EATONTOWN — The newest set of proposed plans for the Old Orchard Country Club off Monmouth Road is already under fire, before the developer has even filed an official application to build.
During an informal presentation and public forum held by the Eatontown Planning Board Jan. 28, professionals on behalf of developer National Realty & Development Corp. (NRDC) presented a preliminary concept plan for the 145-acre property.
The preliminary proposal, which would bring 175 active-adult units to the north end of the property and a 450,000-square-foot commercial complex to the southern end near Route 36, was roundly criticized by many of the nearly 100 residents in attendance during a public comment period at the end of the meeting.
One of the primary concerns raised was the size of the proposed commercial space, which residents said was unnecessary in a borough with a large mall and a significant retail and business corridor nearby.
Others brought up the recent or pending closures of area commercial properties, citing them as a sign that the borough’s business district couldn’t support and doesn’t need 450,000 square feet — or more than 10 acres — of additional space.
Christine Mazzaro Cofone, planning consultant for NRDC on the project, said the retail space would provide a significant financial boon to the borough.
“We project about $2.5 million of positive net fiscal impact to the borough,” she said, explaining that the projection factored in tax revenues from the commercial space as well as costs to the borough related to the estimated 400 residents who would live in the 175 age-restricted units on the site.
She also said the commercial property was expected to create more than 650 jobs.
The developer’s plans, according to Jerrold Bermingham, executive vice president of development and acquisitions for NRDC, would require changing the zoning on the site from a residential R-32 zone, which supports singlefamily homes, to a split zone allowing commercial property on the southern end and age-restricted housing to the north.
Former borough councilman and planning board member Theodore Lewis spoke about the proposed zone change during the public comment period, saying the developer needs to explain the reasoning behind the change more fully to the board.
“This property has always been zoned R-32, forever. I think it becomes the burden of the applicant to explain why this would be a better zoning arrangement,” he said.
Planning Board member Mark Woloshin agreed, telling the NRDC professionals they need to justify the move to both the governing body — which would have to approve any zoning change — and the board before the developer could move ahead with their plans.
Another major concern for many of the residents who packed Borough Hall on Jan. 28 was traffic, the possible congestion the added residential units and commercial space could bring to highways and side roads throughout the borough.
Henry Ney, traffic consultant for the NRDC project, walked residents through a sweeping plan for the redesign and augmentation of Routes 36 and 71, which he said would not only mitigate the impact of the development but actually improve traffic congestion.
The plans would bring an additional traffic signal and improve jughandles to the south end of the project on Route 36, where he said most of the increased traffic would be coming from and departing. The developer would also add lanes to the Route 71 intersection, he said, allowing for designated right and left turns in both directions.
After the meeting, Bermingham said he would take the residents’ concerns to heart and try to implement them into future plans.
NRDC, according to the company’s website, has been in the development and site-management business for 50 years. Based in New York, the company has developed more than 70 shopping centers and corporate business plazas, including Shrewsbury Plaza.