age-restricted homes
on Birch Hill property
Old Bridge plan gets OK
to use Marlboro entrance
Kara Homes will build
age-restricted homes
on Birch Hill property
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer
MARLBORO — The zoning board has approved the construction of accessory structures off of Route 9 that will be used by the residents of a proposed Old Bridge housing development.
The applicant, Kara Homes, has received approval from the Old Bridge zoning board to build a 253-unit age-restricted community between Route 9 south and Texas and Marlboro roads.
The development site is mostly in Old Bridge, with a small portion in Marlboro. It is the location of the now-closed Birch Hill Nite Club.
All five of the zoning board members who were present at the meeting on the night before Thanksgiving Day — board members Grover Burrows, Deborah Hoffman, Steven Wexler, Steven Sukel and Chairwoman Sherry Hoffer — voted in favor of the application for the Marlboro portion of the property.
All of the homes in the development will be built in Old Bridge, but the applicant sought a use variance from the Marlboro zoning board to build an entrance and exit to the community, as well as a gatehouse and detention basin, on 5.5 adjoining acres that lie in Marlboro. The land in Marlboro is zoned for commercial development.
Attorney Robert McGowan, representing Kara Homes, told board members that the land in Marlboro could probably not be developed for commercial use because part of the property consists of wetlands. The detention basin on the site will be aesthetically pleasing, said McGowan, who added that only 200 feet of the development’s structures would be directly along Route 9 south.
Ray Deboer, a planner representing the applicant, testified that the housing development would be better for the community than the existing Birch Hill recreation complex.
"The public good would be improved by the elimination of the troublesome use of the property — the existing [recreation] center," Deboer said.
Residents will most likely initially enter the gate within Marlboro’s jurisdiction by using an electronic device, McGowan said, although he noted that the structure might be manned by a guard at some point in the future.
Traffic engineer Frank Miskovich, representing Kara Homes, testified that the presence of the adult community would increase delays on the eastbound side of the Route 9-Route 520 intersection by between 2 and 5 percent during the peak hour of traffic.
He added that planned improvements to Route 520, including the widening of the road, will improve the traffic situation at the intersection.
Reacting to Miskovich’s testimony, Hoffman said, "The Route 9-Route 520 intersection is so congested. I
respectfully request that you ask residents to make only a right turn" out of the development’s exit on Route 520, which is in Old Bridge, about 1,000 feet from the Marlboro border.
A right turn on to Route 520 west would take residents of the adult community away from the Route 9-Route 520 intersection and toward Texas Road in Old Bridge.
Miskovich had said that Texas Road is significantly less congested than Route 520.
"I’m making this request to prevent more traffic from being dumped on to Route 520. The road is also very dark and dangerous at night," Hoffman added.
McGowan did not say whether the
applicant would go along with Hoffman’s request. However, Miskovich and McGowan made statements that seemed to contradict Hoffman’s proposal.
Responding to Hoffman’s comment, Miskovich suggested that residents of the adult community who want to reach Route 9 and head south would be
inconvenienced by Hoffman’s suggestion to go all the way around to Texas Road and then access Route 9 south at that point.
"For people who want to drive on Route 9 south, that’s not going to go," Miskovich said.
McGowan said the residents would independently choose to avoid the Route 9-Route 520 intersection during times of the day when it is most crowded.
Zoning board engineer Ernie Peters said he did not believe the Kara Homes development at Birch Hill would substantially increase traffic at the Route 9-Route 520 intersection.
Acceding to a request by Township Engineer Bill Schultz, Kara Homes will assist in financing drainage and other improvements on Route 520, McGowan said.
McGowan also agreed to follow Hoffer’s suggestion that the applicant’s experts confer with Peters and Schultz
to ensure that Marlboro residents who live on Route 520 are not inconvenienced or harmed by the planned improvements.
Kara Homes is now waiting for the state Department of Environmental Protection to approve the project, McGowan said, adding that the DEP should approve the project by February.