Proposal for Avaya site draws wide opposition

Residents opposed to a plan to build 342 town homes and flats on the Avaya property distributed signs and T-shirts outside Middletown town hall prior to the Planning Board meeting May 4. ANDREW DAVISON MIDDLETOWN — Residents opposed to a controversial housing plan amassed at the township’s Planning Board meeting on May 4, clad in custom-printed T-shirts.

An estimated 235 people attended the meeting, where the board heard an application by Four Ponds Center Associates that proposes building 342 units on the 68-acre Avaya property at the corner of Lincroft-Middletown Road and West Front Street.

The proposal includes 274 townhomes and 72 flats, 68 of which — 20 percent — would be affordable units.

Project Engineer James Kennedy, the only expert to testify at the one-hour hearing, said that the townhomes would be arranged in rows of four, six and eight, and the flats would be distributed among four buildings.

An estimated 235 people, mostly residents opposed to a plan to build 342 town homes and flats on the Avaya property, crowded into the meeting room at Middletown town hall for the Planning Board meeting May 4. ANDREW DAVISON The plan currently includes a total of 960 residential parking stalls, he said.

Under the proposed plan, the density would be five housing units per acre in a zone that permits 5.5 units per acre, he said.

The Planning Board carried the application to the June 1 meeting.

Concerned residents circulated emails and fliers in the weeks prior to the hearing, specifically concerning density and traffic.

“This is far too many households for the infrastructure of Lincroft to absorb,” according to a press release from the Lincroft Village Green Association, an organization of Lincroft residents and homeowners.

The press release said that the style of the development does not reflect the existing homes and neighborhoods, and that residents believe it would negatively impact property values.

“The density and configuration of the proposed Four Ponds Development are more reminiscent of inner-city row houses than existing construction in Lincroft,” it said.

Members of the Planning Board also voiced concerns over the development.

Planning Board Chairman John Deus said that a letter from the Township of Middletown Sewerage Authority (TOMSA) he received indicated that the current sewer capacity might be inadequate for the proposed density.

Rick Brodsky, of Ansell Grimm and Aaron, attorney for the applicant, confirmed that there is not sufficient sewer capacity for the entirety of the project.

He said the applicant had commissioned studies to calculate the capacity of the sewer and determine the type and extent of improvements needed, if any.

Planning Board member Thomas Hall also questioned the sewer capacity.

“I do know from my discussions with the director of the sewerage authority that the current pump station is pretty much at maximum capacity or close to it, if not exceeding it,” Hall said.

“I suspect that another pump station would be required.”

Brodsky agreed that an additional pump station might be required.

“That’s why I think these studies were undertaken, to determine what exactly needs to be done,” he said.

“The developer will certainly pay its fair share,” Brodsky said, if the system requires a newpump station, drawing boos from the audience.

Several residents who oppose the project have retained attorney Ron Gasiorowski, of Red Bank, to represent their interests and concerns during the hearings.

“There are many factors that have to be looked at, one of which is the issue concerning the availability of sewer capacity,” Gasiorowski said in an interview.

According to Gasiorowski, his clients are also concerned about the density of the development and its ramifications on the area’s traffic.

“Clearly, you’re taking a project which basically fills up the entire site and placing it in the heart of a residential zone that has much greater requirements with regard to open space,” he said.

“My clients feel that they are being aggrieved by this and they retained me to represent their interests in it,” he said.

Gasiorowski said that he expects additional issues to surface during the hearing process as well.

Township officials said that they also oppose the plan.

“I oppose this and every other development forced upon Middletown Township under the guise of COAH [Council on Affordable Housing],” said Mayor Anthony Fiore in an interview.

In a statement on the township’s website, www.middletownnj.org, Administrator Anthony Mercantante said that the township was essentially forced to zone the Avaya property as residential to fulfill the COAH requirements and avoid even larger developments elsewhere in Lincroft.

“The township has been forced to zone a number of properties in a way that it would not have otherwise, only to satisfy COAH’s requirements,” he said.

“It is also critical in order to stem what are known as builder’s remedy lawsuits, which essentially strip away any local control and allow the courts to order the approval of housing developments,” Mercantante said.

“The reality is that the alternative would be far worse for Lincroft and the township as a whole.”

According to Brodsky, the plan does not require any variances and the applicant is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval.

The Avaya building on the site, Brodsky said, was built forAT&T 30 years ago and has been virtually vacant for the past several years.

Once the lease expires in January 2012, Brodsky said, the site would be completely vacant.

The hearing is scheduled to continue on June 1.