Planners continue hearing Four Ponds application

MIDDLETOWN — More than six months after it began hearing testimony, the township Planning Board continued discussions about the proposed Four Ponds housing development at its Dec. 7 meeting.

Township Planner Jason Greenspan raised concerns about the use of the site’s recreational trails, which would remain with the proposed development.

“It’s not necessarily linking any public open space. It’s really an on-site amenity. I understand that,” Greenspan said.

“But it is a very active trail system, and I know for a fact that the public uses it all the time. I want to make it clear now if there would be a prohibition.”

James Kennedy, project engineer, said he could not officially comment on behalf of the developer, but that he was not proposing any restriction on the trails.

“But I can’t commit the applicant. If an insurance company comes in and says, ‘You have to put up no trespassing signs,’ they may,” he said.

Rick Brodsky, attorney for the applicant, said decisions about the trails could be made by the future homeowners’ association.

“Legally, the trails would belong to the association. If, at some point, the association wanted to put up signs that said, no trespassing, it would be their right to do that,” Brodsky said.

The trails near Seagull Lane are a cause of concern for resident Dino Coppola, who said plans to remove the vegetation include some 30-year-old white pine trees which would shade his view of any new buildings.

“All that vegetation is going to be ripped up and you’ll put some plantings, which I know are not going to be mature trees. It’s a problem for me. Not for you, but to me,” Coppola said.

“If I’m looking at a building with patios and lights, it will be like looking at the Starship Enterprise [“Star Trek”] when I’m looking out my master bedroom window.”

Kennedy said the trails could be studied and repositioned, but that they would lose their meandering nature.

Traffic expert John Rea, who previously testified about the impact of the project on July 14, spoke to the board after township professionals continued to raise concerns about the impact the 342-unit housing development at the former Avaya site would have on local traffic.

“The volumes that are usually in Turnberry Drive, Leedsville Drive and Hurleys Road are very typical of what a residential street system would carry,” Rea said at the Dec. 7 meeting.

He reiterated his July statements that the Four Ponds development would not bring a significant traffic increase, citing those nearby streets as examples.

“Those streets are carrying 130 to 190 cars in two directions during peak hours. That’s very typical of a residential system, which is exactly what these streets are. It’s not out of the ordinary and it’s not uncommon for streets of this nature, even if they’re in residential neighborhoods, to be handling this level of traffic volume,” Rea said.

Planning Board Chairman John Deus noted that no accurate study of the development could be made without it being built.

“We don’t know who’s going to live there. We don’t know where they’re going to work and we don’t know when they’re going to work,” Deus said.

“In reality, how do we anticipate or predict the traffic?”

Lincroft resident Peter Simpson said, in his experience, commuting traffic generated by Brookdale Community College students could often back traffic up.

“I know that anecdotal evidence is not cogent, but I wonder what dates and days of the week the studies were done on Middletown Lincroft Road,” Simpson asked.

“I can’t imagine that road would be capable of taking any further traffic.”

In letters to the applicant, Four Ponds Center Associates’ professionals cited concern over the speed of any traffic coming from the proposed development.

“We’re willing and prepared to do our fair share [in installing] whatever trafficcalming devices that the township and the residents think are appropriate and necessary. But that’s something that requires a little more thought on the part of the board and the residents,” Rea said.

The board continued to express its concerns about residents of the proposed development crossing Middletown-Lincroft Road at peak hours without a nearby crosswalk.

The nearest crosswalk is located near Turnberry Drive, more than 150 yards away from the entrance to the site.

“We have lots of possibilities and the safety of pedestrians is primary,” Kennedy said.

“You never want to suggest to people to cross in a place that isn’t safe. The crosswalk in its current location [at Turnberry Drive] is the safest part of the crossing and it should stay.”

However, Deus suggested that a new crosswalk be added near the entrance to the development.

“It’s the return trip I’m concerned about. People are not going to walk all the way to Turnberry Drive to cross the street,” he said.

The proposed development has been hotly contested by some Lincroft residents, who at previous meetings filled Middletown Town Hall wearing T-shirts and signs proclaiming “No 342.”

The Middletown Township Board of Education also expressed concerns over the potential influx of children from the new development.

Testimony is scheduled to continue at the Planning Board’s Jan. 4 meeting.

Contact Mike Davis at mdavis@gmnews.com.