Town acts to advance TDR, other projects

Plan endorsement from the Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth will help the township with a number of development issues.

By: Charlie Olsen
   The township is filing for plan endorsement with the Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth, a move that is expected to help advance a number of projects, including the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program, the Town Center, the Transit Village and the Route 206 Bypass.
   Plan endorsement is required to enact a TDR program, and to obtain certification from the Council on Affordable Housing for third-round affordable housing requirements, according to the resolution authorizing the filing that was passed by the Township Committee Tuesday night..
   "Through my experience as director of planning for the Office of Smart Growth, I think it should sail right through the process," said Committeeman Paul Drake. "Our Master Plan is probably premier in the state."
   According to Mr. Drake, plan endorsement also will give Hillsborough a higher priority for grants and funding, streamlined permit reviews and greater access to coordinated state services for projects such as the Town Center and the Transit Village.
   "I think this will give the town a leg up on getting grants from the state as well as technical expertise from state offices," Mr. Drake said.
   The plan endorsement will extend the township’s deadline for preparing and implementing a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan until Oct. 16, 2008.
   Mr. Drake also reported that the township had received a $27,825 check for Town Center design charrettes, or workshops, in the spring.
   The plan endorsement also makes good on a statement made in an Oct. 17 resolution sent to Trenton opposing the "no-build" option for the bypass.
   The resolution called for a rejection of Montgomery Township’s alternatives and emphasized Hillsborough’s commitment to smart growth and planning, the DOT’s commitment to a June 2008 start date, and stated the township would seek plan endorsement.
   "This will help the bypass move forward more quickly," Mr. Drake said. "The DOT looks at plan endorsement as an indication that we are doing good work."
   Plan endorsement also is a necessity for implementing the TDR program.
   TDR focuses development by allowing developers to buy credit from a sending area — a low-density open space or farmland zone — and use it to build at a higher density in the receiving area, effectively retiring the sending area property in perpetuity.
   The township was awarded a $40,000 grant Nov. 8 by the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Bank Board — an arm of the State Agriculture Development Committee. Combined with a $50,000 grant from the Office of Smart Growth, the money will be used to pay a consultant to prepare the program.
   Bidding on the consultant contract ends this Friday.
   The consultant that the township selects will appraise properties in both the sending and receiving areas and assign credits to each.
   Once the credits have been established, the consultant will develop a plan and an ordinance to implement it, which will be submitted to the State Planning Commission. Other required planning activities include preparation of a utility service plan element, a real estate analysis and a capital improvement program to ensure the receiving area will have the capacity to accommodate the increased growth.
   The TDR Bank Board will provide Hillsborough Township with a $20,000 check up front that represents the first installment in the planning assistance grant.
   After it has developed a TDR ordinance and submitted it to the State Planning Commission, the township will be will be eligible for the remaining $20,000.
   Hillsborough intends to implement a TDR program to preserve its agricultural district — which includes approximately 4,200 acres in active agricultural use — and the Sourland Mountain region in the western portion of the township, as well as approximately 4,600 acres of farmland elsewhere in the township.
   Development will be directed to the proposed mixed-use Town Center at the crossroads of Route 206 and Amwell Road, the proposed Transit Village district along the West Trenton Rail Line, and a proposed corporate center along Amwell Road between the Transit Village and Millstone.