3 committeemen talk sewerage, land equity
While Faber favors downzoning, Miscoski and Reed are against it
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Deputy Mayor William Miscoski said he is not in favor of extending public sewerage in town anywhere except for Imlaystown.

"I think it will be a cold day in hell before we see sewers in town," he said at the June 21 Township Committee meeting.

Miscoski chaired the meeting in the absence of Mayor Stephen Fleischacker. Committeeman Stephen Alexander was also not present.

The three members of the governing body in attendance, all large landowners in the township, have put their properties into some sort of preservation program. Besides a talk about creating more public sewerage in town, a discussion about land equity also took place.

Except for the Four Seasons and Heritage Green housing developments, most township development relies on the use of private septics and wells. The only other section of town currently zoned for the use of public water/sewer is the Breza Road area.

Miscoski said he would make the public sewerage exception for Imlaystown in order to revitalize the hamlet, which cannot have new septic systems put in due to its proximity to Buckhole Creek.

Miscoski also said he would not want to see development in Upper Freehold like the town center in Washington Township. He said his son and his friends refer to that town center as "Little Brooklyn."

The township is currently in the process of revising the township's master plan, which regulates land use in town. The board has been reviewing the idea of rezoning the township for town/village centers, which are areas designated for high-density housing, commercial development and possibly other kinds of development as well.

During the meeting, former Mayor Bob Abrams brought up recent statements by Millstone Mayor Nancy Grbelja, who said that zoning changes enacted in her township in recent years will significantly reduce the number of children entering its schools in the future.

Millstone enacted 10-acre and 6-acre zoning several years ago. Upper Freehold currently has 3-acre zoning.

One of the arguments against downzoning in Upper Freehold is that it would not help to preserve landowners' equity. Abrams said he believes landowners' equity has been preserved in Millstone.

He also said that when Committeemen David Reed and Bob Faber preserved their properties, they were paid for them, but they still own them and can sell them in the future.

Abrams, a homeowner, asked the committee what protects his equity from the possibility of more schools having to be built in Upper Freehold.

Faber said he agreed with Abrams.

"We've got to look at what we are doing in the township as far as zoning goes," he said. "Millstone has larger lot sizes. If that's the way we need to go to come up with a figure so we won't have a new school, it should be looked at."

Reed disagreed that downzoning would protect land equity and said more preserved farmland would add to the value of houses in the township.

Reed gave some of his reasons against downzoning. He commented that large lots are often hard to maintain and said that homeowners often do not care for them properly. He alleged that there is not one lot in Winchester Estates, a housing development that abuts one of his family's farms, that is kept up. He said that weed seeds from backyards in that development blow across his fields.

He also said large-lot zoning would chew up the township's farmland. Reed said the township is trying to preserve as much land as it can.

Miscoski said, "There's a heck of a lot more houses in Millstone than Upper Freehold. I don't think Millstone has done such a great job."

He also pointed out that Millstone does not have its own high school and instead sends its students to Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold Regional School District.

He said he would never be a proponent of 6-acre or 10-acre zoning.

"It's a waste of land," he said.

Miscoski said he does not see anything wrong with the township's current zoning, but that the 35 percent bonus option, currently given to developers who cluster their developments on large tracts of land, must go.

Miscoski alleged that he, Faber and Reed could have gotten a lot more money for their land if they sold it for development rather than preservation.

Miscoski's family sold its Cream Ridge Golf Club on Route 539 to the state last year. Miscoski said he knows his father is resting in peace, knowing that the golf course he created will never be built on.