HOWELL — The Township Council has adopted several ordinances that rezoned parcels of land throughout Howell. The ordinances were introduced and adopted in February.
One ordinance pertains to a parcel known as Thompson’s Farm on Howell Road. The land was rezoned from a Special Economic District zone to an Agricultural Rural Estate (ARE-6) zone.
According to Mayfield, the rezoning of this tract was made to maintain rural spaces throughout the municipality.
“This area is farmland and by rezoning it we are keeping up with sustaining the township’s land that is used for farming,” Mayfield said.
According to the ordinance, working farms comprise a majority of this land and rezoning it ARE-6 will encourage the preservation of these specific agricultural properties and natural resources.
A second ordinance rezoned parcels along Tinton Falls Road from an ARE-3 zone to a Recreational Residential Community (RRC) zone. According to the township code, the purpose of an RRC zone is to continue with the rural character of the municipality.
“The RRC zone is the employment of combined recreational and residential uses in order to maximize open space, and preservation of the environment. Within this zone, a combination of single detached family dwellings as well as certain recreational structures may be permitted,” the code states.
According to the ordinance, the rezoning of the area will benefit Howell with properties being more consistent with surrounding uses and the rezoning will recognize a residential use that exists on this portion of land, making it consistent with an RRC zone.
A third ordinance adopted by the council rezoned properties on Route 9 north and Lanes Mill Road from an ARE-3 zone to a Highway Development (HD-1) zone. The rezoning to HD-1 will be for nonresidential purposes.
The area is included as part of the Tropicana
Power Retail Center that is to be at this location, according to the ordinance.
“The rezoning of ARE-3 properties to HD-1 will benefit the township with the upgrading of existing road frontages and constructing regional retail space,” the ordinance states.
According to the ordinance, the proposed retail center land use has been determined to be compatible with other permitted land uses found in the HD-1 zone district, and the changes in zoning meet the goals of Howell’s current master plan.