314 townhouses proposed for South Toms River
Source: http://www.app.com, September 9, 2016
By: Jean Mikle
A public hearing is scheduled for Monday on a controversial plan to build more than 300 townhouse and apartment units at the site of the borough’s old landfill.
Borough Administrator Joseph Kostecki said the Borough Council is expected to vote Monday on a redevelopment ordinance necessary to implement the proposal. The council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Borough Hall, 19 Double Trouble Road.
Here are some facts about the planned redevelopment, taken from the borough’s Municipal Landfill Redevelopment Plan:
- The plan involves five lots in the northwest corner of the borough, located at Drew Lane and Drake Lane. There are about 49 acres of property in the five lots. The land is adjacent to Manitou Park in Berkeley, and close to Exit 80 on the Garden State Parkway. The land is all owned by the borough.
- The land slated for redevelopment includes the old municipal landfill, the borough’s Recreation Center and athletic fields, and the Department of Public Works building. The apartments and town homes would be constructed in 27 buildings. A total of 314 housing units are planned.
- The old landfill would have to be capped before any development could proceed. It has not been used for years but the borough has not had the money to place a required cap on it to prevent any contamination from escaping the property.
- The developer would assume responsibility for capping the landfill. The public works building would be relocated, with the developer footing the bill for a new building within the redevelopment area.
- A developer interested in building the housing units would be eligible for a five-year tax abatement.
- By declaring the 49 acres as an area in need of redevelopment, the  borough could also consider a longer-term tax abatement, in which the developer would be exempt from taxes but would pay a set amount to the borough each year under a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. The borough would negotiate the PILOT amount with the developer.
- PILOTs are controversial, and their use in some municipalities was criticized in a 2010 report by State Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer, who noted that PILOTs sometimes shortchange school districts and counties, since the majority of payments are made to the municipality, and not other entities.
- The redevelopment will help the borough by eliminating an environmental hazard while also upgrading the borough’s housing stock, according to the redevelopment plan.
The Pinelands Preservation Alliance has raised concerns about the project. Theresa Lettman, director of monitoring programs for the Pinelands advocacy group, said the plan does not conform to the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan, the regulations that the state Pinelands Commission uses to control development in the pines.
Lettman said the area where the development is proposed is designated for municipal use — not housing — in the plan. She also said she is concerned about the loss of athletic fields at the development site.
Others have raised questions about the potential strain on services in this small borough caused by such a large project. About 3,700 people live in South Toms River, according to a 2015 U.S. Census estimate.
