Manchester Council Discussing Heritage Minerals Redevelopment Plan Monday

Manchester, NJ -- "What was the purpose of us coming here? You don't listen to us!"

That was the parting comment of one of many residents to packed the Manchester Township courtroom a week ago for the township Planning Board meeting on the proposed Heritage Town Center Redevelopment Plan. 

The Planning Board recommended moving forward with the plan -- a nonbinding decision, noted Planning Board Attorney Edward Liston -- as part of the process. The Township Council, at its meeting tonight, Monday, June 13, is scheduled to hold a second hearing and final adoption of an ordinance that would move the proposal forward. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the municipal building.

The residents who filled the Planning Board meeting spoke mostly against the proposal by Hovsons Inc., which owns the site, to build more than 6,500 residential units as well as commercial and retail space on part of the more than 7,000-acre site.

The redevelopment plan was described in extensive detail by Township Planner Joseph Robert, who spent an hour detailing the process and how it would work. Chief among that, he said, is that the township would have the ability to control what is done with the site in ways that cannot be done under regular zoning rules.

Hovsons, which has owned the property since 1984, has approval under the 2003 settlement of a lawsuit against the township, the state Department of Environmental Protection and several other entities to build 2,400 age-restricted homes on the site. 

To move forward with the larger town center plan, which Liston said is an idea that has been discussed in Manchester for at least 15 years and is included in the township's master plan, that settlement would have to be amended. Hovsons also would need approvals from the DEP, and under the Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, among others, to move forward.

"There's no guarantee that 6,543 is the number (of homes) that will be there in the end," Mayor Kenneth Palmer has said.

Residents at the Planning Board meeting raised concerns about increased traffic as well as the impact of so many homes on the township's services and ultimately, on property taxes. And they expressed concerns about losing the peace and quiet that many said was the reason they were drawn to Manchester.

"We all like the environment that is here, which is why we came here in the first place," said Marian Goldberg of Marlboro Avenue. "We chose to come and live this way. We don't need a town center."

Ann Markovsky said the town needs to look at its options.

"I'm amazed at how many conclusions have been made," she said, "when we don't have substantive numbers."

"I believe it's the town's fiduciary responsibility to come up with a plan that's workable," Markovsky said. "We need to be patient and work through the process."