borough than commercial development.
Hughes, president of the West Long Branch Coalition of Neighbors, a citizens group whose members oppose building expansion plans by nearby Monmouth University, urged borough officials to maintain or modify the master plan to allow age-restricted housing.
“Housing for the aged is good,” Hughes said. “An office/professional use in that area would be a lot more of an anathema.”
Frank’s, which owns 169 locations in 14 states, has entered into a $27.5 million debtor-in-possession liquidation agreement with Kimco Capital Corp., according to a press release on the company’s Web site. Upon approval of the bankruptcy court, Franks’ will begin selling off its stores, real estate and property interests, the Web site states.

