Millstone farmer approved for two undersized lots
Balance of tract will become town's centralized recreational area
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - A board member's arrival in the nick of time put forth a vote that sped up the township's acquisition of a large parcel for recreational use.

There were not enough members present for a quorum at the July 11 Planning Board meeting, until Thomas Pado, the board's first alternate, arrived shortly after 8:30 p.m.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja and Committeeman Steven Sico, who also serve on the Planning Board, could not vote on the application in front of the board because the township is the applicant and there would be a conflict of interest. They left the meeting shortly after Pado arrived.

Simon Kaufman, an attorney representing the township, said the application concerns the tract, known as the Lee farm, on Red Valley and Trenton-Lakewood roads. He said the township is in the process of purchasing some of the farm's acreage for recreational use. In addition, the application concerns two other adjoining pieces of land belonging to the Lees that will be subdivided into three lots.

One of the lots will become part of the township's property, while the other two, which both contain residences, will belong to the Lee family, he said.

Kaufman said the Lees will retain two 6-acre lots and are willing to abandon their interest in the remaining 15 acres, which the township will also purchase for a total of 164 acres. The township will use the acreage for open space and/or recreational facilities, he said.

The area has 10-acre zoning, so the applicant needed variances for the two 6-acre lots, according to Kaufman. The applicant also needed other variances relating to existing structures on the site, he said.

Kaufman said there are five greenhouses on the property, which are only set back 12.5 feet from Red Valley Road where 75 feet is required. He said that the township intends to keep one greenhouse and move another across the street to a second farm owned by the Lees. The remaining greenhouses will be demolished, he said.

The property also has a metal/masonry building on it that will remain there. The building is set back 41 feet from the road where 75 feet is required.

Pat Butch, chairwoman of the township's Open Space and Farmland Preservation Council, said that the township will take possession of the second greenhouse to the right for the Garden Club and other township activities. She said the other greenhouses would be taken care of before the township closes on the property, which she estimated will occur in two or three months.

The metal/masonry building is in good condition and will be kept by the town, she said. The township may also keep an old house on the property for historic purposes or may raze it, according to Butch.

With regard to the two 6-acre lots that the Lees will continue to own, Butch said that last year, the township passed an ordinance that would permit undersized lots in the 10-acre zone if the balance of the tract goes to farmland or open space preservation.

"If it goes to the public good and is deed-restricted, it's allowed," she said.

Butch said the township will use the remainder of the tract for its future recreational needs and added that a recent recreation study concluded that Millstone needs 211 more acres for to meet its recreational needs.

"This will satisfy a big piece of that need," she said, referring to the 164 acres. "It will be used and developed as time goes by for fields, etc."

She said the tract is surrounded by preserved land and is buffered very well.

The board voted unanimously to grant the application.