Exploring the different avenues to Smart Growth
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Millstone and Upper Freehold are two adjacent communities with much in common.

Both municipalities are rural communities that are facing increasing development pressures. Both towns have preserved a great deal of open space through the Farmland Preservation, Green Acres and other programs. However, the two towns differ in terms of the directions they're taking when it comes to future land use.

Millstone consists of 37.36 square miles, while Upper Freehold has 47.5 square miles within its boundaries. Upper Freehold Township has almost 6,971 acres of preserved farmland whereas Millstone has about 841 acres. Millstone has a total of 5,176 acres of open space including state-, county- and township-owned open space, camps and trail easements.

According to the 2000 Census, Upper Freehold has a population of 4,282 residents while Millstone has 8,970.

When it comes to planning for future land use, the Upper Freehold Planning Board is now entering its third year of trying to revise its master plan. Township Planner Mark Remsa and Mayor Stephen Fleischacker are advocating Office of Smart Growth (OSG) principles for the township's future. The proposed revisions in accordance with those principles have not yet had a public hearing.

The OSG refers to Smart Growth as a term used to describe well-planned, well-managed growth that adds new homes and new jobs to a community while preserving open space, farmland and environmental resources.

"Smart Growth supports livable neighborhoods with a variety of housing types, price ranges and multimodal forms of transportation," the OSG Web site states.

The OSG also describes Smart Growth as an approach to land-use planning that targets the state's resources and funding in ways that enhance the quality of life for New Jersey residents.

"Smart Growth principles include mixed-use development, walkable town centers and neighborhoods, mass transit accessibility, sustainable economic and social development, and preserved green space," the Web site continues.

The Smart Growth approach to planning has been used in larger New Jersey cities such as Elizabeth and Jersey City; in smaller towns like Red Bank and Hoboken, and in rural communities such as Chesterfield and Hope, according to the OSG.

"In New Jersey, Smart Growth supports development and redevelopment in recognized centers - a compact form of development - as outlined in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP), with existing infrastructure that serves the economy, the community and the environment," the OSG Web site states.

According to Remsa, Upper Freehold can retain its rural atmosphere by allowing recognized centers such as villages and hamlets to grow in a limited degree while surrounding them with open space and farmland. He said the township could also use cluster developing to preserve large contiguous tracts of land.

Remsa's draft of revisions to the township's master plan includes doubling the township's base zoning to 6-acre and 10-acre zoning. However, landowners who would participate in a proposed density transfer program would receive housing credits under the township's current 3-acre zoning, with a 25 percent bonus density.

Remsa's proposed density transfer program would rely on the township to create sending and receiving areas so development could take place in key designated places in the community such as along highway corridors. A landowner with property in a receiving area would get the same bonus density as a sending area landowner, he said.

In receiving areas with more than one housing unit per acre, Remsa said the township would require there to be some sort of community-based wastewater and potable water supply that could serve that center, as most township development relies on private septics and wells.

Like Upper Freehold, most of Millstone Township's development also relies on private septic and well use. Unlike Upper Freehold, Millstone Township has not embraced the Smart Growth principles outlined by the state. In 2003, the Millstone Township Committee passed an ordinance creating a rural preservation zone. A vast majority of the township's undeveloped land now falls within this zone, which requires a minimum of 10 acres per building lot. The township's previous zoning regulations required a 3-acre minimum building lot in most areas. The ordinance also included a cluster provision.

In comparison, Upper Freehold currently has 3-acre zoning with a 35 percent bonus density for those who cluster development on a site with a minimum of 50 acres.

Richard Coppola, who is Millstone's planner, was also Upper Freehold's former planner. In August 2004, Coppola presented the Upper Freehold Township Committee with a report regarding the potential rezoning of its agricultural/residential district. In the report, Coppola advocated that the township change to 6-acre zoning with clustering allowed on tracts of land with 150 acres so 75 percent of those parcels could be preserved. However, the township did not adopt those potential master plan revisions.

Coppola resigned as Upper Freehold's township planner in December 2004, and Remsa was hired in 2005.

According to Millstone Mayor Nancy Grbelja, during the past three years, the Township Committee has been able to modify Millstone's master plan and develop strategic plans in such a manner that encourages distinctive and attractive communities in a clustered design; promotes and encourages open space, farmland and scenic resource preservation; protects watersheds and natural resources; provides recreational facilities within walking distance of many developments with an expansion plan affecting all age groups; encourages ratables in areas that do not

negatively impact residents' environment or their quality of life; incorporates affordable-housing plans in the community without compromising the environment; and provides for mixed land uses including agriculture, horse farming, etc.

Grbelja said she believes that the measures introduced by the Township Committee meet the needs and desires of Millstone Township residents.

"High-density housing and 'walkable' communities as envisioned by the writers of the Smart Growth plan are not the vision of the majority of residents," she said.

Grbelja said the concept of Smart Growth may be beneficial to some communities and may serve as their only avenue to preserving land.

"Millstone has fortunately been able to provide other avenues to accomplish many of the principles of Smart Growth," she said.

Grbelja feels Millstone residents desire a rural neighborhood that takes them away from the hustle and bustle of fast communities.

"Neighborhood parks, recreational faculties and programs in addition to the diversity provided by our agricultural and equine industry provide ample satisfaction to the residents," she said. "This is supported by the overwhelming support the community has given to our open space and Farmland Preservation Program."

Grbelja personally views Smart Growth as "just another plan or gimmick to increase development at any cost." She said that downzoning in Millstone Township has tremendously enhanced the quality of life without negatively impacting real estate values. She also said land values have actually continued to increase.

"The Township Committee, boards and commissions will continue to monitor the pulse of the community and make adjustments accordingly," she said.