MANALAPAN – With eyes focused on the future, the Manalapan Township Committee has made a zoning change on a property that is currently occupied by a private residential healthcare facility.
Marianne Manor is overseen by the state Department of Community Affairs. The private residential healthcare facility is on Route 33 eastbound near the highway’s intersection with Woodward Road.
“The township’s affordable housing counsel and planner have been in negotiations with the new owners of the Marianne Manor property,” Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin said on July 11. “The (change in a Manalapan ordinance) will result in the Marianne Manor being replaced by a new assisted living facility which will be built and operated in accordance with all applicable standards. The township looks forward to the closing of the existing facility, which has been a problem for some time.”
During the past few years, several residents of Marianne Manor have been struck and killed by vehicles as they walked along Route 33 and/or attempted to cross the state highway. There are stores at or near the intersection of Route 33 and Woodward Road.
At other times, police have documented various incidents at Marianne Manor, including one on June 26 when a 61-year-old resident reported he was assaulted by a 27-year-old resident after a verbal dispute. Police said no injuries were reported as a result of the incident and said the person who called police did not wish to pursue complaints.
And, township residents have reported that while they have been in their vehicle at the intersection of Route 33 and Woodward Road, they have been approached by residents of Marianne Manor. The residents of Marianne Manor are not prohibited from leaving the property.
On June 20, the Township Committee adopted an ordinance establishing an Assisted Living Overlay zone (AL-O) in the General Commercial (C-3) zoning district on Route 33. The zone is where the Marianne Manor is located.
According to the ordinance, “the purpose of the AL-O zone is to implement the township housing plan element and fair share plan by providing for the opportunity to develop certain facilities that qualify as alternative living arrangements pursuant to state law.
“Such facilities are intended in part to address the third round (affordable housing) obligation of the township for the period 2015-25. The AL-O overlay provides for the development of certain alternative living arrangements for very low, low- and moderate-income individuals in a suitable location.”
The committee’s action would permit a new type of assisted living facility to be constructed at the Marianne Manor property and would also provide affordable housing units to help Manalapan meet its state mandated obligation to provide opportunities for the development of affordable housing.
Permitted uses in the AL-O zone will be residential healthcare facilities as regulated by the New Jersey Department of Health and group homes for the developmentally disabled and mentally ill as licensed and/or regulated by the New Jersey Department of Human Services. Skilled nursing care for residents will be a permitted use in the AL-O zone, according to the ordinance.
The ordinance states that “a project(s) developed under the provisions of the AL-O zone shall provide for the development of affordable housing that is eligible for credit as an
alternative living arrangement pursuant to (state law).”
