U.F. aims to strike balance with future development
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The township's Economic Development Committee has some issues with the proposed changes to the commercial aspect of the master plan.

The advisory board had reviewed the changes, and Tim Lizura, chairman of the Economic Development Committee (EDC), addressed the issues with the Planning Board at the board's April 24 meeting.

Lizura asked if the proposed changes have a target ratio of commercial development to residential development.

"Is there a 20 percent [commercial] to 80 percent [residential] target?" he asked.

Lizura said the master plan revisions must include reasonable proportions of commercial and residential development as well as preserved land for a healthy economic community with a balanced budget and a healthy tax ratable base.

According to Lizura, the Planning Board has proposed creating more receiving areas for higher density uses than the EDC expected. He asked how many units each area would have and for the proportion of residential to commercial development in each area.

"There should be a population yield in each area and it should not be exceeded," the EDC review of proposed master plan revisions states. "Each area's guidelines should be set in accordance with its location and other factors. Once this yield is met, the building in the area should cease."

Planning Board member David Reed said the creation of any receiving area would require a landowner willing to sell the property for that use.

"That's why there are so many [listed]," Reed said.

With regard to the target ratio of residential to commercial development, Township Planner Mark Remsa said that no municipality in the state has achieved a fiscal balance between housing and commercial ratables.

"It's an elusive goal," he said. "[Upper Freehold is] a rural community and the No. 1 industry is agriculture. Agriculture as a business is overlooked."

Remsa called it a conundrum for the town to want more commercial development, because it would need a certain number of new homes to sustain it.

Remsa said the Planning Board changes to the master plan seek to expand the township's community commercial zone so it is located near highways and major crossroads. He also said the highway development zone would be expanded a little.

Highway development zones typically require sewer and water, he said. The only part of the township with sewer and water for commercial properties is on Breza Road. Part of the Breza Road tract is going to be used for a new middle school.

The EDC recommended that the remainder of the Breza Road acreage not have government buildings and offices on them, because those types of structures are tax-exempt. The EDC also recommended that hotels and conference centers only be permitted in that area if their borders are not within 500 feet of the school property.

"This is for the safety of students with transient visitors using the facility," according to the EDC review.

Planning Board Chairman Richard Stern noted that a hotel would need a package treatment plant. Lizura said he sensed the EDC would support limited infrastructure if it helped the Horse Park of New Jersey and the equine industry.

Lizura said the EDC does like the township's research, office, manufacturing (ROM) zone and would not like to see it abandoned.

Remsa said the ROM zone is on Route 524, not far from Cox's Corner. He said the zone could be a good one to use for a commerce park overlay, since it is near the Route 195 interchange.

Remsa said ROM uses are leaving the state. However, those that stay tend to cluster together, which they could not do in the township's ROM zone, he said.

The warehouse industry is still growing in the state, according to Remsa.

"Just because the market says it will continue doesn't mean you will want it," he said.

The EDC review also recommended that health care clinics and equine/large animal hospitals be added to uses in the community commercial zone. As for proposed map changes, it recommended that the New Sharon Village and Hornerstown receiving areas be deleted and zoned community commercial. The review also called the Ellisdale receiving area "too large and unnecessary."

Remsa said the New Sharon property is over 100 acres. He said a commercial zone in excess of 100 acres could have a negative impact on residents. Remsa said the Hornerstown receiving area is also large, measuring about 150 acres.

Remsa addressed land preservation in the community and agreed with the EDC's suggestion that land preserved under the density transfer plan should be considered farmland and not Green Acres, unless the township has some properties highly valued for recreational use.

Board member Jennifer Coffey called land preservation a win/win situation.

"It holds taxes down and is fiscally responsible," she said. "It helps maintain the rural agricultural community most of us want."

Lizura also asked the Planning Board if it considered impact fees. He said it is legitimate for the township to impose transportation impact fees on a commercial or residential development. The developer would have to contribute to an infrastructure fund to pay for road improvements, he said.

Remsa said in order to impose impact fees, a Transportation Implementation Plan would have to be prepared for the entire municipality.

Planning Board Attorney Frank Armenante said the analysis would require having a "rational basis" for imposing impact fees.

Remsa said he would prepare a preliminary draft of the nonresidential component of the master plan for the Planning Board.