MANALAPAN – A public hearing has been scheduled for the Township Committee’s April 11 meeting on proposed zoning changes at a property that has been the subject of discussion in Manalapan for several years.
Committee members may vote to adopt the changes following the public hearing.
The parcel at the corner of Route 33 westbound and Millhurst Road is Manalapan’s Village Commercial zone. Most recently, developer Vito Cardinale has proposed housing for people age 55 and over, housing for individuals with special needs, and retail uses.
Cardinale’s proposal for the Manalapan Crossing project is listed as a tentative future application to be heard by the Planning Board.
As development plans have been discussed regarding the land at Route 33 and Millhurst Road, some residents who live nearby have asked municipal officials to authorize a traffic study to be conducted and paid for by Manalapan, as opposed to a traffic study that would be conducted on behalf of and paid for by a developer during the Planning Board process.
Within the past month, the committee has introduced an ordinance amending the Mixed-Use Inclusionary Overlay Zone. The purpose of the zone “is to facilitate the development of distinctive, mixed-use development that offers a variety of non-residential uses, combined with a mix of single-family age-restricted market rate housing and special needs and other types of affordable housing,” according to the ordinance.
Gasoline filling stations with convenience stores are a permitted use in the zone, provided that no direct access to or from a state road or a county road is provided. In two proposed changes from the existing ordinance, the permitted size of the convenience store has been raised from 3,500 square feet of gross floor area to 5,500 square feet of gross floor area, and the convenience store and the gas station would be permitted to operate 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
Resident Deborah Smarth, who has previously commented on the Village Commercial zone and the possible development of the 100-plus acre property, said the key question being asked as officials consider amendments to the zone’s development regulations is “Why the sudden amendments out of the blue?”
“Citizens gave our input last year and the committee enacted the ordinance in 2017, regardless of various aspects of that specific feedback. So now the governing body is amending the ordinance again? Why? We will all definitely have feedback when this ordinance is considered at a future meeting of the governing body,” Smarth said.
Other permitted uses in the VC-MUI zone include single-family homes for individuals age 55 and over; special needs affordable housing residential multifamily units; hotels with a minimum of 100 guest rooms, which may contain restaurant, meeting, banquet, fitness and other guest service facilities; medical research facilities; urgent care facilities; outpatient surgery centers; fitness/health clubs; retail stores; personal services; supermarkets; indoor athletic, exercise or recreation facilities; pharmacies; funeral homes; banks; restaurants; professional, business and medical offices; municipal facilities operated by Manalapan; a post office, library and similar public buildings; child care centers; and adult day-care facilities.
The minimum tract area for a mixed use project is 115 acres. The maximum tract area for age-restricted residential development is 96 acres. The minimum and maximum tract area for mixed use commercial and affordable housing (special needs and units for persons with disabilities) development is 21 acres. The maximum tract area for such uses is 25 acres. The maximum permitted number of detached single-family age-restricted residential units is 280 homes.
The revised ordinance eliminates a requirement for a walking trail to be developed around the age-restricted community.