JACKSON – More testimony will be heard concerning the controversial Jackson Parke South application during a March 15 Township Planning Board meeting.
The plan involves the property of Jackson Parke in the Cassville section of Jackson which includes building a 549-unit single-family and multi-family development off West Veterans Highway. The applicant is EL at Jackson. The applicant is seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval.
The project calls for 100 of the 144 apartments to be designated as affordable housing units which are defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to either individuals or families whose incomes meet a specific criterion.
The applicant’s civil engineer Daphne Galvin said during the last several Planning Board meetings that all aspects of the application met zoning ordinances and state required permits.
Environmental objections have however been voiced by members of several environmental and citizen groups such as Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods of Jackson and Manchester (CUPON).
During a February 8 Jackson Planning Board meeting CUPON’s attorney Ron Gasiorowski cross examined members of the applicant’s staff concerning their prior testimony before the Planning board.
One issue of concern is a connector road which is the subject of litigation. The developer is looking to use Reed Road and Perrineville prior to the connector road’s creation. The road is needed due to those Jackson roads being unable to sustain fill and construction traffic.
Residents are opposed to that plan citing it would cause noise and disrupt the normal traffic flow. EL does not currently have Ocean County approvals.
While the land is currently owned by EL, once the roads are finished, they will become the township’s responsibility which includes maintaining a 10-foot right of way. The project’s parking would be part of that right of way.
The applicant’s attorney, Jason Tuvel strongly objected to Gasiorwksi’s questions to professional staff involving Jackson Parke North which had also faced criticism by residents over environmental concerns. The proposal for Jackson Parke North was rejected unanimously by the Planning Board in 2019.
That application was for 551 single-family and multi-family homes. Superior Court Judge Mark Troncone reversed the Board’s decision stating it violated terms of an affordable housing settlement in 2017 that he presided over.
Troncone ordered the Planning Board to rehear and approve the application and while the Board did rehear it, the application has not yet been formally signed off on. He also ordered the Planning Board to expedite hearing the Jackson Parke South application and assigned a court monitor to the case.
Gasiorowski is expected to continue his cross examination of EL’s experts during the March 15 meeting.
Save Barnegat Bay and Pinelands Preservation Alliance are also hoping to raise concerns over the proposed development.
Save Barnegat Bay Executive Director Britta Forsberg-Wenzel said, “Jackson Township is partially located within the Pinelands National Reserve, a federally designated 1.1-million-acre portion of South Jersey that is protected for its rare species, habitats and critical water resources.”
She added, “the Reserve has its own set of regulations, the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), around land use and environmental protections, and the lead agency charged with protecting the Pinelands and implementing the CMP is the Pinelands Commission.”
Wenzel noted that when New Jersey passed legislation identifying the area under jurisdiction of the Pinelands Commission some areas in the Pinelands National Reserve were left out. Along the coast, those excluded sections fall within the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) and are managed by the Department of Environmental Protection to uphold the standards of the CMP as well as the CAFRA rules.
“Part of the Pinelands National Reserve in Jackson, north of West Veterans Highway, was also inexplicably excluded from Pinelands Commission regulation. By statute it is to be controlled by the CMP regulations, but no state or local agency is expressly charged with enforcing the CMP in this area,” Wenzel added.
“Because of this unusual situation, Jackson Township has thus far failed to enforce the density and environmental standards of the CMP when it comes to Jackson Parke South. The proposed site is located within the designated Forest Area of the Reserve, one of the most valuable and therefore restrictive areas in terms of allowable development.”
Wenzel stated that threatened and endangered species have been documented on site. Wetlands and the headwaters of the Toms River are also present. “These surface waters received a Category One designation by the state for their exceptional ecological and water supply resources.”
“Protection of these waters is essential for guaranteeing the preservation of the Barnegat Bay watershed, which is vulnerable to increased development pressure. The burden of protecting our waters starts in the western portion of the county in the woods, where creeks, streams and rivers flow out of the ground and make their way down to Barnegat Bay,” Wenzel added.
“This is a bad project and should be stopped. We asked Governor Murphy last April to step in and help with no response. Regardless of whether a state agency is forcing the town to comply, Jackson Township should adhere to the Pinelands laws regarding density and environmental protections,” said Pinelands Preservation Alliance Policy Advocate Rhyan Grech.
“This parcel is designated Forest Area and is entitled to some of the strongest protections within the Pinelands National Reserve,” Grech added.
“The legal push for this project is spearheaded by Fair Share Housing (a 501c3 organization),” Hannum said.
Resident Randy Bergmann brought up during a February 1 Planning Board meeting that “Jackson has a tree removal ordinance on the books that calls for either replacing trees or to pay to replace them elsewhere in the township what is the obligation of Jackson Parke South?”
Tuvel, the applicant’s attorney, said he believed the tree ordinance was not applicable to the Jackson Parke South or North applications. We’re complying with all the coverages and buffers and so forth but the tree ordinance is not applicable.”
“Will the Board agree that no clear cutting of the trees of Jackson Parke South will take place until all the environmental issues have been satisfactorily resolved and traffic studies have been conducted?” Bergmann asked.
A Jackson ordinance is on the books stating “there is to be no clear cutting until all approvals have been obtained.” Planning Board Chairman Robert Hudak said.
The next Planning Board meeting be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 15. Details can be found on the Jackson Township website Jacksontwpnj.net.
