Holmdel committeeman sets record straight about ‘big boxes’
As chairman of Holmdel’s Open Space Advisory Council and co-chairman of Holmdel’s Mount Laurel Commit-tee, I want to educate recent writers about two current issues:
1. "Big Box"— On Route 35 in northern Holmdel there is a new 14-acre tract of land which has been purchased as parkland. The cost of this parcel, originally over $300,000, was only $150,000, about $10,700 per acre. This piece of land extended Labbe Park and serves as a natural buffer to a residential development. This was a creative preservation effort by the Advisory Council and Township Committee. The partner for this park extension program, unanimously supported by the governing body, is Lowe’s. The Democrats leave this important information out, plus another very important fact, that the density of development at the Lowe’s site was literally unchanged.
The "pre-Lowe’s" zoning included a floor area ratio of 15 percent. This capped the impervious coverage at 15 percent. There was absolutely no floor area ratio change. What the new zone did allow for was that the available square footage could be in one building, the so-called "big box." This "big box" was thought to be prudent as an alternative to the existing zoning of many "little boxes," which would have totaled the same square footage, and likely necessitated a road, which would cut into a residential development.
2. Mount Laurel — in 1983, the South Burlington NAACP won a lawsuit with Mount Laurel. Today New Jersey is the only state in the United States to have a Council on Affordable Housing. This bureaucracy is a large measure responsible for the tremendous growth in Holmdel and other areas. A fair question to ask is why? The answers is "sewers."
The development density allowed by a sewer line has compelled far more development than any administration, no matter the political party, would allow. Mr. Tony Orsini wrote for the Democratic candidate recently that we should " … absorb the impact as a community." What he is really saying is that we should extend sewers into the southern slope of Holmdel, which is the only way you can’t "… disperse the obligation," as he suggests. The problem with this approach is the risk of unintended consequences. It is not a prudent approach and I’m certain his candidate would disagree with this concept as well. The deeper problem is with Mount Laurel itself.
Terence M. Wall
Holmdel Township Committeeman