Planners OK 60 homes on Pinnacle property
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

HOWELL - The Planning Board reluctantly gave preliminary approval to Pinnacle Inc. for a major residential subdivision at a special meeting held on March 8 at the municipal building.

In granting approval, board members asked the applicant to consider building or "clustering" the 60 planned homes on one area of the tract and to leave the remainder of the property as open space.

Pinnacle Material Inc. received approval to build 60 homes on 140 acres between West Farm Road and White Street east of Route 9. The property is zoned ARE-2 (homes on 2-acre lots).

Zig Panek, who is the township's certified tree expert, said, "I happen to think this applicant is an excellent candidate for clustering. If they clustered these houses on 1-acre properties, that would give [the town] roughly 60 additional acres of property.

"I will divide it judiciously by adding it to the existing 50-foot buffer, which will make the buffer over 100 feet. This buffer will be shaped in a very freeform natural way. It will consist of a greenway (road) which will connect into the existing properties, which will include the existing detention basin. This will give existing and potential residents a shortcut over into the public lands such as the Harms property and the Manasquan Reservoir.

"Forming the buffer this way will give the displaced nature another home, which will include trees, shrubs and forage plants that will make food for nature," Panek said. "It will also create a walkway for residents to access the public lands and the park. The trees that will be taken down for development would be placed in the new buffer and greenway. The developer would then have to provide new trees, shrubs and grasses. This greenway would be protected, creating an easement for residents," Panek said.

Planning Board Attorney Ronald Cucchiaro said although clustering the homes could be a favorable compromise for all parties, Howell's development ordinance does not mandate an applicant to cluster homes on a portion of its property.

"Your ordinance is written in a way that you can't compel clustering, so if the applicant has determined they don't want to cluster [the homes], they don't have to. Really, what you're looking at is compliance with our subdivision and other land use ordinances. That's the purpose of some of the recently proposed legislation of the Township Council," Cucchiaro told the board members.

Attorney Lawrence Bathgate, representing the applicant, said his client would consider clustering the homes. He noted that the applicant did everything that was required by ordinance.

Howell residents nearly filled the room and made their presence loud and clear when they voiced their concerns about the proposed subdivision.

Geoffrey Pritchard, chairman of the Environmental Commission, was met with applause from the audience members when he addressed the issues of a bald eagle habitat and stormwater management on the property.

"In our master plan, as far as a critical habitat area, we have this listed as an eagle foraging area and delineated wetlands," Pritchard said.

Other residents expressed concern about testimony during the application that revealed 24,000 truckloads of dirt will be brought to fill the site.

Allison Smith, of Rimwood Lane, expressed concern about residents of the new development using fertilizers on their lawns and whether runoff will reach the nearby Manasquan Reservoir.

Another resident mentioned the issue of traffic, but was told by board member Curtis Vislocky that traffic is not an issue the board may look at as a basis for approving or denying an application.

Jill Beaudoin, of Rimwood Lane, asked if the new housing development will have an impact on Howell schools.

"I have two children, one in high school and the other in middle school, and I know from their accounts that the schools are overcrowded," she said.

Cucchiaro told her, "Unfortunately, the law prohibits us from taking that into consideration when granting or denying an approval. It is an issue, but specifically the courts and municipal land use law do not allow us to address it."

The board members then voted to grant preliminary approval for the 60-home development.

Voting in favor of the application were board members Paul Schneider, Michael Howell, Paul Sayah, Marc Leber, Curtis Vislocky, Marlene West, Russell Bohlin and Christopher Estevez.

Board members Jim Burgess, Tom Frese and Mayor Joseph DiBella were absent from the March 8 meeting.