MANALAPAN - A new neighborhood with townhouses and condominiums received final approval in a unanimous vote by the planning board Thursday night.
Pinebrook Crossing will be located south of the intersection of Sobechko Road and Route 527. It will contain 175 market-rate townhouses across 37 buildings and 75 affordable-rate condominiums in five three-story buildings. The townhouses will be three stories with a two-car garage and driveways on the first floor.
For every townhouse or condominium, three parking spaces are available.
The representative for the developer, Dave Fisher of K. Hovnanian Homes, presented an updated and revised proposal to the board. Throughout the meeting, three main concerns were brought up by the board and the public.
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Although not part of Pinebrook Crossing, the developers will own two large parking lots at the north end of the property. The lots are for Englishtown Auction Sales across Sobechko Road and the township requires that the applicant provide sidewalks and curbing for the lot.
“Even though this is not really part of our project, it was part of our application,” Fisher said. “It would be great for us if we didn’t have to incur that expense, but I don’t know if there’s really a way around that.”
Fisher said he was approached by the township and was told that the township is going to repave Sobechko Road at some point in the future. He said there was a possibility that his company could pay the township for the sidewalks and curbing when road gets repaved, rather than do it now.
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Board planner Jennifer Beahm was wary of such a deal.
“The question is, is (the road repaving) on the (township’s to-do) list? Because if it’s not on the list then I’m not 100% supportive of deferring improvements," she said. "So, is it on the list to be done? If it is, fine. But if it’s not, then I would recommend that they put in the improvements because it could be years before it’s done.”
Other board members agreed, concerned with the timeline.
But Mayor Jack McNaboe, who is also a board member, said, “The town will pave the entire road at the end of the project and take the money in lieu of.”
The revised site plan added three dumpster enclosures next to the condominium buildings.
Board member Todd Brown requested that one of the enclosures be moved farther from a proposed playground.
The board agreed to approve the application only with Brown’s recommendation.
The board also probed the material being used for the dumpster enclosure. Beahm was concerned that the material used could break if hit by garbage trucks repeatedly. Board member Richard Hogan said he liked the PVC material being used for the enclosure, but it needed reinforcement.
Fisher said his company was open to the idea of re-enforcing the dumpster enclosures.
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Three members of the public who live in the neighborhood south of the proposed property raised concerns of flooding.
Resident Vadym Nazarchuk noted that the proposed townhouses are elevated.
“Right now, water goes into the woods and now all water will go to our backyards,” he said.
Fisher said the drainage areas, proposed to be located between the two neighborhoods, is lower than both residential areas and “the water will flow out through our pipe” before it floods the backyards of the residents’ properties.
The board voted 9-0 to approve the application for development. Fisher anticipates construction will take two and a half to three years to complete.
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at [email protected].