By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
A vote on approval of the Green Village development of 469 apartments, a 130-unit hotel and some retail stores on Route 206 could come at the March 22 Planning Board meeting.
That possibility grew real at the end of a two-hour meeting March 1 when exasperated property owner Anatol Hiller said he would give up the ability of traffic to turn left out of the development rather than extend hearings to April 26.
He said he doubted the board would hear anything definite from the state Department of Transportation about allowing a traffic signal before that time, and he wanted to move along in seeking approvals from the 18 or so agencies that must agree to the proposal.
Green Village would build two accesses. The northerly one, which would be about 260 feet south of the signalized Valley Road intersection, would allow only right turns in and out. The southerly one if it did not have a traffic light would have holding lanes for left turns in both directions.
Both the board and applicant would prefer to see a traffic light installed at the proposed main entrance, which would be about 620 feet south of Valley Road. The state continues to deny a signal for the subdivision, and the applicant and board talked about reviving and strengthening their case to the DOT.
The traffic question seemed to be the major hang-up on the application, which forms the final piece in the township fulfilling its regional affordable housing requirements, said board Chairman Steve Sireci. A denial could open up renewed legal assaults on the township’s zoning, he said after the meeting.
Green Village plans to build 117 low- and moderate-income units in addition to 352 that would be rented at the market rate. It also plans an extended-stay hotel and 20,000 square feet of retail space.
Concerned it could open itself to future lawsuits in future auto accidents at the location, the board started the night by going into executive session.
When the public had its turn to speak, several questioners from the audience asked about environmental issues, particularly the amount of stormwater runoff and the number of trees to be cut down on the site. They included questions from the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and members of the Boro Green environmental organization.
But Dr. Sireci seemed to brush them aside by saying, “The judiciary is not interested in trees and streams when it comes to affordable housing.”
Later, he added the township would get crushed in court if it used tree issues to appeal past zoning decisions.
” That’s the legal environment in New Jersey,” he said.
The applicant could force a vote on the plan March 22 because the clock on the allowable review period, without an extension being granted, runs out March 30.
William Savo, attorney for Green Village, said he wanted to present an architect and a planner to testify for the application. Those experts have been at previous meetings, only to run out of time to hear them.
Those kinds of delays were costing him money, Mr. Hiller told the board.
”My pockets are empty,” he said.
The township and the applicant have been negotiating a phasing plan to allow some of the development to be built while traffic would be monitored to see how many left-hand-turn accidents resulted. If there were too many, the remainder of the development would be delayed until more-permanent highway improvements were made.
The applicant had proposed starting with building and occupying 180 apartments, including 69 meeting the affordable criteria, while delaying the rest of the apartments, the hotel and retail.
If the developer agrees to bar left turns out of the complex, that phasing plan would be dropped.
Questioners from the floor concentrated on environmental issues.
Robert Heibell, engineer for Green Village, said the plan calls for cutting down three-quarters about 1,500 of the trees on the 50-acre site. Eighty percent of them were in the 6- to 12-inch diameter size range, he said. The application asks for a variance to allow that.
Mr. Heibell said the builder would plant 846 trees on site and agree to pay $46,150 into the township’s tree replacement fund for the shortfall on site. The fund pays for trees to be planted elsewhere such as parks in the township.

