Beazer Homes neighbors will analyze firm’s ideas for housing development

At upcoming meetings, neighbors will respond with counterproposals as they and Beazer attempt to reach consensus on a development proposal.

By John Tredrea
   A sewer line, a community building and setting aside some land for open space by clustering development were among the amenities Beazer Homes says it could provide in a series of preliminary development proposals for three southern Hopewell Township tracts.
   The sewer line would be for Diverty Road and a portion of Route 31 between Diverty and I-95. The community building could be used for recreation or senior citizens.
   Beazer unveiled the proposals Tuesday night during the latest in a series of meetings with neighbors of the three tracts. At upcoming meetings, neighbors will respond with counterproposals as they and Beazer attempt to reach consensus on a development proposal before Beazer takes it to the township Planning Board. The board’s approval is required for Beazer to obtain construction permits.
   Beazer owns 22 commercially zoned acres, just east of Route 31 near Denow Road, which intersects Route 31 midway between I-95 and the Pennington Circle. Beazer also is contract purchaser of two tracts, each about 70 acres, just west of Route 31. Of these two tracts, the Hutchinson tract is behind the Pennington ShopRite and south of Route 546. The Weidel tract is opposite the Denow Road-Route 31 intersection.
   Paul Schneier, president of Beazer’s New Jersey and Pennsylvania division and point man for the firm in the meetings with neighbors, said his firm cannot afford to develop the tracts without sewers, which would allow greater density of development. The sewer service, which would have to be sought by township government and be approved by the county and state, would come from the Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority (ELSA). ELSA already serves Brandon Farms, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Bear Tavern Elementary School, all in southern Hopewell Township.
   Ted Stiles, longtime president of the nonprofit Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space and chairman of the Open Space Advisory Committee, spoke at Tuesday’s meeting. Dr. Stiles, who teachers at Rutgers University, advised the neighbors of the three tracts to consider backing a move to buy Beazer’s two 70-acre tracts, along with another 70-acre tract, known as the Atchley tract, that borders the Weidel property. Dr. Stiles would like to see these lands preserved as open space.
   He said it would be much cheaper to buy the land if it were not sewered, estimating that it would go for about $30,000 per acre if not sewered. He said this would bring the total price of the three 70-acre tracts to $6.4 million and predicted confidently that the township would be reimbursed $5.2 million of that amount by the state Green Acres program, county open space preservation programs and other sources. This means the township’s out-of-pocket expenses for the three tracts — Hutchinson, Weidel and Atchley — would be $1.2 million. However, the township would have to front the full $6.4 million, via a bond ordinance, then wait for the reimbursements to come in, a process that can take years.
   Mr. Schneier said after the meeting that Dr. Stiles’ estimate of $30,000 per acre of unsewered land in Hopewell Township was three or four times too low. Mr. Schneier, whose firm has built several projects in the township, said the going price for an acre of unsewered land in the township is usually around $100,000.
   Meanwhile, the Township Committee, which would have to approve the bond ordinance to buy the three tracts land, is in the midst of a budget crunch serious enough to lead the committee to be considering four layoffs each in the Police and Public Works departments (see separate story) and other cost-cutting moves.
   There is no money left in the township’s open space trust fund, Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom has said.
   After Dr. Stiles finished, Mr. Schneier showed the 30-odd neighbors who attended the meeting a total of eight preliminary development proposals – three each for the commercially zoned and Hutchinson tracts, and two for the Weidel tract. He emphasized that they were only preliminary proposals that could be altered to accommodate upcoming feedback from the neighbors, which will be forthcoming at future meetings.
   "I think we’ll have to go back and forth several times before we can reach a plan on which, hopefully, we reach consensus," Mr. Schneier said.
   The three scenarios for the 22-acre commercially zoned piece would require a rezoning to allow some residential development, Mr. Schneier said. Scenario 1 called for 54 condominiums, 24 townhouses and a 60,000-square-foot building that could be used as a recreation center or senior center. Scenario 2 called for 58 townhouses. Scenario 3 called for 135 condominiums. The condos would be three stories high, with underground parking.
   For the Hutchinson tract, Scenario 1 calls for 160 single-family, age-restricted houses (one resident must be at least 55 in each home). Scenario 2 removes 36 of those houses, to create open space. Scenario 3 would leave half the land open, with 404 condos on the other half.
   For the Weidel tract, Scenario 1 calls for 72 single-family houses, 30 townhouses along the expected right-of-way of Denow Road, a county road that the county administration plans to extend to Reed Road, which is a short distance west of Route 31. Scenario 1 also calls for a 30,000-square-foot building for recreation, seniors or some other community purpose. Scenario 2 on the Weidel tract calls for 77 single-family houses and 52 townhouses. Under this scenario, Mr. Schneier said, enough land for two small lakes could be left open.
   The neighbors will ponder the scenarios as they prepare counterproposals. Mr. Schneier said that, under all the scenarios, Beazer could provide — at its own expense — a sewer line for Diverty Road and southern Route 31. Township Engineer Paul Pogorzelski has said Diverty Road is one of the sections of the township in most urgent need of sewering.