Board Postpones Decision On Court- Remanded Plan For 130 Homes
By Keith Hagarty
A final decision over plans for the construction of 130 homes on West Commodore Boulevard will have to wait a little longer. The township planning board postponed judgment on the application on Monday, citing a lack of sufficient materials provided by the developer.
The proposed 130 units are part of the larger 12-phase 1,641-unit housing development, known as Leigh at Jackson, submitted by the New York-based, Mitch Leigh Realty Company.
The board cited a lack of updated site plans submitted by the developer, wanting to compare and contrast with plans initially submitted to the town years ago. The developer agreed to reappear before the board on June 18 with the proper documentation.
"How is the board supposed to be expected to make a final determination (on the application) without a final and preliminary site plan?" board attorney George Mc- Guckin asked the applicant.
The board granted preliminary subdivision approval of the overall plans for the 1,641-unit project in 1989, and granted the developer a 10-year statutory protection period before construction was expected to begin. Eight years later, in 1997, the board granted a five-year extension to the application.
In 2003, the board denied the phase of the plans at question, claiming the revised plans had substantially deviated from the intent of the original application. The developer later appealed the board's decision and in 2005 was granted a reversal by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Eugene Serpentelli. This forced the application to once again come before the board.
Some of the issues the board has with the application focus on the sidewalks and cul-de-sacs throughout the proposed development.
While he is aware a majority of the board is comprised of new members since Jackson's change of government last year, the developer's attorney, Denis Kelly, said he doesn't understand why a change in government would affect the board's ability to keep track of their documents over the years.
There is no clear cut answer as to what actually happened to the original plans. McGuckin said it could be any number of reasons; he suggested previous board members could have taken them home and failed to return them to township offices. However, the responsibility still falls on the applicant to provide the nine new board members with all of the relevant documentation needed, he affirmed.
Board Vice Chairman Todd Porter agreed, saying it's not too much to ask the developers to provide the board with a new set of plans from the original application.
"No offense, but when this application was originally heard (in 1989), I was in the fifth grade," he told the applicant. "So I really don't think I'd have a copy (of the original plans)."
In other business, the board postponed a public hearing on plans for a 322-lot age restricted housing development until June 18. The application, known as Diamond Developers at Miele Farm, calls for the construction of 315 homes on South Hope Chapel Road. |
