EAST BRUNSWICK – More than 560 residents attended a meeting at which HD Summerhill LLC’s proposal to construct a mixed-use development was outlined for the East Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustment.
HD Summerhill is proposing to construct three four-story residential buildings; a clubhouse that will have a gathering room, a possible coffee bar and an exercise facility; a CVS pharmacy; a Chase bank; and parking, lighting and landscaping improvements at 377 Summerhill Road, East Brunswick, near the Spotswood border, according to HD Summerhill managing member Nicholas Minoia.
“The property currently contains an under-used office building, which was approved and constructed in the 1970s. There is an existing parking field behind the building which is near a wooded buffer area to the west and a wooded Green Acres (property) to the north,” said attorney David Himelman, who represents the applicant.
Minoia said the office building is occupied by an insurance company, which is in the process of relocating. HD Summerhill purchased the 10.3-acre property last September.
“We brought the property with the zoning in place, which was inclusionary zoning for 120 residential units, mixed-use development which was very much in our wheelhouse. … Largely one of the reasons that attracted us to the property was the inclusionary zoning that was put in place prior to our acquisition of the property,” Minoia said.
Himelman and Minoia explained the proposed development plan during a zoning board meeting on July 16. The meeting was held in the Hammarskjold Middle School’s Jo Ann Magistro Performing Arts Center to accommodate the hundreds of people who showed up to listen to the developer’s presentation.
HD Summerhill is a joint venture of Diversified Realty Advisors, where Minoia is a co-founding partner, and the Hampshire Companies. Both firms have extensive experience in all aspects of real estate development, namely multi-family mixed-use projects, according to Minoia.
The applicant is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval, variances, bulk variances and waivers. The applicant is seeking a “D” variance to exceed the height limit in the zone; three stories are the maximum allowed, and four-story residential buildings are proposed.
Himelman said East Brunswick’s zoning ordinance permits 35 feet in height for three-story building; however, the applicant is proposing 49.7-foot four-story buildings.
The applicant is also seeking a bulk variance for off-street parking, since no more than 50 spaces are permitted and 289 spaces are proposed. According to the zoning ordinance that was adopted in 1991, no off-street parking lot can contain more than 50 spaces, according to Zoning Officer/Planner Debra Rainwater.
Other variances and waivers include a landscape buffer, one tree for every five parking spaces with 58 trees required and 40 trees proposed; building density and other issues.
The property is included in East Brunswick’s affordable housing compliance plan as a planned unit development and includes affordable housing, according to Minoia.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets certain guidelines.
According to East Brunswick’s ordinance, “a planned unit residential development in the Town Green (TG) zone shall include a 20 percent set-aside for affordable units as defined in the township affordable housing compliance plan,” Himelman said. “The applicant proposes to provide the number of affordable units … as required by that plan.”
The developer is proposing to construct 120 apartments, of which 96 apartments (38 one-bedroom and 58 two-bedroom) will be rented at market rates. There would be 24 apartments (one-, two- and three-bedrooms) rented at below market rates as affordable housing.
Minoia said the estimated rent for a market rate apartment would range from about $1,750 per month plus utilities for a one-bedroom apartment to between $2,200 and $2,250 per month for a two-bedroom unit.
In accordance with New Jersey affordable housing guidelines, the estimated rent for a three-bedroom apartment designated as affordable housing would be between about $1,100 and $1,200 per month, according to Minoia.
Himelman said there have been discussions on social media and at public forums regarding concerns relating to the proposed development plan expressed by citizen groups and residents from East Brunswick and Spotswood.
During public comment, residents voiced their objection to the application and asked Minoia questions pertaining to the plan. Residents expressed concern about the benefit of constructing a CVS pharmacy and a Chase bank.
East Brunswick resident Deborah Simpson asked Minoia, “Have you taken into consideration there is a pharmacy in ShopRite in walking distance and there is a Rite Aid a half-mile down the street? There is a CVS a half-mile down on Rues Lane. Have you taken into consideration there is a bank right down the street? … What is the purpose of adding another pharmacy and another bank?”
Minoia said those determinations were made by the marketing department and the business development teams at CVS and Chase.
Residents referred to Frost Woods Park and asked how the potential development would affect the park’s wildlife.
Joseph Bielak said, “Having your parking lot is definitely going to disrupt all of the environmental standards and animals. Right now, they fluctuate in between [and] this is going to force them out more into the roads … Has a [study regarding] animals been looked at?”
Himelman said the applicant’s civil engineer will address environmental issues at the next hearing.
On Dec. 12, 2016, the East Brunswick Township Council adopted an ordinance to establish a 150-foot landscape buffer in the TG zone to ensure that Frost Woods Park’s trees and all vegetation would be permanently preserved, according to Himelman.
“The applicant will not modify, alter or change Frost Woods Park and thus it will be permanently maintained as a preserved area forever,” Himelman said.
Residents also discussed traffic, specifically at the intersection of Summerhill and Old Stage roads near the proposed development site.
East Brunswick resident Judy Gennaro, who lives two blocks away from the intersection, said she often has a problem trying to get off Central Avenue and onto Summerhill Road due to traffic.
“What are the number of cars they are planning on these people having?” she asked.
Zoning board Chairwoman Marge Paterson said that at the next hearing, the applicant will have a traffic engineer answer questions pertaining to the traffic impact the proposed development plan would have on the community.
Residents also spoke about the apartments attracting people with children.
Spotswood resident Cheryl Bass said, “You have one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. I am expecting there to be children in this development. Are school buses expected to access the property?”
Minoia said there will be some children living in the apartments, but he suggested the number of children will be limited because he said this type of development does not typically generate a lot of school-age children.
Board member Steve Philips told Minoia, “I think it would be important for your parking expert to explain to us exactly how parking would be handled because you are asking for a variance on parking spots.”
HD Summerhill’s civil engineer and traffic engineer are expected to testify at 8 p.m. Aug. 7 at Hammarskjold Middle School, 200 Rues Lane, East Brunswick.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].