By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR — A plan for 22 single-family houses on an 8-acre tract at the northwestern corner of Old York and Conover roads has drawn criticism from local officials, whose concerns include density, and a number of neighbors worried about traffic.
About 10 residents showed up to Monday’s Planning Board meeting, which saw the township’s first look at the development proposal by The Verde Group of Cranbury. The board took no formal action on the application, which is expected to return to its agenda in December.
Trevor Taylor, the engineer representing Verde, presented the plan. The parcel would be divided into 22 new lots of 10,000 to 14,774 square feet, along with a lot for an existing home and another for a drainage basin on the eastern side of the tract.
The houses would have four or five bedrooms and range in size from 3,000 to 3,400 square feet.
In addition to the pre-existing residence, which would remain, the land is home to a farm field, a parking area, a garage, a barn, and a masonry building. The proposal calls for those structures to be demolished.
The parcel, owned by Cliff Conover, is under contract with The Verde Group, according to Verde managing member Todd Ochsner.
The development would house two cul-de-sac roads, which would converge and intersect with Keswick Road and Berkeley Place.
”This design eliminates cut-through traffic to and from Old York Road,” said Mr. Taylor.
Several residents objected to the traffic the development would put onto Keswick Road. Among them was Vikran Tadlo, of Berkeley Place, who asked about the possibility of the new roads connecting to Conover Road or Old York Road instead of Keswick Road.
A number of kids play in that area, he said, and “by putting 22 houses on one road you’re actually almost creating a bottleneck.”
Nic Scalfarotto, another Berkeley Place resident who also is a member of the zoning board, expressed concerns about traffic congestion, including how it relates to the safety of children and access for fire equipment.
Township Planner Richard Coppola said the developer had done a traffic count but not a full impact study.
Several Planning Board members and township staff indicated they thought the proposal packs too much into too little space.
”It just seems to be an overly ambitious plan for the site in terms of the size of houses related to the number of lots,” added township Planner Richard Coppola said.
He said the board might consider requiring sidewalks on Old York and Conover roads, as well as other landscaping features, which together could end up requiring too much space for the parcel.
”When you add the sidewalks, the buffering, and the size of these proposed dwellings,” he continued, “you really don’t end up with, in my opinion, a very workable plan.”
The board also took issue with the type of sediment to be used in the proposed basin, suggesting grass instead of sand. And it raised questions about the plan’s adherence to township requirements in regard to what is considered the front of a property, the relative lack of berms, the size of some backyards, and the need to remove some trees.
”To me the landscaping is substandard,” said township landscape architect Daniel Dobromilsky. “There’s not sufficient area to do it correctly.”
While Mr. Taylor said he did not expect to need any variances, Mr. Coppola said he saw the need for several of them, given where the fronts of some of the lots are located and the small backyards for a number of residences.
While Mr. Taylor and Bob Smith, the lawyer representing The Verde Group, said they believe the proposal follows all relevant township and state regulations, they agreed to meet with township professionals to review the application.
Mayor and Planning Board member Janice Mironov noted “the applicants’ recognition of some of the concerns, and their willingness to see how the plan can be looked at to address some of them and provide a quality plan.”
Verde is scheduled to come before the Planning Board again at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Mr. Ochsner said after the meeting that he expects the houses to be finished by spring of 2009, if the application is approved. When asked about the timing of his proposal in relation to current economic troubles, he said, “I think by the time it’s ready to be built, the economy will be fine.”

