Deal will bring 118 units to egg farm site
Howell council OKs settlement with AST to end litigation
BY LARRY HLAVENKA JR.
Staff Writer

The Howell Township Council has passed a resolution executing a settlement agreement with AST, Sunnyside Road LLC. The governing body voted 4-1 to approve the resolution at its Dec. 19 meeting. Council-woman Cynthia Schomaker voted against the measure.

AST initially sought municipal permission to build 245 age-restricted apartments on the site of the Cutler-Rubenstein egg farm on Route 9 north, Howell. The residential neighborhood of Conover Street is to the rear of the site.

In September 2005, the Planning Board recommended that the council not rezone the 31-acre parcel. The rezoning would have allowed AST to build the apartments on the site. That decision resulted in litigation filed by the developer.

AST representatives then objected to Howell’s state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) Element and Fair Share Plan. Affordable housing is defined by COAH as housing that is sold or rented at below market prices to people whose income meets regional guidelines established by the state.

Mediation between representatives of AST and the township followed the filing of the litigation. As a result of the mediation, the settlement agreed to by the council includes the following:

• Howell officials will purchase 17 acres, which are zoned residential ARE-2 to the rear of the Cutler-Rubenstein property with available open space funds. The price of the 17-acre parcel will be negotiated.

• A total of 118 units will be built on the remainder of the site (100 townhouses to be sold at market rates and 18 units to be set aside for people who qualify under COAH guidelines).

According to Township Manager Thomas Czerniecki, the homes will be built for and targeted toward young professionals and older adults. The homes will not have large yards and the development will not have playground facilities.

• Commercial retail space is slated to front Route 9.

• A 100-foot-wide buffer will separate the development from the Conover Street neighborhood.

Mayor Joseph DiBella called the settlement with AST “the best of what was not a desirable position.”

DiBella thanked the township’s negotiating team, which included him, Councilman Robert Walsh, Planning Board Chairman Paul Schneider and Zoning Board of Adjust-ment Vice Chairman Kenneth French.

Walsh said he would have preferred a different result, but was pleased with the negotiations.

“As much as it was not a pleasant situation ... I look at it as mine and the mayor’s shining moment negotiating together,” he said. “We worked very well together and faced an uphill battle.”

Conover Street residents Carl and Ilse Whisner were disappointed with the settlement.

“I do feel I have to say, it is too late to change anything,” Ilse Whisner said. “I think this is probably an abomination, but not a disaster. To put that kind of development there is irresponsible.”

She said she blamed the council members for the situation and said they would be saddled with a legacy of “inappropriate development.”

Carl Whisner said he agreed with his wife’s comments, but he thanked the council for preserving the 17-acres that border his neighborhood. He asked municipal officials to hold the developer to the community’s design standards.

“It is somewhat of a relief that the AST situation has reached a settlement,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

Whisner bemoaned the process as a whole, saying hundreds of citizens spoke out against the project, but could not attend COAH hearings.

“Democracy means openness,” he said. “These were secret hearings. COAH held meetings with no minutes — I don’t agree with that.”

He, too, said members of the governing body were responsible for the situation, specifically DiBella.

The mayor defended his position and said the council acted together to reach the best possible agreement.

“I have no problem when people disagree with my decisions,” DiBella said. “The mayor has no singular and unilateral authority — I think that’s important to note.”

DiBella also said he dislikes the COAH process, but it remains necessary.

“We all find that process objectionable,” he said.

The mayor signed a document after the resolution’s approval, thereby affirming the settlement with AST.