Jackson on verge of explosive growth
Jackson's large stretches of undeveloped land and central location make it attractive to builders. But with 2,810 homes under construction and more than 6,000 in planning stages, residents are concerned. Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/20/07 BY FRAIDY REISS TOMS RIVER BUREAU
JACKSON — When Janet Fair moved here in the 1960s, the town was struggling to deal with the 1,777-unit Brookwood development that had just been built, she said. Until she reached fourth grade, she attended a split session of school — either morning or afternoon — because local schools could not accommodate the huge influx of children, Fair said. And township history is about to repeat itself, she warned. Developments under construction in town will have 2,810 homes, while projects that have been approved but not yet begun construction would add another 3,020 units, according to the township Department of Planning and Zoning. An additional 3,359 homes are waiting for Planning Board approval. "That is probably one of the highest concentrations of proposed residential development in New Jersey," said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Jackson — which covers 100.3 square miles, making it the largest municipality geographically in Ocean County — has about 18,300 homes. The estimated population in 2005 was 51,870. Building all 9,189 homes could add an estimated 26,730 people. "The township hasn't learned anything in the past 40 years," said Fair, 48, who lives in the Cassville section. The numbers are not as frightening as they seem, township Zoning Officer Richard Megill said. All these projects would take about 20 years to complete and would not overwhelm the town at one time, he said. Also, some 3,136 of the approved or pending units are for older adults only. That means they will not impact local schools, will create less traffic than other developments and will generate more in property taxes than they cost the town, Megill said.
And some of the proposed new homes never will get built, he said. For example, the numbers include both of developer Mitch Leigh's proposed projects, the 1,641-unit Leigh at Jackson and the 2,531-unit Jackson Mews. Leigh can build only one of those projects. Still, the numbers upset Fair, who said the thousands of new homes will lead to higher property taxes as the town builds new schools and hires more police officers and other municipal employees. "The people like me, who grew up in that town — at some point we're not going to be able to afford to live there anymore," Fair said.
Not the norm elsewhere
Last month the Planning Board approved the 965-unit Jackson Valley development. Next month it is scheduled to begin considering the 315-home Miele Farms and the 2,531-unit Jackson Mews projects. In May it will continue hearing testimony on the 493-home Grawtown Estates proposal. These massive projects are not the norm elsewhere in the state, said Hughes of Rutgers. He noted Jackson's population, which increased 21 percent between 2000 and 2005, according the U.S. Census. During the same period the state population increased 3.6 percent. "So Jackson is growing about six times faster than the state overall," Hughes said. "Probably the Jackson Township that a lot of people liked when they moved there is going to change, or is changing." A decade ago developers were building large projects all over Ocean County, said David J. McKeon, assistant county planning director. But not anymore. "Jackson is probably the area where some of those big developments come in that maybe we're not seeing in other parts of the county," McKeon said. In 2000, 2001 and 2003 Jackson approved more residential units than any other Ocean County municipality, according to the county Department of Planning. Every year since 2000, it has been among the top seven municipalities in Ocean for number of homes approved. Monmouth County, across Jackson's northern boundary, is not seeing the same large-scale development being proposed, said Robert Clark, county planning director. "We probably don't have any town that comes close to that," Clark said.
Between 2000 and 2005, the number of building permits issued in Monmouth County averaged 2,500 per year, Clark said. For each of those years, according to the township construction office, Jackson issued at least 3,000. "I wouldn't want to live in Jackson now," Clark said. When Mayor Mark A. Seda was a child, he often rode his bike on Jackson Mills Road without worrying about getting hit by a car. "I never imagined we would be where we are now," said Seda, 38. "I would love to stop it (development) right in its tracks . . . but there's only so much we can do." Between 1996 and 2006, enrollment in Jackson's schools increased 43 percent, or 2,965, to 9,820. The district has needed to build two elementary schools and a high school in the last six years; voters in September 2005 rejected the request to build another elementary school. The school district is updating its demographic study, which it does periodically to forecast student enrollment, district spokeswoman Allison Erwin said. The study analyzes the number of births and the amount of approved residential development.
3-acre zoning adopted
Many of the developments being built were approved before 2001, when the town increased the minimum building lot size to 3 acres in many residential areas, said McKeon, the assistant Ocean County planning director. Now, because of this and other zoning changes and new environmental regulations, the building boom probably will end, he said. "This may be the last of the big development that Jackson is going to see," McKeon said. Megill, the zoning officer, agreed. Development in Jackson will peak in three years, when Jackson Valley, Miele Farms and one of Leigh's developments could be under construction, he predicted. After that, only 9 percent of New Jersey's third-largest municipality will remain available for large-scale development, he said. That news brought little comfort to Rick Washik, who said his home near Thompson Bridge Road sits "squeezed in the middle" of the proposed sites for three massive developments — Jackson Valley, Grawtown Estates and either Leigh at Jackson or Jackson Mews. "It's just out of control," Washik, 55, said. The projects will tie up traffic and affect the environment, said his wife, Corinne, 51, who has lived in town for more than 20 years. She said she will do whatever she can to prevent the developments from being built. "But I feel almost powerless," she said. "I feel like we can't really stop it." |
