LAWRENCE: Board backs rezoning of 37 acres to commercial

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The Planning Board gave its stamp of approval to a modification of the Lawrence Township Master Plan Monday night, clearing the way for a 37-acre parcel on the corner of Quakerbridge Road and Lawrence Station Road to be rezoned from residential to commercial.
   The board voted unanimously to amend the Land Use and Housing elements of the Master Plan, after a brief public hearing. The land is zoned Planned Village Development 3, which permits age-restricted residential developments.
   The Land Use Element of the Master Plan had to be amended because it says the parcel would be developed for residential uses. The Housing Element, which indicates that a portion of any residential development on the site would require some units to be set aside for low- and moderate-income households for affordable housing, also had to be amended.
   Meanwhile, Monday night’s action by the Planning Board is the first step toward rezoning the land from Planned Village Development-3 to Highway Commercial, which would permit retail uses. It is up to Township Council to amend the Land Use Ordinance to change the use from residential to commercial. There is no timetable for the council to take action.
   The request to rezone the parcel was made by United States Land Resources LLP, which owns the property, in a letter to township officials earlier this year. The property owner wrote that the present residential zoning “is not viable in the present economy” because the demand for age-restricted housing has diminished since the land was rezoned for that purpose in 2005.
   United States Land Resources LLP’s letter to township officials also indicated that Costco Wholesale Corp. had expressed interest in locating one of its stores on the parcel, and that’s why the request for rezoning the property was being made.
   Township planning consultant Philip Caton concurred with the property owner’s contention that residential zoning for the site is not viable, and told the Planning Board Monday that it is unlikely that a developer would step forward to build age-restricted housing.
   ”The prospect for (developing) age-restricted housing is nil. It has disappeared throughout the state. (Age-restricted developments) are not coming our way, irrespective of the zoning,” Mr. Caton said.
   Residential development on the site would have included affordable housing units. Mr. Caton told the board the township had exceeded its quota of providing 891 units of affordable housing, which had been imposed on it by the state Council on Affordable Housing. A pair of New Jersey state Supreme Court rulings, issued in the 1980s, require municipalities to provide their fair share of affordable housing.
   Before casting her vote, Planning Board Chairman Doris Weisberg agreed that the township is in compliance with its fair share housing obligation. An additional fair share obligation may be imposed on municipalities later, “but who knows what it will be down the line,” she said.