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Erickson vows to revise development plans

By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   HILLSBOROUGH — After concerns expressed by members of the Planning Board Thursday about constructing in an environmentally-sensitive area and deviating from the town’s original master plan, representatives of Erickson Retirement Communities said they are planning to develop a “completely revised plan.”
   ”Based on the input, we will be going back to the drawing board and coming up with a completely revised plan, taking all the comments into account,” said William Savo, attorney for Erickson.
   This decision followed more than an hour of comments by Planning Board members about the problems with building a 1,500-unit continuing care retirement community on the east course of the Royce Brook Golf Course, on Hamilton Road, and preceded a series of comments from the more than 75 people who had come out to comment on the plan.
   The meeting Thursday was a continuation of a public hearing begun June 26 to discuss the concept plan proposed by Erickson to construct this retirement community for senior citizens 75 years of age and older who are in constant need of medical attention. Because of the volume of people wishing to speak at the earlier meeting, an additional hearing had been scheduled.
   As of the latest meeting, Erickson had not submitted a finalized plan for the project. Their concept plan, however, includes restaurants, a fitness center, library, convenience store, hair salon and pharmacy on the self-contained development. Also included would be about seven full-time physicians.
   Planning Board member Michael Merdinger discussed several concerns about the proposed project, saying first that the retirement community is not in the township’s already-approved master plan.
   ”The master plan says this is not a projected use of the property,” he said.
   In order for a plan to be finalized, Erickson would have to get approval from the township to change the zoning of the area from office and commercial, to residential.
   In addition to its stray from the master plan, Mr. Merdinger said that, because the proposed five-story buildings would be situated right next to the Claremont neighborhood, it would be disruptive to the community itself.
   ”We don’t have anything like those five-story buildings there,” he said. “It would be going near a longstanding residential area.”
   Mayor Anthony Ferrera, who recently visited another Erickson site in Tinton Falls with Deputy Mayor Frank DelCore, said that this is one major difference between Hillsborough and Tinton Falls, which has its Erickson community, Seabrook, just off the Garden State Parkway.
   ”That is a major difference from the concept plan being presented here,” Mayor Ferrera said. “Other facilities have no residential areas nearby. I feel this concept is exceptionally problematic.”
   Mr. DelCore expressed a similar point of view, saying that, although the facility in Tinton Falls is impressive, its location cannot be matched in Hillsborough.
   ”There is a striking difference of the locale there to here,” he said. “There, they have really nothing around in the way of residential property. I am concerned as to where this community would be situated compared to others.”
   Barbara Walsh – a professional planner contracted by the Claremont Community Inc. to look into the Erickson proposal – said that the next step may be for Erickson representatives to look for different locations for their project.
   ”What disturbs me about this is it is outside the context of the planning in the master plan,” she said. “The next steps may be to look at the needs of the seniors and see where this project fits best.”
   In addition to location in relation to surrounding neighborhoods, Mr. Merdinger cited the land on the golf course as being very “environmentally sensitive,” and questioned whether the buildings would cause drainage problems in the Claremont area especially. With a seasonal high water table in the area, he said, the residents often have to deal with flooding during heavy rainstorms.
   Members of the Planning Board also discussed a recent report from the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, which charged that Erickson had not been forthcoming about its plans in reports made to the state, or about volatile organic chemicals (VOC) that have been detected in the septic effluent at the golf course nine times between January 2001 and January 2008.
   In addition, the stormwater report stated that Erickson failed to provide information about stormwater strategies to comply with the township’s stormwater ordinance.
   ”The inference in the report is that we were not aware of the VOCs,” said Richard Baummer, director of site development services with Erickson. “Our representative recommended we conduct a phase 2 subsurface analysis to make sure there was no contamination in the soil. They found no existing contamination in the groundwater.”
   Mr. Baummer said that, for future plans, representatives would draw up concept diagrams concerning the wetlands and plans for stormwater facilities.
   Planning Board member Steve Sireci also questioned the concept of threshold events if the construction were to take place and people moved into the new units.
   ”At what point does it pass the threshold where a new investment has to be made?” he asked. He said that he wanted to know at what point additional emergency medical services workers would need to be hired to handle the township and the Erickson facility.
   In addition, Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, questioned if there would be a need for an additional school to be built as seniors moved into the Erickson community and younger families purchased the vacated homes.
   Despite concerns from the Planning Board and residents, some people in attendance at the meeting expressed their full support for the Erickson proposal, especially because representatives have said they intend to pay the $25,000 required for each resident to hook into the new Claremont sewer system.
   ”When this first came up, and I saw the prices for the sewers, I didn’t know why each family was being charged $25,000,” said Martin Korab, of Clarmont Drive. “Erickson is like a breath of fresh air.”
   A representative from Affinity Credit Union, on Route 206, also expressed support for the project which he believes would bring a great deal of new business to already existing ones, in addition to adding opportunities for volunteerism among the students in town.
   Joanne Ostegren, of Surrey Drive, had a differing opinion about the project’s value to the community.
   ”I am dead set against it,” she said. “This should be off a major highway. I would have no part of it, and the people of Claremont have my sympathies if it happens.”
   Still, with Erickson representatives stating that they plan to redo their concept for the project, Planning Board Attorney Eric Bernstein said that the board would not take any action as a formal plan has not been submitted to the township.
   Mr. Sireci implored residents to understand that Erickson has not filed a proposal and that the purpose of the meeting was simply to gather information and comments.
   ”Some people are of the opinion that this is a done deal, and this meeting is a stage show,” he said. “That is a lie. We are doing our due diligence. It is slander to state that there is a done deal.”