BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Municipal officials want to hear from property owners who farm their land in any fashion, specifically, those whose properties are 6 acres or less and who are not formally listed on the tax rolls as being farmland assessed.
The Planning Board wants the message to go out to these small farm properties that officials are not looking to change or challenge their assessment status in any way.
The reason board members want to hear from these small “boutique farmers” is so their existence can be reflected in Howell’s revised master plan.
The process of updating the document that guides the community’s development is taking place now. A municipality’s master plan is reviewed and updated every six to seven years.
Responding to Planning Board chairwoman Pauline Smith’s observation that there are more farms operating in Howell than are reflected in the draft that planner Richard C. Kniesler Jr. prepared, Kniesler told the board he calculated the number and location of farms according to those listed as farmland assessed in the municipal tax records.
Following a discussion, board members determined that it is important to
hear from the owners of small farms so they can be properly represented in the revised master plan.
Four public hearings on the master plan update brought more public comment regarding its zoning change recommendations as a way of curbing residential development.
Under the draft revisions to the master plan, some ARE-2 and ARE-3 properties will be changed to ARE-6. That means zoning that now permits one house on a 2- or 3-acre lot would permit one house on a 6-acre lot.
At the end of the public hearings, Kniesler told Planning Board members that his tally of those who spoke showed 17 people in favor of the ARE zoning changes and 10 opposed to it.
Planning Board engineer Greg Valesi told the board’s attorney Ronald Cucchiaro that larger lot sizes conform with a state mandate to reduce the development of impervious surfaces. He said the reduction of development with impervious surfaces should be one goal of the master plan.
Regarding the larger lot size requirement, Kniesler said, “Increased lot size preserves the character and achieves the township goals of greenways and open space.”
Kniesler said that in preparing the preliminary revisions, environmental concerns were given priority relative to tree conservation, as well as the proximity of the Manasquan and Metedeconk rivers and the impact development throughout Howell has on the two rivers’ many stream outlets.
Kniesler said the majority of the undeveloped land remaining in Howell is environmentally sensitive and in delineated wetland areas. He said the master plan draft incorporates the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex passenger railroad line proposed by NJ Transit.
Keeping in mind possible future projects, Kniesler said the master plan was developed so that it “incorporates historic land use with current trends.”
Warren Curry is a new member of the Planning Board. He is a long-time Howell resident who lives and farms on Georgia Tavern Road. He said at the last master plan meeting that he joined the board with the intent to see the master plan developed as quickly as possible and admitted that he came into the process ready to be critical of it.
Curry said, however, now that he sits on the board and is privy to all the state and county minutiae that affects every decision, he has developed a new respect and understanding for those who undertake the process of developing and revising the master plan.
Curry said he has come to realize that contrary to his initial belief that the board should act quickly in adopting the revised master plan, he now believes “there are complex issues at play. I now find myself in the position of believing we should proceed carefully and look closely. No matter what we do, some will be disappointed and some will be pleased. There are factions on both sides and I’m quite concerned about that, more than I’ve ever been. And that is why we shouldn’t ramrod this through.”
There will be at least one more public hearing scheduled once Kniesler delivers his new recommendations to the Planning Board.
process ready to be critical of it.
Curry said, however, now that he sits on the board and is privy to all the state and county minutiae that affects every decision, he has developed a new respect and understanding for those who undertake the process of developing and revising the master plan.
Curry said he has come to realize that contrary to his initial belief that the board should act quickly in adopting the revised master plan, he now believes “there are complex issues at play. I now find myself in the position of believing we should proceed carefully and look closely. No matter what we do, some will be disappointed and some will be pleased. There are factions on both sides and I’m quite concerned about that, more than I’ve ever been. And that is why we shouldn’t ramrod this through.”
There will be at least one more public hearing scheduled once Kniesler delivers his new recommendations to the Planning Board.