OLD BRIDGE — Officials are searching for a solution to flooding issues in the area of Higgins and Ticetown roads after the township Planning Board heard a third application for a subdivision proposed near the intersection.
Plans for the seven-home development on Higgins Road were heard in 2006, and the project was later taken over by GS Realty Corp., a subsidiary of Amboy Bank, after the borrower went into default. Amboy Bank received approval for the project in 2010 under the condition that off-site drainage work be completed before the construction of the homes.
However, the work was not completed, officials said, and on Aug. 7 attorney Kenneth Pape, representing the developer, was back before the board to seek amended site plan approval with variances for a redesigned stormwater management system.
“I’m shocked that we’re even here today,” said Planning Board Chairman Larry Redmond, noting that the improvements at Higgins and Ticetown roads had not even been started. “As far as my vote goes, you’re wasting your breath.”
The previously approved plan called for an underground stormwater management system, which must be accessed through a manhole and would require annual maintenance and upkeep to the tune of $12,000. Under the new proposed plan, the underground stormwater management system would be replaced with a more traditional, aboveground retention basin. The applicant requested that the 45-by-185-foot underground stormwater easement be replaced by a stormwater management lot of the same size in the same location.
Pape said construction for off-site drainage improvements at the intersection of Higgins and Ticetown roads is set to start after Aug. 15 now that Amboy Bank has found an appropriate contractor for the project in Renaissance Construction.
According to Planning Board attorney Michael Cresitello, those drainage improvements were to be completed before the first building permits were issued or within six months of the passage of the resolution, as a condition of the board’s approval of the project.
John Hauser, a fourth-generation farmer resident of Ticetown Road, lives directly downstream from the project in question.
“This is a substantial loss of trees and income,” he said of the flooding on his property, which has claimed up to 10 trees from his orchard in a single year. “It’s been a debacle since the beginning.”
Hauser said he hoped he could have some input on the final project and was willing to meet with both the applicant and the township’s professional staff to work toward the best solution.
“This is my only opportunity to resolve the problem. What they’re giving you tonight, I don’t think it’s going to help me,” he said.
Pape said it would be prohibitively expensive to install the 24-inch drainage pipe that Hauser would like. The off-site improvements that Amboy Bank has already committed to come with a price tag in excess of $250,000. The improvements Hauser is seeking would more than double the bank’s costs, he said.
Due to a number of outstanding questions from the board and Hauser, Redmond said the hearing on GS Realty’s application will be adjourned until the board’s Sept. 11 meeting, at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal courtroom.
Contact Adam Joseph Drici at [email protected].