Pohatcong braces itself for 400 home development
Friday, February 23, 2007
By HARLEY RISSMILLER
Correspondent
POHATCONG -- Pohatcong is bracing itself for the impact of a 400 home
development, granted preliminary approval by the land use board on Jan. 29
after
years of litigation.
"It's definitely detrimental to the township,' said Councilman Anthony
"Sal"
Vangeli of the development known as The Hamptons at Pohatcong. The development
on 170 acres off
single-family homes organized in rows. There will also be two separate
multi-unit apartment buildings that will each house 22 affordable housing units
for a total of 44. The land is now mostly vacant or farmland.
Work is still sometime away as the developers, EAI Investments Inc., must still
obtain county planning board approval as well as Department of Environmental
Protection permits according to Samuel Souders, councilman and planning board
liaison. The company also must obtain final planning board approval, which is
not a "rubber stamp," according to Souders. "Before there are
actual sticks in
the ground, it's going to be a minimum two years, maybe three," he said.
The affordable housing units are the key to the development as the project,
under a previous developer, was first proposed as Riverwalk, a 1,500 home
"builder's remedy" solution to the township's affordable housing
obligation
under the Mt.
but in 1996 a smaller version of the development -- 484 homes -- was approved
in
New Jersey Superior Court. In 2000, EAI purchased the property and in 2001 the
township planning board rejected that application, stating that it was
inconsistent with the 1996 court decision.
EAI went back to court. In 2003, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Roger Mahon
brokered a deal between the township and EAI on the current configuration of
the
development. The latest deal featured a 15-acre open space donation, including
a
football and two baseball fields.
Souders said the settlement and the township's history of losses along with the
fact that EAI met the township's municipal standards made the planning board's
decision inevitable.
"You don't have a choice really. When you have a project and they meet all
the
requirements of the law, how can you say 'no'?" he asked. "The
settlement was
forced on us. The judge told us either you keep fighting and have no control or
take it and have a little."
The numbers do not bode well for the township's infrastructure. EAI
representatives told the planning board that when the development is built out
(work will take place in phases), it will put more than 700 new students into
the township's school system including approximately 100 at
School
Vangeli said that EAI estimated the project could put the township in a $2
million hole. "I think it can be more," said Vangeli who noted the
township
would probably have to expand not only the schools but also other municipal
services to deal with the influx of people.
There are other problems anticipated as well. "The traffic will be
horrendous,"
said Vangeli.
The problem could damage neighboring municipalities as well, according to Alpha
Councilwoman Carol Schwar. "We probably won't be able to drive down High
Street
anymore because of all the new traffic," she said claiming other borough
roads
would be congested by drivers looking for alternate routes.
Schwar also expressed concern that the increase in impervious coverage will
damage the borough's water table.
Souders claimed the councils in the 1980s should have taken more care in
addressing the affordable housing requirement as soon as the
was reached. He also blamed the law. "If the law is so great, why are we the
only state out of 50 that has it?"
© 2007 Warren Reporter