BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
JACKSON — As the clock ticks down to the election of a new form of government in Jackson, the old one continues to ponder changes to the township’s zoning.
A bipartisan subcommittee consisting of Democratic Mayor Sean Giblin and Republican Committeeman Mark Seda will be meeting a second time with rep-resentatives of developer Mitch Leigh, possibly at the end of this month, according to Leigh spokesman Tom Bovino.
Leigh seeks Township Committee approval to rezone the site of Leigh at Jackson, a 1,641-home residential development on West Commodore Boulevard that the Planning Board granted preliminary approval to build in 1989.
The site is across the street from Jackson Commons, Leigh’s 2.9-million-square-foot commercial development which was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in December 2004.
The Planning Board twice denied Leigh final approval to build a 130-home subdivision known as Leigh at Jackson. Board members and the panel’s professionals cited inadequate and late submissions of traffic and environmental studies in 2004 and again in December 2005, despite a court order to reconsider the plan.
Although Leigh has maintained through his attorney, Raymond Shea, as well as Bovino, that he will continue to litigate in order to retain his right to build what current zoning permits, his representatives maintain that Leigh would forego plans to build a residential development with three- and four-bedroom homes in exchange for a rezoning of the site to Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND).
At stake is the possible fate of MythFaire, an entertainment theme park that could turn Jackson into one of the state’s pre-eminent tourist destinations, according to Bovino.
Bovino said a TND rezone would enable Leigh to realize his vision of building a downtown area that would echo design elements of Palmer Square in Princeton, for example, while bearing the individual creative stamp of the award-winning developer.
The change in zoning would also enable Leigh to design the project with enough open space to accommodate MythFaire’s requirements, said Bovino.
“If the town leaders wanted us to provide land for purchase by MythFaire executives, we would be open to that possibility under the concept of a Traditional Neighborhood Develop-ment,” he said on Jan. 9. “Absent that, we would be using all the land available under the town’s existing zoning. We proposed new zoning that we hope would enable us to free up land for MythFaire or anything else the town would propose.”
Bovino emphasized that Leigh has not met with any representatives of MythFaire.
According to MythFaire Chief Exec-utive Officer Michael Hamilton, who spoke with the Tri-Town News in 2005, the footprint for the entertainment theme park would be between 300 and 400 acres. However, Hamilton said that as much as 600 acres would be needed to build hotels, water parks and other attractions located on the frontage of the site. That additional land could come from the site of Leigh at Jackson, were it to be rezoned to TND, according to Bovino.
Leigh’s property would provide the ideal environment for MythFaire, Hamilton said on Jan. 8. Close enough to public roads, the site is still relatively secluded, which would help create the fantasy for visitors that they are being transported to another time and place.
Although MythFaire sites are under construction, none has ever been built. The concept would provide interactive entertainment that contains fantasy as well as historical re-enactments.
Jackson’s retail consultant Barry Lefkowitz said on Jan. 6 that MythFaire itself could become a reality for Jackson as well as the many other entertainment parks that would also be built on Leigh’s property if the town’s governing body elects to rezone both.
Jackson Commons, where MythFaire is being proposed for construction, is currently not zoned for the project and would require the committee’s action to rezone it for that purpose, said Bovino.
Lefkowitz said the change in zoning would benefit the town both commercially and fiscally.
“We have the master plan for MythFaire, RexPlex, an indoor water theme park offering year-round entertainment, and Field of Dreams (an indoor baseball facility), a 300-room hotel and a 15,000- to 25,000-square-foot conference center,” Lefkowitz said.
He also said MythFaire would be open year-round.
Six Flags Great Adventure, Route 537, which for more than 30 years has operated as Jackson’s largest commercial ratable, is open full-time only during the spring and summer. The rest of the year, the entertainment park is open on a part-time, seasonal basis.
Lefkowitz said that Fameco, a real estate development firm headquartered in Conshohocken, Pa., would help broker a deal between MythFaire and Leigh.
“Fameco will handle the retail and commercial end of it, which is being negotiated now,” he said. “The number of jobs created could be around 1,000 to 2,000, which will be great for our community. [Specially trained] people will be brought in, but it will still provide great opportunities to Jackson” residents seeking employment.
“We hope to be able to build MythFaire in Jackson, but it’s a long road to breaking ground,” Hamilton said. “The current form of government in Jackson is very supportive and very helpful and is trying to provide a successful scenario to the whole thing.”
Hamilton said he hoped that a decision could be reached as soon as this spring.
“I don’t know who’s going to be running the town come July, but the current government is trying very hard to do the right thing,” Hamilton said. “We at MythFaire are hopeful that the way will become clear to develop in Jackson by all parties concerned by April. That doesn’t mean we will be breaking ground, but that we will get the go signal. If that’s so, we’re coming.”