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| 42 Single Family Homes approved in red box, just North of Reynard Run and Country Farms |
At a meeting of the Zoning Board last night, a hearing was held to consider granting a density use variance for the property shown on the map above, to allow 42 new single family homes on the lot, when only 32 were allowed by current zoning laws. (Zoning laws allow 1 dwelling unit per acre, the plan is 1.3 dwelling units per acre).
To begin the night, the Zoning Board attorney gave a bit of history for the property. In October of 2015, the property owner applied for a similar variance to build 56 homes on the property when only 32 were allowed. At a hearing in February 2016, that request was denied. In June 2016, the property owner filed suit to reverse the decision, claiming the denial was 'arbitrary and capricious.'
The parties recently came to an agreement that the owners would withdraw the suit without prejudice (meaning they could resume it at a future date) and appear before the zoning board with a new plan for 42 houses instead of the original 56. So the question before the zoning board was whether the property could reasonably accommodate 42 homes.
Much of the discussion during the evening was around why the property was zoned low density in the first place, which had to do with the presence of wetlands. Because of the wetlands, it was assumed that public water and sewer could not be brought to the property. However, a more recent study that was accepted by the NJ Department of Environment Protection determined that the property had much less wetlands that previously thought and the zoning could be reasonably changed to a higher density of housing.
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| Property in red. Reynard Run and Country Farms to the South, Beagle Club to the north |
There was testimony from traffic engineers and planners, explaining that the additional traffic between 32 homes (which were allowed 'by right') and 42 homes is minimal - during peak hours, one additional car every 4-5 minutes. The entrance to the new homes would be 150 feet north of Geranium Drive, on the other side of North Elmwood, which is the entrance to Village Greenes. This entrance was far enough away not to impede entry and exit into the Village Greenes and provided adequate site lines.
Approximately one dozen residents testified, concerned about the additional traffic on North Elmwood, about the turns out of Geranium Drive becoming more hazardous, about runoff and buffer zones between the new neighborhood and the adjoining neighborhoods of Country Farms and Reynard Run.
An informal schematic drawing was presented showing what the new neighborhood would look like. This is subject to change - this was not a presentation to the planning board for a site plan review, this was only for demonstration purposes.
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| Entry to neighborhood on lower right corner. Upper left corner shows wetlands in dark green. |
Town Planner Leah Furey Bruder testified that the use is consistent with municipal land use law, and that the zoning for the site should probably have been revised. She had no objections to the variance, nor did the townships other officials.
Ultimately a motion was submitted and voted upon, passing by a vote of 7-0.
Some additional points:
- The next step would be to present a plan to the Planning Board for site plan approval
- For the 32 homes allowed by right, 1.5% of the 'equalized assessed value' is given to the town for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. For the 10 additional homes, that percentage is increased to 6%, for an additional (approximately) $648,000 for the fund.
- The plan as presented had 26% Open Space, where 40% is required. That will be addressed at the Planning Board.
- The builder for the homes would be MiPro homes, who currently are building the Sanctuary and Hayverhill in Marlton.
- The homes are expected to be 3000-4000 square feet. The median home price is expected to be between $620,000 and $640,000. The homes will have side garages.
- The street will be called Charlotte Court.
- The owners attempted to purchase the triangular lot just to the east of their property to obtain more frontage on Elmwood Road. The owner did not wish to sell.
- A central location for post office boxes was missing from the map. Apparently new neighborhoods are required by the US Postal Service to have a central mail location, rather than mail boxes at each house.
Also last night, the Zoning Board passed a resolution that for all future meetings, no new motions could be introduced after 10:30pm and meetings would end no later than 11:00pm. This seems to be as a direct result of the Royal Farms hearing that didn't begin public testimony until after midnight. Kudos to the Zoning Board for taking this step to allow greater participation by residents in town affairs.
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