MANALAPAN – A proposed development mixing retail uses with 900 apartments is off the table in Manalapan.
At a special meeting of the Township Committee held June 29 at Manalapan High School, municipal officials said a development proposal put forth by Cardinale Enterprises several months ago will not be considered.
“As it stands, because of the size and scope of the project, the Cardinale project (known as Manalapan Crossing) is dead,” Mayor Jack McNaboe said.
On June 29, a development proposal from K. Hovnanian was introduced to the public. The developer’s plan calls for the construction of a 165-home age-restricted community on Route 33, just west of the Knob Hill residential development.
Another proposed development on Route 33, from Stavola Enterprises, calls for the construction of 117 townhouses on property at the corner of Woodward Road.
No municipal action has been taken on any of the proposals. The June 29 meeting was held to give residents another opportunity to comment on the planned development of the Route 33 corridor in Manalapan.
The Cardinale Enterprises plan called for multiple buildings with retail uses such as restaurants and stores on the ground level and several floors of apartments above them, among other facilities on the property at Route 33 and Millhurst Road. The plan called for 900 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments.
“What (Cardinale) proposed was ridiculous,” resident Hal Bader said. “That is not what we need in Manalapan.”
“Some of that project was nice,” Mc- Naboe said. “But when they talked about the other (aspects of the) project, the square footage added up to more than what is allowed.”
Officials said 500,000 square feet of retail space can be built at Route 33 and Millhurst Road under previous approvals.
The Stavola Enterprises project that has been unveiled is a 117-unit townhouse neighborhood with a commercial center that would include a market, additional retail space and two office buildings at Route 33 west and Woodward Road.
At meetings since the plan was put forth, Manalapan residents have not reacted to the proposal for the Stavola Enterprises development in the same negative manner that they responded to the Cardinale Enterprises plan.
During the June 29 meeting, K. Hovnanian Vice President Dave Fisher presented his firm’s plan for an adult community on Route 33 near Iron Ore Road.
Fisher said the 165-home age-restricted neighborhood would have recreational amenities such as a clubhouse and a pool. The plan shows the closest homes set back 700 feet from Route 33. Fisher said Manalapan’s code requires a minimum 100-foot setback.
The property is not zoned for housing, but K. Hovnanian suggested two options for municipal officials to consider: rezoning the parcel from commercial to age-restricted residential, or permitting age-restricted housing as a conditional use in the commercial zone.
The plan includes a long boulevard that enters and exits the development from Route 33. As presented, the boulevard would be the only way in and out of the neighborhood.
During public comment, Glen Mendez, who is one of Manalapan’s commissioners on the Western Monmouth Utilities Authority Board of Commissioners, said he would support the K. Hovnanian project.
“The topography of the land is not suitable for commercial (uses),” Mendez said, adding that he had concerns about truck traffic to the site if the property is developed for commercial purposes.
Resident Deborah Smarth said, “The more development or overdevelopment we have in our town, whether commercial or not, it (produces) more costs than what the ratables bring in.”
Other comments from members of the public focused on the single access to the adult community from Route 33, the inclusion of a bicycle path in the neighborhood and the need for a deceleration lane on Route 33 that motorists would use to enter the development.
“It’s intriguing, I don’t know if I agree with everything that has been said. I think it has the commercial viability.” McNaboe said about the K. Hovnanian proposal. “I don’t know if residential (development) belongs on Route 33, but I am listening to everything our residents have to say. I am only one vote in five.
“At this point, I think residential (developments) we have close to Route 33 are what brought us a lot of these problems. I don’t think the answer is more residential property. The owner wants to do something with that property and I am willing to go through the process and find out what is best for Manalapan and go down that road,” the mayor said.
No municipal approvals of any type have been granted at this time for the Stavola Enterprises or K. Hovnanian projects on Route 33.