By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — The developer of the proposed Country Club Meadows single-family-home subdivision and the proposed Belle Mead Plaza strip shopping center will have to wait until next month to find out if the Planning Board will approve its application.
Country Club Meadows LLC, which is based in Woodbridge, walked the Planning Board through the plan for the 148 single-family homes and the 31,000-square-foot strip shopping center Monday night. The applicant is seeking preliminary site plan approval.
The single-family-house development is proposed for approximately 130 acres on the west side of Route 206, down the road from the Pike Run housing development. The strip shopping center is proposed for the corner of Route 206 and Belle Mead-Griggstown Road.
It is part of a larger development that grew out of litigation between the applicant and Montgomery Township. Additional development is planned for the site, but those applications are not presently before the Planning Board.
The applicant’s engineer, Joseph Fleming, told the Planning Board that the single-family homes would be located on one portion of the land. Because the land is adjacent to the CSX railroad tracks, a berm will be built along that right-of-way. There will also be a park in the housing development.
Across the street, on the corner of Route 206 and Belle Mead-Griggstown Road, the plan calls for the 31,000-square-foot strip shopping center and 27 rental apartments — set aside as affordable housing — on the second floor. A 28th apartment will be reserved for the building superintendent.
The driveway to the shopping center will be right-in and right-out. Left turns are not permitted. The rental apartments will consist of one- , two- and three-bedroom units that range in size from 840 square feet for the one-bedroom unit to 1,050 square feet for the two-bedroom units and 1,250 square feet for the three-bedroom units.
The applicant’s traffic engineer, Joseph Staiger, told the Planning Board that the rental apartments on the second floor of the Belle Mead Plaza strip shopping center will not generate as much traffic as the retail stores on the first floor. He said the strip shopping center was designed so that fire trucks and emergency services vehicles would have access to it.
But Robert Simon, an attorney who represents Montgomery Township Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, said the members are concerned about access to the fire station on Covert Drive, which borders the shopping center. The fire station is located on the corner of Covert Drive and Belle Mead-Griggstown Road.
Mayor Christine Madrid, who sits on the Planning Board, replied that the board would welcome comments from the fire department. The applicant takes its direction from Montgomery Township, she said.
The Planning Board ran out of time Monday night, and the board and the applicant agreed to continue the public hearing to Sept. 21. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Montgomery Township municipal building.
