By Kenny Walter
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL- Hearings continued on a proposed gas regulator station on the site of Cornerstone Power Holmdel solar farm.
Representatives of NJ Natural Gas Company (NJNG) testified during the March 2 Holmdel Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, that due to concerns from the board and public during the Feb. 3 meeting, they have revised plans for the regulator station proposed on 970 Holmdel Road.
“Based on the comments and questions that we’ve heard last time, we’ve actually taken the facility and re-graded it so it is now lower to the ground and actually created a berm in front of it to create more of a screen in front of it,” landscape architect Richard Wiener said. “The result of that is a four-foot wall, as you can see the facility is now buried into the ground.
“The original application where the fence was closest to Holmdel Road, the elevation was proposed to be 135 [feet] and the top of the wall is now 137.5 [feet] and the grade inside the facility drops a foot and a half.”
The applicant is seeking variance relief to construct the proposed regulator station within the buffer required between a non-residential use and a residential zone, where according to township zoning, 384.25 feet is required and 74.5 feet is proposed. NJNG will also need a variance to construct an eight-foot fence, two feet above the maximum allowable by Holmdel zoning.
The proposal is being opposed by residents in the area, as well as a citizens group called Holmdel Citizens for Informed Land Use.
NJNG attorney Nancy Skidmore said residents previously addressed concerns of the proposal with vehicles possibly jumping the curb and causing safety issues in the area. However, she said the design change and addition of the four-foot wall will address some of those concerns.
Skidmore explained how the property would change with the constructed regulator facility.
“For this proposal, we would be eliminating just that part of the berm where we propose to put the regulator station and we also would be removing and relocating those existing trees to another area of the site,” she said.
However, with the advent of the wall, Wiener said more of the berm will now remain on site.
“The other interesting thing that happened as a result of the wall is the berm that is existing there now, we can keep more of that because it is going to be up against the wall,” he said. “Much more of that berm is going to remain.”