MILLSTONE — Neighbors and a township official voiced concern about a proposed commercial development at the corner of Sweetmans Lane and Millstone Road at the Feb. 24 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting.
In October 2007, the applicant’s attorney, Kenneth Pape, came before the board and said that the applicant needed a variance because the lot 7 section of the property exists in another zone. Pape provided the history of the lot and said the Vrabel family, which had once owned the lot, appeared before the board in 1987 to ask if the lot could have agricultural use. The attorney said that ultimately when a larger piece of property was subdivided to create the lot, a resolution stated that the lot’s deed should have a restrictive covenant not to allow anything but agricultural use of the site. However, Pape said the deed filed with the county did not have the restrictive covenant. The Township Committee later determined that the deed restriction could be lifted for the storm-water basin planned for the lot.
Pat Butch, chairwoman of the Open Space and Farmland Preservation Council (OSFPC), read a statement from the council expressing concerns regarding the use of the deed-restricted farmland and open space for the detention basin.
“The OSFPC believes that once a farmland or open space deed restriction is placed on a property, whether by purchase of development rights or by the Board of Adjustment or Planning Board action, the deed restriction must be upheld into perpetuity,” according to the statement. “Properties with farmland deed restrictions should be used solely for agricultural purposes. We are concerned that any non-farming/commercial use would violate a farmland deed restriction and may inadvertently set a precedent for misuse of other deed-restricted lands. The value of our farmland easements and open space land cannot be understated.”
Speaking personally and not as chairwoman, Butch noted that farming on the parcel has not needed irrigation, which the applicant’s planner, Alison Coffin, had stated was a benefit of the detention basin. She said hay and grain had been grown on the site.
“To weaken the preservation process bothers me a lot,” she said. “I feel we’re losing something in this application.”
Zoning Board Chairman Michael Novellino pointed out that it was the governing body and not his board who lifted the deed restriction.
Mari Vrabel, whose family has farmed the property, said that with the detention pond, lot 7 would not have much acreage left for farming. Pat Butch later said that if the agricultural property has only 3 acres left, it would not qualify for farmland assessment under state statutes, which require a minimum of 5 acres. Vrabel said that the buildings on the applicant’s properties are in disrepair.
“The one by our house looks like crap,” she said. “There are no windows and animals are going in it.”
Resident Bruce Wolf said that while he realized the applicants have a right to build, he believes the intersection is the crossroads of the community. “The size and scale will have a major impact on local residents,” he said, adding that a traffic light would likely be needed on the Sweetmans Lane/Millstone Road intersection.
Lighting was an issue for neighboring homeowner Mary Beal. She said she had worked in the banking industry for 27 years, and the proposed bank building on the site would require lighting all night long for security reasons. Township Planner Richard Coppola said that lighting on a bank was a unique issue and would be required for an ATM machine. He said both state and federal statutes mandate a relatively high level of illumination within 100 feet of an ATM.
Said Beal: “If you put a 24-hour ATM in the heart of Millstone, we’ll have traffic coming from all over.”
Resident Raymond Giffen said there were not enough people in the town to support the proposed number of stores.
“The Zoning Board has the responsibility to make sure it doesn’t change what Millstone is. A project of this scale turns Millstone into a different town completely,” he said.