HOWELL — The Planning Board has approved an application that proposed the construction of eight homes on a 71-acre property on Maxim-Southard Road.
GS Realty Corporation, a subsidiary of Amboy Bank, sought approval for eight homes and one open space lot in an Agricultural Rural Estate zone. The tract is near Lanes Pond Road and Amanda Lane. Each home will be built on a 1.25-acre lot.
The board voted unanimously to approve the application on Oct. 2.
The proposal dates back to 2004 when preliminary approval was granted for 10 homes and one storm water management lot, according to the board’s engineer, Laura Neumann.
In 2006, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) changed the buffer requirements and classification of certain streams. As a result, the applicant was granted amended preliminary and final major subdivision approval for eight homes and one storm water management lot.
Attorney Peter Klouser, of Heilbrunn Pape, Millstone Township, represented the applicant with professional engineer Walter Hopkin at the Oct. 2 meeting.
Before the board opened the meeting to public comment, Hopkin explained several revisions that have been made to the plan since a meeting in July.
He said residents’ concerns regarding buffering as it relates to the new homes and their residences had been addressed through discussions with Howell’s tree expert Zig Panek.
Hopkin said plantings on a berm will help shield the new homes from the existing homes.
Panek said the berm is across the street from the proposed homes. He said the changes that have been made by the applicant will result in less disturbance to the current residents.
Panek presented his studies of the trees in the area.
“Several trees around the areas of this proposed plan have been severely damaged due to [storms Irene and Sandy] and a majority of the trees in the area are now dead and would need to be clearcut,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro, who sits on the board, said the panel received information in August concerning a dog kennel that is near the proposed development site.
Although Klouser said the applicant did not initially believe the outside conditions at the dog kennel would have any effect on the properties, the applicant agreed to include notification of the dog kennel within a title search of the proposed properties.
Miriam Burrows, of Amanda Lane, raised an issue concerning water.
“My neighbors and myself who own properties in this area use well water and we do not want bad water to be used for drinking and in our homes,” Burrows said.
Hopkin said each new home’s septic system will be designed according to standards and will not impact wells in the vicinity. He said there is a minimum of 50 acres of open space between the homes on Amanda Lane and the new development, which is enough space for water to not be affected.
The new homes will have public water.
Linda Ponticelli, of Amanda Lane, suggested that people who buy a home in the new development may eventually have trouble selling it because of the proximity of the dog kennel.
Elaine Taylor, of Maxim-Southard Road, sits on Howell’s Farmers Advisory Committee and expressed concern about wetlands in the area.
“About 60 percent of the land in question is wetlands and feeds the Brick Township reservoir, so my biggest issue with this plan is whether it will affect the wetlands,” Taylor said.
Hopkin said the development plan will not disturb the wetlands at any time.
Contact Taylor M. Lier at [email protected].