MANALAPAN – The members of the Manalapan Planning Board have approved the construction of a residential development off Route 33 west near Woodward Road.
The board’s approval was granted during a meeting on Oct. 14 that was conducted in a virtual manner.
The application was filed by the Stavola Asphalt Company. Manalapan Landing will be constructed by K. Hovnanian Homes and include a 30% set-aside for affordable housing.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets certain guidelines.
When testimony was being presented during a previous meeting, an issue arose when the applicant’s representatives and the board’s professionals could not determine if the affordable housing units would be for sale units or rental units.
The applicant’s representatives maintained that the affordable housing units would be for sale units and the board’s professionals said the affordable housing units were required to be rental units.
During the Oct. 14 meeting, attorney Peter Wolfson, who represents the Stavola Asphalt Company, said an agreement had been reached that will permit the affordable housing units at Manalapan Landing to be for sale units.
The bonus affordable housing credits that would have been applied for rental units at Manalapan Landing will instead be applied at a different affordable housing project in Manalapan that will include rental units, Wolfson said.
David Fisher, a vice president with K. Hovnanian Homes, Edison, previously testified his firm is the contract purchaser of the 41-acre lot where Manalapan Landing will be constructed.
Fisher said 105 two-story townhomes would be sold at market rates. The townhomes will range in size from 2,200 square feet to 2,500 square feet and have a one-car garage or a two-car garage. He said each townhome would have a basement.
Manalapan Landing will include 45 condominium units which will be designated as low income and moderate income units.
Fisher said the condominiums, in three buildings, will consist of two bedrooms (30 units) and three bedrooms (15 units) and range in size from about 700 square feet to about 1,250 square feet.
The condominiums will be marketed by K. Hovnanian to qualified individuals and families with low income and moderate income, he testified.
Fisher said a trail is planned to connect Manalapan Landing to retail uses the Stavola Asphalt Company is proposing at the corner of Route 33 and Woodward Road.
All access to the homes in Manalapan Landing will be from a right in, right out driveway on Route 33, a short distance west of the state highway’s intersection with Woodward Road.
No members of the public commented on the Manalapan Landing proposal when given the opportunity to do so.
Before the board members voted on a motion regarding Manalapan Landing, they approved a motion to separate the residential portion of the Stavola Asphalt Company application from the portion of the application which proposes retail and restaurant uses at Route 33 and Woodward Road and the construction of a medical office building on Woodward Road.
Following the board’s decision to bifurcate the application, a motion was made to grant preliminary and final major subdivision approval and preliminary and final major site plan approval for Manalapan Landing. That motion passed with a 9-0 vote from the board members.