JACKSON – The Jackson Planning Board has approved a general development plan (GDP) for an application that proposes to construct 1,100 residential units between Perrineville Road and West Veterans Highway (Route 528) in the Cassville section of Jackson.
Planning Board Chairman Joseph Riccardi, Vice Chairman Robert Hudak, Township Councilman Ken Bressi, Leonard Haring Jr., Timothy Dolan and Martin Flemming voted “yes” on a motion to approve the GDP at the board’s April 1 meeting.
Richard Egan, Jeffrey Riker and Jackson Business Administrator Terence Wall voted “no” on the motion.
The applicant, Jackson Parke, was seeking approval of a GDP that proposes 551 single-family and multi-family units on a 226-acre “north section” off Perrineville Road, and 549 single-family and multi-family units on a 129-acre “south section” off West Veterans Highway.
Testimony indicated that 20 percent of the residential units would be designated as affordable housing; 120 units in the north section and 100 units in the south section.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets certain guideline.
Attorney Jason R. Tuvel, planner Craig Rahenkamp and Mitchell Newman, the director of land acquisition and entitlements for the owner and applicant, represented Jackson Parke.
Newman offered the board and members of the public an overview of the types of homes that are proposed.
He said the single-family homes at Jackson Parke would have four or five bedrooms and a two-car garage. The minimum lot size is 9,000 square feet and the homes would range in size from 2,400 to 3,200 square feet.
The single-family homes are expected to be priced somewhere in the mid-$400,000 range.
Newman said the townhomes would be three stories, with three or four bedrooms and a two-car garage. Each townhome would be about 2,800 square feet and would expect to be priced in the mid-$300,000.
Other townhomes to be constructed at Jackson Parke were referred to as a front-loaded stacked townhome.
“The garages are up front, that is why we say front. It is a stacked townhome because there are actually two townhomes in each 24-foot wide quadrant, but in any event, each home has its own garage,” Newman said.
“Each home has its own entrance and there are a mix of two-bedroom units (about 1,500 square feet) and three-bedroom units (about 2,100 square feet) Pricing will probably be in the high $200,000s,” he testified.
Newman said the proposed multi-family buildings would contain market rate units and affordable housing units. Each building is proposed to have three floors and 24 units. There are no garages proposed with the multi-family buildings.
He said the market rate units and the affordable housing units could have one, two or three bedrooms and range in size from about 800 square feet to about 1,200 square feet. The market rate units would be priced in the low $200,000s.
Newman said the developer expects to offer the affordable units as rentals. He said the rent could change each year based on affordable housing requirements.
The GDP is a broad concept of what is proposed at the site. The applicant would have to return before the Planning Board to provide additional information and to seek approval for specific sections of the project.
“If the board is inclined to grant the GDP approval, there is at least one, two or three years of time to go through the governmental approval process … Ocean County, soil erosion, the state, the Jackson Township Municipal Utilities Authority and of course the Planning Board,” Newman said.
Construction of off-site and on-site improvements could take from two to four years, followed by the construction and marketing of the homes. Creating a community of 1,100 homes could take between 10 and 15 years, he said.
The GDP for Jackson Parke calls for the construction of a connector road that the applicaant’s representatives said would prevent truck traffic and construction traffic on Perrineville Road and Cassville Road (Route 571).
Riker raised an issue with the “significant amount of traffic” the development’s construction would consistently generate.
Tuvel said the applicant would work with representatives of Ocean County and Jackson to address any concerns.
“I am speaking about what the impact will be on Jackson’s residents who have to live here with the truck traffic,” Riker said.
Bressi, Riker and other board members stressed they would like the applicant to work with the county to install a traffic light at the intersection of the proposed connector road and Route 571, a county road, prior to the start of construction.
“I can only speak for one vote, but if there is not a light at that location, it is not going to work,” Bressi said.