New construction to start on 140-acre Millstone tract
Farm owner will not retire ability to further subdivide property
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - A single-family home will be built on the 140-acre site formerly known as the Fu Sing Farm.

The township's Zoning Board unanimously approved the project at its May 23 meeting.

Vito Cardinale, who wants to build a house on the Disbrow Hill Road property, needed one variance because the lot does not have frontage on a public street, which is required by the state's Municipal Land Use Law.

Kenneth Pape, the applicant's attorney, said that Cardinale also needed a variance because construction would cause some disturbance of some steep slopes in excess of 15 percent. The second variance is required by municipal ordinance.

The applicant's engineer, Peter Strong of Crest Engineering in Millstone, said the area planned for the new house has minor sections where the slopes are greater than 15 percent. He said the rest of the slopes are between 5 and 10 percent.

Although some trees on the property will be cut, and part of the slopes will be flattened for the placement of the house on the property, Strong said there is no danger that such activities will cause erosion of the stream corridors or other adverse effects.

Pape said Cardinale wants to construct his house on a knoll, since its vistas look over the entire acreage.

An old house exists on the tract, but it was built without indoor utilities and is not in good condition, according to Pape. Cardinale intends to raze the former dwelling, he said.

Pape said the property has access via a driveway that does not have legal status as an easement, according to a title review. Pape said the neighboring landowner, Ed Heminghaus, has conveyed a legal access easement on his property to Cardinale.

Strong said the existing dirt driveway is near the intersection of Disbrow Hill Road and Beechwood Lane. The proposed new driveway intersects Beechwood Lane at the same location but will be widened from 10 to 18 feet and paved at the Disbrow Hill Road right of way as well as partially up the driveway, he said. The driveway will be kept gravel for the remaining length, until it reaches the area near the proposed new dwelling, he said.

Strong said the new driveway would be wide enough to allow two emergency vehicles to pass each other.

Pape said the property contains flood plains, wetlands and stream corridors, which will require his client to get a Letter of Interpretation for the project from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The driveway will cross over a stream corridor and will also require a DEP permit, according to Pape.

Pape said the house will be serviced by a well and a septic system, as are all other Millstone residences.

There are currently no gas lines available for the site, according to Pape.

The closest electric service is at the Heminghaus home, he said. Cardinale will have to talk to Jersey Central Power & Light Co. (JCP&L) to explore the possibility of having the electric extended underground. If that is not possible, the project may require relocating poles that lead to the old house on the property to the area of the new house, according to Pape.

Pape said that Cardinale has met with Pat Butch, of the township's Open Space and Farmland Preservation Council, about putting a bridle path through the property. Cardinale has proposed placing the path through an area in the southeast quadrant of the tract.

Butch said she appreciates Cardinale working with the trail group. She said his property is a very important connecting place because it would link up with 20 miles of trails. She said there is a bridle trail on the nearby Buono property to Prodelin Way, with an easement that goes to Perrineville Lake Park. On nearby Huneke Way, the Soifer family has granted the township a bridle path easement that goes to the Orchards development and on to the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area.

Jack Kaye, whose house is adjacent to the Cardinale property on Beechwood Lane, said he fully supports Cardinale's proposal.

"What they are planning to do is a tremendous improvement over what is there now," he said, adding that the house and property are currently "very unsightly."

Another neighbor, Gary Mangino, also supported the project. He said that over the years, people have trespassed on the farm on a regular basis. He said trespassers have included all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riders, hunters and "some [who are] there for no good."

Township Planner Richard Coppola did not attend the meeting but submitted a letter stating that he had no objection to an easement on the property.

Coppola's letter stated that there should be no additional subdivision of the property without frontage on a street.

Pape said his clients have no plans to develop the rest of the site, but they do not want to retire their ability to subdivide. He also said that developing the property with true frontage would require purchasing contiguous land.