JACKSON – Ocean County representatives have denied a mid-block crosswalk that was approved by the Jackson Planning Board as part of an application to build an apartment complex on Larsen Road.
The crosswalk would connect the apartment complex and the Howard C. Johnson Elementary School in the area of Baltimore Street.
In November, the Planning Board approved an application submitted by Highview Homes LLC to construct seven three-story buildings, a clubhouse, a pool and a picnic area on a 39-acre property on Larsen Road. According to the plans, three buildings will contain one-bedroom apartments and four buildings will contain multi-bedroom apartments.
Highview Homes’ plan included the creation of a mid-block crosswalk on Larsen Road – approved by the Planning Board – connecting the apartment complex and the Johnson school. State law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
On April 16, attorney Richard J. Hoff, representing Highview Homes, came before the board to discuss the issues the county has with the application. He said the county is objecting to the crosswalk and would prefer students to walk along Larsen Road to Birch Drive and cross Larsen Road at that location.
Jackson Township Council President Ken Bressi, who sits on the board, suggested amending the application’s site plan. He suggested the applicant get approval from the county for what the county wants done and then return to the Planning Board to make the changes.
Board members Timothy Dolan and Michele Campbell suggested that children who live in the apartments would not walk to Birch Drive to cross Larsen Road, but would cross Larsen Road in the middle of the block to reach the Johnson school.
Campbell said, “It is common sense that if I am a mother and I am walking down Larsen Road with my children, I am going to cross the street (where the crosswalk is proposed) because I am not going to walk my child (to a) corner, cross Larsen Road, and then walk back up. It is not going to happen. So now what we are doing (by eliminating the mid-block crosswalk) is setting up the scenario of a dangerous situation for children” if they cross Larsen Road without a crosswalk painted on the road.
“The children are not going to walk a quarter-mile out of their way (to the corner). They are not going to do it,” Campbell said.
Hoff said he showed county representatives the plan that was approved by the board, but he said he was informed the county has a policy against mid-block crosswalks. He said the applicant wants to put the crosswalk where Jackson’s planners approved it.
Joseph Riccardi, the board’s chairman, said the county has its policy, but “they waive the policy in certain instances.” Riccardi suggested the board ask the county’s representatives to waive the policy in this instance.
Bressi said until the application is approved by Ocean County, “we are going to keep chasing our tails. Right now we are just shooting in the dark and (the county is) throwing darts at the board in the dark. I would rather know what the hell we are working with.”
Ryan Amberger, an attorney with the law firm that represents the Jackson School District Board of Education, said the board agrees with the county that there should not be a mid-block crosswalk connecting the apartment complex and the Johnson school.
Amberger said a crosswalk at the intersection of Larsen and New Prospect roads may be able to accommodate pedestrians if certain conditions – including a sidewalk on Larsen Road between the intersection and the school, appropriate signs, and possibly a crossing guard – are met.
Hoff said the intersection of Larsen Road and Birch Drive is already delineated with a crosswalk.
Board members directed the panel’s engineer to reach out to the county to voice their concerns about the crosswalk and related safety issues.
