Dreamland needs approvals from the state
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The Planning Board granted preliminary approval for a 39-lot subdivision at its May 22 meeting, but 17 of the lots also need approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The lots with artesian conditions, which require approval from the state, need a New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit.

Dino Spadiccini, the attorney for applicant David Molski, said his client's farm, Dreamland Estates, consists of nearly 111 acres located in the township's agricultural/residential zone. The property has frontage on Burlington Path and Schoolhouse roads.

In August 2005, the Planning Board approved a schematic test plan for the project under the township's cluster provision, which grants a 35 percent bonus density to developers who cluster their development in order to preserve other property on their tract. Spadiccini said the preserved farm lot at Dreamland Estates would total about 56 acres.

The subdivision of the parcel may take place in three phases, according to Spadiccini. The first phase would consist of separating the deed-restricted farm lot, he said. The two other portions of the property could be independently developed, starting with 10 lots near Burlington Path Road on a road called Gabriel Drive, he said.

The application needs two variances, one concerning a current dwelling where farmworkers reside. The residence is located 182 feet from a proposed street where 400 feet is required, according to Spadiccini.

The second variance is for a stream corridor buffer that should measure 100 feet from the top of the channel bank of the stream. Spadiccini said his client cannot satisfy the requirement for the buffer.

The applicant's engineer, Chester DiLorenzo, said the streams are in wooded areas and the applicant does not want to disturb them.

Township Engineer Glenn Gerken said the information pertaining to the stream corridors must be sent to the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners for consideration. He said that per township ordinance, a stream buffer may have a lawn area but no buildings.

Surveyor Ted Pivornick said horse paddocks currently cover most of the property. He said there are three residences on the tract, including the aforementioned farmworker house, the Molski house and a small house on Schoolhouse Road that will be razed, he said.

The main residence is located on the highest point of the property, according to Pivornick. The land has almost been divided down the center by a stream, which is a tributary of Crosswicks Creek, he said.

According to Pivornick, the DEP has designated three types of wetlands on the property. One type is considered an intermediate wetland, which requires a 50-foot buffer.

The other two types of wetlands do not require buffers, he said, and one wetland is a small pond behind a barn.

According to Pivornick, there are also several areas of the property with steep slopes, including ditches on the farm and in front of the main residence.

Pivornick said there are concerns about storm drainage pipes crossing Schoolhouse Road and a neighboring 18-acre tract. There are no easements recorded for the storm drainage pipes, he said, and the plan is to remove and replace them in storm easements in a new public right of way.

The subdivision will have three detention basins, which will be maintained by a homeowners association, Pivornick said. One of the basins will be a wet basin averaging 4 feet, which will take in the surface runoff from lots 11-29 as well as the adjacent 18-acre property, according to Pivornick.

The board suggested that the applicant use aeration to reduce algae bloom, prevent stagnation and control mosquitoes in the basin.

DiLorenzo said that if NJPDES permits are not granted for the lots with artesian conditions, the applicant will come back before the Planning Board for lot consolidation. When asked about the possibility of the project using alternative septic systems, he said that the use of any system with more than one discharge would require a change in the township's wastewater management plan, which could take several years, if it even happens.

DiLorenzo said Molski may be able to move the application more quickly with individual NJPDES permits.

Board member Bob Freiberger expressed reservations about including the 17 lots in the preliminary approval. He said he had never heard of granting preliminary approval to lots with so many problems. Spadiccini replied that preliminary approval does not give the applicant the right to build, but "only the right to spend Dave Molski's money with other agencies."

"I think we've got a legitimate shot of getting approval by the DEP," Spadiccini said.

Freiberger, a farmer, said he has seen other properties developed in town that longtime residents thought could never be built on.

"Lo and behold, there's building on questionable soil," he said.

Freiberger called Dreamland Farm a beautiful property and said that it "almost should be taken as a park."

Tom Malibashka, whose horse farm abuts the proposed Burlington Road lots, said he would like the applicant to erect a chain-link fence to protect his horses from people. Spadiccini said there is a tree buffer along the driveway easement next to Malibashka's property.

Molski said that chain-link fencing would make the property look like a prison, and he instead recommended four-board fencing. However, the Planning Board decided that there would be substantial landscape buffering and that no fence would be needed as part of the application.

Jerry Chianese, whose home abuts the proposed lots on Schoolhouse Road, was concerned about the quality of his well with the advent of the development. He added that the front of his property has always had a water problem, while the back of it was dry.

"When the development comes, I hope it stays that way," he said, referring to the rear of his land remaining dry.

DiLorenzo said there is a state law that requires the applicant to install new wells if the subdivision causes neighboring wells to dry.