U.F. trying to be more sensitive to commerce Planning Board seeks help from Economic Development Committee BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - Township officials are looking for ways to make it easier for more businesses to establish themselves in town. At the March 13 Planning Board meeting, Thomas Frascella, vice chairman of the township's Economic Development Committee (EDC), told the board that the EDC would like to work closer with the Planning Board in the best interest of the community. "First and foremost, we want to tell you we're here, we exist, we want to help," Frascella said. "We have some expertise. We're all in this to make the township better." The EDC is an advisory body and cannot make policy, but Frascella said it would like to help the Planning Board revise the township's master plan. The Planning Board is currently in its third year of trying to revise the plan. According to Frascella, when the EDC was first organized, it looked at the existing master plan and what has been done throughout town in terms of development. Frascella said there have been intended and unintended consequences in the process of building the community. Frascella said the current tax analysis shows that the township's ratable base consists of 19 percent farmland and 5 percent commercial ratables, with the rest consisting of residential. Frascella said two golf courses, Gambler's Ridge and the Cream Ridge Golf Club, represent 34 percent of the total commercial ratable base. "Do we encourage or discourage these businesses by some of the things that are going on in town?" he asked. Frascella said that the 2006 tax re-evaluation in the township doubled the assessments of many residential properties. He said his own property taxes increased by 12 percent as a result. However, he said, the assessments of the golf courses quadrupled. "That goes directly into their profit margin," he said. "Their bottom line was impacted very severely at one time." Frascella noted that the state purchased the Cream Ridge Golf Club last year, and by contract could make it a public course in five years. "If that happens, 15 percent of our ratables disappear," he said. "We would have to increase other commercial ratables to make up the difference." As a private golf course, Frascella said, Gambler's Ridge could have trouble competing against public courses. "Do we so impact their profit line that we force them out of business?" he asked. "If that happens, we've eliminated 34 percent of our commercial base." Frascella also spoke to the board about designating commercial zones in the township. He noted that under present zoning, many properties along the interstate corridor are in farmland preservation. "Whether you think that is good or bad, that's the reality of it," he said. Frascella said the Planning Board must think about creating true commercial zones rather than spot zoning, as the potentially commercial land that is left may not be contiguous. He also pointed out that some larger parcels may exist in the commercial zone, but that due to environmental constraints, the bulk of land there cannot be developed. Frascella told the Planning Board that a decent master plan is a very difficult document to produce. "It's hard work," he said. Planning Board Chairman Richard Stern asked Frascella if the current master plan is preventing any businesses from coming in to the community. Frascella said some businesses that want to locate themselves in Upper Freehold are having problems due to the township's zoning definitions of what uses are permitted in town. "It puts the business owner in the position of going for variances and can be an expensive and lengthy process," Frascella said. "If they don't want to spend that kind of money, they may go elsewhere." Frascella suggested that the township expand some of its definitions of permitted uses to make them more inclusive. "Just because they weren't in the definition of the old master plan doesn't mean we don't want them," he said. Board member Jennifer Coffey asked if Frascella saw any trends in the businesses finding it difficult to come into the township. "It's difficult to amend the master plan and zoning language to include every business under the sun," she said. "That is why the variance process is there." Frascella said the EDC wants to support the agriculture and equine industries and any businesses that can enhance them. He said Rick's Saddle Shop on Route 539, which is such a business, is a tremendous draw. Planning Board member Bob Freiberger, the board's liaison to the EDC, said people travel long distances to visit or compete at the Horse Park of New Jersey on Route 524, but they have to go out of the area for lodging and restaurants. Frascella said creating lodging in the township would require designating a place where such development is appropriate. "Proper zoning could designate that," he said. Frascella said a motel could not go in an area without sewerage. "There is no point in saying this is the zone where we want 'x' to happen, where nothing in the [zone's] infrastructure will allow it," he said. Frascella said the township must simplify its zoning so business owners don't wind up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars only to get to a point where the Planning Board refuses their application. "There's an underlying theme," he said. "Businesses want some level of certainty so that they are talking about something that will be encouraged." Stern said the Planning board is all ears if the EDC knows how to help reduce taxes in town. He asked for the EDC to schedule a joint meeting with the Planning Board as soon as possible.