Upper Freehold rethinks giving bonus to builders Developers who opt to cluster may no longer get more density BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - Township officials are now questioning the bonus in giving developers more density for preserving a portion of a tract to be built on. Questions about ending the 35 percent bonus density provision from the township's master plan were raised at the July 12 Township Committee meeting. The bonus density option, created in 2003, allows developers with a minimum of 50 acres to gain a greater density of development if they cluster homes on smaller tracts while preserving the remainder of the parcel they are building on. The township currently has 3-acre zoning. In April, it was the consensus of the governing body to remove the bonus density from the master plan. At that time, Mayor Stephen Fleischacker, who also serves on the Planning Board, said that he would relate the Township Committee's concerns about the bonus density to the Planning Board. However, Fleischacker has not attended a Planning Board meeting since then, so the issue has not been raised with the board. Former Mayor Bob Abrams asked the Township Committee about the status of eliminating the bonus density. "Every day that goes by," he said, "a developer could sneak in and get their density approved." Committeeman Bob Faber said the issue is something that needs to be worked on as soon as possible. Fleischacker said that on June 7, the governing body voted to authorize Township Planner Mark Remsa to prepare an ordinance amendment for the elimination of the bonus density. He said the amendment is due very soon, given that it was a four- to six-week assignment. He expects the proposed ordinance by the committee's next meeting, he said. The committee will review the document and then send it to the Planning Board for a 35-day review, according to Fleischacker. In June, Remsa gave a presentation to the committee, during which he recommended dropping the bonus density but keeping the cluster option. In his presentation, Remsa cited a nitrate dilution study model created through a study of the township's septic capacity and groundwater supply. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) only allows a certain amount of nitrates to discharge from septics into groundwater, according to Remsa. The current limit for nitrates is 5.2 milligrams per liter, he said. According to the model created by the study, Remsa recommended that the township maintain a density of one unit per 3 acres. Because the study was partially funded by an Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) $7,000 matching grant, the township has an obligation to show the report to ANJEC before releasing it, according to Fleischacker. He said that Remsa will give a formal presentation on the study at the Planning Board's July 24 meeting. Fleischacker said that after the board reviews the study, ANJEC can look at the draft again and provide more input before releasing it. Fleischacker said he believes that new DEP regulations on water quality, including nitrate dilution levels, will create downzoning, which means an increase in lot sizes throughout the state. "Essentially, the state will downzone all communities," he said. "Not the township, but the state will drive downzoning."