Testimony has resumed before the Jackson Planning Board on an application that proposes the construction of a 315-home adult community, Diamond Developers at Miele Farms.
The proposed development will be on South Hope Chapel Road near the intersection of Ridgeway Boulevard in Jackson.
Plans call for 315 homes to be built in four phases: 88 building lots in phase one, 71 building lots in phase two, 50 building lots in phase three, and 106 building lots in phase four. In addition to the homes, there will be three storm-water basins and four open space lots, according to the plans.
Planning Board engineer Douglas Klee said all 315 homes will be age-restricted. The open space lots will be used for passive and active recreation. There will be a pump station and three storm-water management basins.
Initial testimony from the applicant was given on July 17, 2007. Klee said the project is now consistent with the Pinelands management plan.
Engineer Graham J. Macfarlane, representing the applicant, gave an overview of the application using a new display map.
“We still maintain the clubhouse and the significant changes were adopted by the Pinelands Commission for the storm-water management,” he said. “We also made some small changes to the plan. One interior loop road has been pushed a little forward. The original plan had two additional houses at the northern corner near the entrance, and we adjusted the original lot lines throughout the project.”
Macfarlane said there are four phases proposed in concert with the properties and infrastructure.
“The wetlands buffer has been reduced from 300 feet to 175 feet, and we have satisfied all the requirements of the Pinelands Commission,” he told the board. “The project still has a 50-foot perimeter buffer along Hope Chapel Road, as well as a 25-foot permanent buffer along the residential properties to the north, west and south.”
Board member Blanche Krubner asked Klee if the Pinelands Commission decreased the buffer, and Klee said the wetlands buffer was in fact reduced from 300 feet to 175 feet.
“I think we need some environmentalists on the Pinelands Commission,” Krubner retorted.
Macfarlane said there are three conservation easements that are internal to the project and said these will be cleared.
Krubner asked for the diameter of the trees to be planted in those areas, and Macfarlane said the trees would be 2.5 inches to 3 inches in diameter.
“Those are not trees. Those are sticks,” Krubner said.
She suggested building fewer homes and using those lots for open space.
If an area is to be counted toward open space, it has to be a minimum of 2 acres, Klee noted.
“In my mind they are not needed to meet the open space requirement,” the engineer said. “The applicant already meets the 10 percent open space requirement.”
Environmental scientist Ian Borden, representing the applicant, said 33 specimen trees (up from 28 specimen trees) will be saved on the property.
Board member Eileen Tobasco questioned the traffic at Ridgeway Boulevard and South Hope Chapel Road, which is near the entrance to the proposed development.
“With the fork in the road, that will create a tremendous traffic problem. There is a traffic problem there already,” Tobasco said.
Krubner said nobody mentioned the asphalt trucks that are associated with a nearby asphalt company and the 50 mph speed limit in the area.
Planning Board Chairman Kenneth Bressi said the trucks that enter the road now need time to build up speed to merge into traffic. That is a problem, he said.
“It’s lethal,” Krubner added.
Attorney Denis Kelly, representing the applicant, said a traffic report was updated in May 2006 that dealt with traffic in the area of the proposed adult community. Kelly suggested that homebuyers should be told the asphalt company is in the vicinity and has been there for a long time.
Traffic engineer Jonathan Szap, representing the applicant, said his traffic study was made in September 2005. He said traffic has remained fairly constant in this part of the county.
Bressi suggested two entrances/exits which could be used in an emergency if the main entrance/exit to the adult community is blocked or if there is an emergency where an evacuation is necessary.
“I’d like an update on the traffic,” Bressi said. “I have a real problem with the traffic and the potential building-out.”
The application was carried to the board’s May 18 meeting to give the applicant time to update the traffic report and provide a full set of plans.
Contact Dave Benjamin at [email protected].