Board hears more details about Windsor Crescent
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

DAVE BENJAMIN Engineer Sean Savage presents information about the Windsor Crescent residential development during the Aug. 4 meeting of the Jackson Planning Board. Windsor Crescent is a 112-unit project to be built off Solar Avenue that will help Jackson meet its state-mandated obligation to build housing for people with low and moderate incomes.

JACKSON — An applicant proposing the construction of an affordable housing apartment complex continued working its way through testimony from professionals at the Aug. 4 meeting of the Jackson Planning Board.

Windsor Crescent is a 112-unit project to be built off Solar Avenue that will help Jackson meet its state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligation to build housing for people with low and moderate incomes.

Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to people who have an income that meets regional guidelines established by COAH.

Community Investment Strategies (CIS) of Bordentown is the applicant before the Planning Board. The firm was contracted by Jackson to build and manage the Windsor Crescent development.

Information previously presented indicated that rents for the Windsor Crescent apartments will be established by state guidelines. CIS will provide maintenance, snow removal, grounds keeping and lighting.

Professional planner Jennifer Beahm, testifying on behalf of the applicant, said the property on which the apartments will be built is bounded by Cpl. Luigi Marciante Jr. Memorial Drive and in the vicinity of Solar Avenue and County Line Road.

Beahm noted that the Township Council has zoned the property for multifamily housing. She said the plans call for 112 apartments in 14 buildings (eight units per building). A 1,200-square-foot clubhouse is part of the Windsor Crescent application.

"There will be areas for storm-water management, parking and associated recreational amenities for passive recreation," she said. "The maximum building height (allowed) is 35 feet, and all of the buildings are less than 35 feet. The overall density is 5.47 units per acre. Therefore it is consistent with the maximum (allowable) of six units per acre. The proposed development plan in front of you is wholly consistent with the municipal ordinance. No variance relief is required."

The applicant is requesting two waivers, one from conducting a detailed tree sampling and another from taking soil borings to 20 feet.

The applicant has made 12-foot soil borings.

Board member Blanche Krubner said she wants a full area tree sampling.

"We do not have a clear inventory of what there is on the property. No one has really investigated. There may be trees worth saving," she said.

Krubner said the property is a wet area and needs more vegetation, not less.

"When you cut trees, you raise the water level. We need a full area sampling," Krubner said, as residents who were in attendance burst into applause.

Some residents of neighboring developments have indicated their opposition to the Windsor Crescent application. The residents have not yet had a chance to address the board.

Attorney Steven Leone, representing the applicant, said he respectfully declined Krubner's request for the full tree sampling.

Planning Board engineer Douglas Klee said the applicant wants a waiver for the soil borings where 20 feet are required and the applicant wants 12 feet.

"Soil borings have extended to at least 2 feet below the bottom of the basements to establish a seasonal high water table," Klee said. "The project is one sewer versus a septic system and at the last meeting there were no basements proposed, so there's no concern that there could be any flooding in any basement."

Beahm said there are single-family homes to the north of the project site, commercial development to the east and south, and an assisted living facility to the west.

When the applicant was asked to include sidewalks, Leone declined that request.

"We are not willing to do that," he said.

Engineer Sean Savage, testifying on behalf of the applicant, reviewed the site plan. He said buses and garbage trucks can access the site back to Solar Avenue. Sewer pipes will be connected to County Line Road. Savage said there are 228 parking spaces required for the project and 266 parking spaces are being provided.

Board Chairman Kenneth Bressi questioned the flow of traffic and said it needs improvement.

Board Vice Chairman Todd Porter said there could be more than 90 children living in the development and noted there could be an impact on school taxes, considering the fact that the cost per pupil in Jackson is more than $9,000.

Porter asked Jackson fire officials to take another look at what he described as a "cramped area," referring to the development site.

Krubner questioned how snow plows, school vehicles and fire engines would be able to move in the development.

Testimony on Windsor Crescent will continue at the board's Aug. 18 meeting, and possibly on another date if needed.