Concerns include septic approval and proximity to N.J. Turnpike.
By: Joseph Harvie
The Planning Board said that it needed more information before making recommendations to Morris Realty Associates’ about a concept plan to build 76 houses on the 220-acre Van Dyke farm.
Frank Petrino, the attorney for the applicant, said the hearing, Wednesday, was held so that ideas about the proposal could be shared before a full site plan is filed with the township.
The Van Dyke farm is a 220-acre farm between Deans Rhode Hall and Davidsons Mill roads that stretches from Pigeon Swamp State Park to the N.J. Turnpike. The farm is owned by Walter Pulda of Piscataway and Joe Morris has a contract to purchase the property.
In November 2004, Mr. Morris approached the Township Council to change the zoning of the property from rural residential to industrial so three warehouses could be built on the property, a proposal that was rejected by the council. Since then, he filed the concept plan to put 76 houses on the property. He has also filed an application with the state to preserve the farm.
Residents from the eastern section of the township near its border with East Brunswick and Monroe formed the citizens group the Eastern Villages Association whose main goal is to preserve the farm.
About 30 members of EVA were at the Planning Board meeting Wednesday, but did not speak.
The concept plan calls for 59 of the houses to be built on 2-acre parcels and the remaining 17 to be built on 3-acre lots. There would be two entrances to the development, about 2,000 feet apart, on Davidsons Mill Road, according to the concept plan. The plan also showed that two retention basins would be built on the western most portion of the site.
The only comments the board had about the plan were their concerns about 76 septic units that would be needed because township sewer service does not reach that section of the township. However there is a 16-inch water line that runs along Davidsons Mill Road that would provide water for the site Mr. Petrino said.
Planning board Chairman Robert Southwick said construction or site work on the project is far off because the applicant would need to get state Department of Environmental Protection permits to place 76 septic systems in the property. He said that anytime there are 50 or more septic systems proposed DEP approval is needed before construction can start.
Mayor Frank Gambatese said a wetlands delineation would also be needed because the site abuts the Pigeon Swamp State Park, a 1,078 state park that is not open to the public and runs between Davidsons Mill and Deans Rhode Hall roads. The Pigeon Swamp is a Category 1 protected waterway that cannot have any upstream stormwater runoff running into it, according to the DEP.
Board member Jo Hochman said she was concerned because several of the houses had property lines that abut the N.J. Turnpike. Ms. Hochman said she would recommend that none of the houses be built to abut the toll road. Mr. Southwick said the township had already received a letter from the N.J. Turnpike stating that it wouldn’t construct sound walls near the proposed site.