Planners continue hearing Four Ponds application

A color rendering of the 3,000-square-foot clubhouse at the proposed Four Ponds Development on Middletown- Lincroft Road illustrates the development’s traditional styling. MIDDLETOWN — Expert testimony on the controversial 342-unit Four Ponds development continued at the Aug. 3 Middletown Planning Board meeting, where the project architect described architectural details and the traffic engineer returned for round two.

Ned Gaunt, of Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis, Red Bank, presented floor plans and general styling of the proposed development to the Planning Board.

Gaunt said that the development would be designed in a traditional architectural style.

“[It] utilizes traditional materials and different expressions in different four-unit buildings so we get variation throughout the development,” he said.

The buildings would be clad in vinyl clapboard siding with stone accents and traditional windows, he said.

Gaunt said the roofs would have composite shingles.

“Basically, there’s a lot of variation in the architecture,” he said.

Gaunt testified at the board’s third hear- ing on an application by Four Ponds Center Associates that seeks approval to construct 342 units on the 68-acre former 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. Under the proposed plan, the density would be five housing units per acre in a zone that permits 5.5 units per acre.

The end units and interior units feature different floor plans, Gaunt said.

End units would have a two-car garage in the front with a dining room, kitchen, half bath and two-story living room on the first floor.

The second floor would have three bedrooms, with a large master bedroom and bath in the front and two smaller bedrooms.

The hallway overlooks the two-story living room, Gaunt said.

Gaunt said the end units would be approximately 1,880 square feet.

Interior units would have a one-car garage and a dining room, kitchen, family room, half bathroom and two-story living room on the first floor, Gaunt said.

The second floor would also have three bedrooms with one master bedroom and two full baths, he said.

Gaunt said that interior units would be approximately 1,980 square feet.

The development also includes four buildings of affordable housing flats in one- , two- and three-bedroom configurations, Gaunt said.

Additionally, Gaunt said the development would include a 3,000-square-foot clubhouse with meeting rooms, offices and potentially a workout room.

Township Planner Jason Greenspan requested that Gaunt include ground-mounted heating and cooling units on the plans.

Traffic engineer John Rea, who testified at the previous Planning Board meeting that the development’s traffic impact would be slight, returned to answer questions posed by the board and the public and present updated traffic counts.

During Rea’s previous testimony, the board questioned his study’s use of March 2010 traffic counts and whether they would not be higher during the summer.

“My response was that during peak hours I didn’t think that would be the case,” said Rea, of McDonough and Rea Associates, Manasquan,

Rea cited additional traffic counts conducted in May 2011 that he said corroborated his original numbers.

During March 2010 peak p.m. hours at Middletown-Lincroft Road, traffic counters tallied 1,117 vehicles, and in May 2011 they recorded 1,128 vehicles, Rea said.

“That’s a difference of 11 vehicles, essentially a 1 percent difference,” he said.

During March 2010 peak p.m. hours at the Middletown-Lincroft Road and West Front Street intersection, traffic counters recorded 1,213 vehicles, and in May 2011 they counted 1,233, Rea said.

“I am more confident than ever that the counts I conducted in March 2010 are suitable for analysis in this project, as the May 2011 counts are right on target,” Rea said.

The board expressed additional concerns that motorists would use side streets as shortcuts to avoid congested intersections.

Planning Board Chairman John Deus said that traffic from the St. Leo the Great Church Masses on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings could surpass the weekday peak hours

“That’s the traffic we all see every weekend.“ We don’t get any sense of that [typical everyday traffic] in the study,” Deus said.

Greenspan asked Rea for his opinion on low-impact, off-site traffic-calming measures for side streets.

Rea said that stop signs, lighted speed limit signs, pavement markings, intersection bump-outs or small roundabouts would all be options.

Rea cautioned against using stop signs because he said that in some instances, they increase rear-end collisions when motorists do not expect stop signs.

Planning Board attorney James Gorman said the applicant would be responsible for a portion of off-site traffic calming.

Members of the public also logged concerns regarding safety, cost, road noise and most specifically, increased volume.

The application is scheduled again for the Sept. 7 Planning Board meeting.

Lincroft residents have voiced strong opposition to the development, which they consider too dense and dissimilar from existing developments.

Township officials have said that they also oppose the plan.

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

During a previous hearing, Planning Board member Thomas Hall identified a potential deficiency in the area’s sewer service that may require an additional pump station, another hurdle for the application.