Possible subdivision gets a second chance
Corner at Route 526 and Old Noah Hunt Road could be developed
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - The Planning Board has agreed to reconsider a subdivision application it previously rejected.

At the Jan. 10 Planning Board meeting, Kenneth Pape, attorney for Country Road Estates, asked the board to reconsider an application for a six-lot subdivision on Route 526. Millstone's Lee family owns the property that would be developed by Millstone-based developer Gerry Baldachino under the name DENJ. The board previously rejected the application by a 3-2 vote at its December meeting.

Among the reasons Pape gave for reconsideration were that the previous hearing on the application did not start until 10:20 p.m. At that time, he said his clients found out that only five board members would be eligible to vote on the application.

Pape also told the board that although several large informational exhibits had been prepared on the subdivision, the board went through the application so quickly that he could not present all of the information.

The applicant's engineer, Julia Algeo of Maser Associates, whose corporate headquarters are in Red Bank, also did not get an opportunity to speak at the hearing, he said.

"I anticipated a different type of presentation than we actually did," Pape said.

Pape said there is case law that would allow the board to reconsider the application.

The nearly 59.5-acre tract, located on the corner of Route 526 and Old Noah Hunt Road, is in the township's rural preservation (RUP) zone, which requires a minimum of 10 acres per building lot.

At the Oct. 11 Planning Board meeting, Algeo provided the measurements for each of the six lots, which are between 9.1 and 10.1 acres with the average lot size amounting to 9.9 acres.

At the October meeting, the Planning Board pointed out that the site could accommodate five lots without variances, but Pape said his client would not be satisfied with five. Pape said the owner of the property to be developed is a farmer who chose not to develop when the township's zoning was 3 acres. He said the development around Lee's property is on 3-acre lots.

Pape said his client is not asking for a cluster, new roads or lot averaging.

"We're comfortable the master plan intention and zoning ordinance have been met," Pape said.

Planning Board Attorney Michael Steib said a reconsideration was not something he would want the board to consider a normal operating procedure.

"What the applicant is requesting is extraordinary," he said.

Steib acknowledged that the case law Pape cited provides for the board to review or rescind its decisions. Steib said the previous hearing began late in the evening and was under time constraints. He also noted that the applicant may not have presented all the factors involved with the subdivision.

Steib said the vote on the application was close, and that only five of the nine members on the board participated in the decision. Steib said the type of relief asked for in a reconsideration should be used sparingly, but should be extended to remedy the question of a manifest injustice.

"The Planning Board could conclude that the better course of action is to reopen the case," he said.

Vice Chairman Christopher Pepe, who chaired that portion of the meeting due to a possible conflict of interest by Chairman Mitchell Newman, asked Pape if he would present anything that may be dynamic enough to change the minds of board members.

"I believe the information we present will be compelling," Pape replied.

The board voted 8-0 to reconsider the application, with the abstention of Manny Blanco, who voted against the original application. Mayor Nancy Grbelja and Michael Kucziniski had also voted against the application in December, while George Zanetakos and Thomas Pado had voted in favor of it.

The application will be reconsidered at the February board meeting, and Pape said he would send transcripts of the previous hearings to all board members.