JACKSON – Members of the Jackson Planning Board are continuing to hear testimony on an applicant’s plan to construct more than 500 residential units on a Perrineville Road tract.
Attorney Jason R. Tuvel, engineer Daphne Galvin, and Mitchell Newman, the director of land acquisition and entitlements for the owner and applicant, represented Jackson Parke at the board’s Aug. 5 meeting.
Jackson Parke consists of a north section on Perrineville Road and a south section on West Veterans Highway.
The board is currently considering a request for preliminary and final major subdivision approval for 551 lots on the north section, and preliminary and final site plan approval for the north section.
The north section fronts on Perrineville Road, with a primary access drive on that road. Previous testimony has indicated single-family homes, townhouses and apartments would be constructed on the property.
As the Aug. 5 meeting began, Tuvel informed the board the application had been updated and there is no longer a need for any sign variances.
He said he wanted to accomplish two things that evening; one, to have Galvin present testimony about storm water management and drainage conditions on the site, both existing and proposed, and two, to have Newman review the proposed architecture of the residences.
Galvin said the north section encompasses 226 acres and said the applicant is proposing to develop 122 acres, or 54 percent of the tract. The area to be developed drains in its existing condition toward the Holbrook/Toms River.
“Nothing is directed toward Perrineville Road in the existing condition. The site is heavily wooded and the soil is generally sandy soil in the areas that are being developed,” she said.
Galvin said because of those existing conditions there is “very little” storm water runoff.
Board member Jeffrey Riker said he found a great disparity in the water table and asked for some details regarding that aspect of the plan.
Galvin said the water table varies throughout the site and explained there can be a significant variation between locations.
Riker took issue with the applicant’s representative regarding where water from the site flows. He said he has lived in Jackson for 25 years and has seen how the water flows.
“Currently, the Toms River overflows, runs through my neighbor’s yard, runs down the street for a few hundred feet, goes back into an inlet and goes back into the neighborhood and then flows out,” Riker said.
“What I am telling you is that if this thing hiccups and leaks, you are going to send the water down to the lake by the (St. Vladimir Memorial Church) … and I am going to have a waterfront property,” he said.
Galvin defended the design as appropriate and said it would function properly. She said the residential development would be maintained by a homeowner’s association.
“This site is geared toward this type of design, the sandy soils are perfect for this, so that is why this type of design works,” she said, explaining that the applicant is proposing a reduction in runoff from what exists at the present time.
Board member Richard Egan was not convinced by Galvin’s testimony and said, “My concern is that the homeowners association will not maintain this (infrastructure) and then will say, ‘This is a lot of money, we never had a problem’ and then they are going to stop (maintaining the infrastructure).
“My concern is that if the homeowners association does not do it and we have all the water cascading through neighborhoods and down roads, then the township will have to take over and it is coming out of my money. That is my concern,” Egan said.
During his testimony, Newman described the architecture of the proposed homes.
“There are four home types: single-family homes, townhomes, stacked townhomes and more traditional multi-family/condominiums,” he said.
There are 217 single-family homes proposed in the north section and “each home is generally similar, with a two-car garage, four or five bedrooms and about 2,400 to 3,200 square feet. We anticipate these homes will sell in to the low to mid $400,000 range,” Newman testified.
Moving on, Newman said 18 townhomes in three three-story buildings would be about 2,800 square feet, with three or four bedrooms, no basement and a two-car garage. He said a suggested price would likely be in the low to mid $300,000 range.
He continued his testimony by speaking about the 100 proposed stacked townhomes.
“We call them front-stacked townhomes because they have the garage and the entrances in the front. They are interlocking, so it is a townhouse that operates on the inside like a condominium, but on the outside it has the look of a townhome. It also has the livable feel of a townhome,” Newman told the board.
“There is no interior common hallway and no interior common space, each home has its own private living space. For the stacked townhomes, 50% are two-bedroom units and 50% are three-bedroom units. They range from 1,500 square feet (two bedrooms) to 2,100 square feet (three bedrooms). The pricing is anticipated to be in the mid to high $200,000 range,” he said.
Board member Michele Campbell asked if an individual could buy two stacked townhouses and combine them into one living space.
Newman said that possibility could be restricted as a condition of the board’s approval of the application.
Campbell asked if there would be a separate homeowners association for each section of Jackson Parke and was told there would be an association for the north section and an association for the south section.
Finally, Newman described the 216 condominiums/multi-family units that are proposed in the north section of Jackson Parke.
He said there would be 96 market rate units and 120 affordable housing units in multiple buildings. Newman said the developer’s goal is to have the affordable units look and feel like the market rate units.
The market rate units are anticipated to have between one and three bedrooms and range in size from 800 to 1,200 square feet. He estimated a market rate unit would be priced in the low to mid $200,000 range.
Newman said the affordable housing units would have one, two or three bedrooms, as required by the state. He said pricing for the affordable units would be worked out by Jackson’s affordable housing administrator and the state.
In April, board members approved a General Development Plan for Jackson Parke. The applicant has proposed constructing 551 housing units in the north section on Perrineville Road and 549 units in the south section on West Veterans Highway.
Testimony presented at that time indicated 20 percent (220 units) of the proposed 1,100 residential units would be designated as affordable housing, with 120 affordable housing units in the north section and 100 affordable housing units in the south section.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets certain guidelines. The remaining 880 units to be constructed at Jackson Parke would be available at market rates.
No decision regarding the north section of Jackson Parke was reached by the board during the Aug. 5 meeting and the application was carried to the board’s Oct. 21 meeting.
