Planning Board Airs Concerns About Proposed Development

Representatives for a proposed age-restricted community made a second appearance in front of the planning board on Thursday night looking to advance their application for a 251-home development on West Farms Road.

The focus of Thursday's hearing turned to the safety of the possible future residents given the proposed layout of the complex. At the June 2 meeting, board member and town Councilman Robert Nicastro had asked the applicants to add a second entrance and exit to the plans in an effort to not only help emergency vehicles get into the complex, but also help residents leave in an emergency situation. 

The plans provided on Thursday included improvements at the one emergency entrance on the site, but no additional entrances or exits. By the time the meeting was done, the applicants for the development currently titled Harvest Ridge had at least started to form a new plan. 

That plan included the desired second entrance off of Snyder Road. While there are still questions to be worked out in terms of farm buffers with neighboring properties, it was progress from what had first been in front of the board. 

The change in the plan came after a recess where people on both sides of the table got a chance to figure out what they were looking for in the application. Prior to the recess, one of the applicants witnesses, Scott Kennel said he was confident the plans laid out would be effective.

"My review of the site plan indicates that this is a safe access point for 251 dwellings," he said. "We have an access system that is more than capable of processing traffic in and out. Should there be a situation where both ingress and egress roadways are blocked there is the emergency access to the easterly side of the property."

He then cited different and larger communities as examples that worked with just the one main entrance including the Four Seasons development in Lakewood. Councilman Nicastro, who said he has family in that development, said one of the differences between the proposed plan and the Lakewood site is that the houses in Four Seasons are set back further from the main roadway. 

Board member Evelyn O'Donnell was also a proponent of the two entrance strategy. "I think the emergency access is great, however I'd like two entrances and exits, plus an emergency exit," she said. 

The second witness for the applicants, Scott Kennel, said he had worked with the Howell Department of Public Works on the plan and said he had originally had some misgivings about a second full entrance on the property.

"There's pro's and con's like anything else," he said. "When you introduce a second full entrance there's additional points of conflict. Additional places for accidents to occur, security issues and issues for neighboring properties." 

Kennel said his group had hoped the changes made would be enough to satisfy the board. "It wasn't that we didn't understand the comments, or didn't take them seriously. We took them very seriously. This is what I thought was the best way to address what I agree are very serious concerns, but at the same time provide the best overall experience for the future residents of both this community as well as the general public traveling on West Farms Road." 

Board Chairman Vincent Tantillo said he and the other members were doing what they thought was best for the residents of the township. "Everybody on this board sees these plans all the time. Everything that's shown to us always looks great on paper until it's put into the ground," he said. "Then we say we wow, we shoulda', we coulda' and we didn't. That's why we're going through this right now."

When the meeting was adjourned, the plan was to reconvene the hearing at a meeting on Aug. 19. At that time a plan of how to accommodate the two entrances and exits as well as the emergency entrances will be laid out in a more complete manner.