Manchester Residents Raise Concerns About Overdevelopment

MANCHESTER – Residents have been worried about overdevelopment and took their concerns to a recent meeting of the Planning Board where three developments were being decided.

The first developer was called Parkwood Square, LP/Parkwood Center B LLC. They wanted to build garden apartments, commercial property, and townhouses on Lakehurst Whitesville Road.

The plan was approved with 20 plus conditions imposed by the Board.

Mayor Robert Arace recently stated in a social media post, “I remain adamantly against overdevelopment in our township. The best way to stop overdevelopment is through the preservation of land. By working with the Ocean County Natural Land Trust, my administration has preserved 116 acres and prevented the construction of four apartment buildings and 98 units.”

He noted that “the county is set to preserve 88 acres along Route 571, which will prevent the construction of 440 homes. I worked with the county for 18 months to ensure that this parcel was preserved. The piece of land, referred to at the corner of South Hope Chapel and Ridgeway is privately owned and not in the Pinelands protected area.”

“While I do not support the development of this parcel, we don’t have the power to completely stop the project. However, the Planning Board has imposed numerous restrictions and conditions that the project must meet in order to proceed,” the mayor added.

Another project was put forward by Shore Points Properties LLC for the property at 2900 Ridgeway Road. Their plan received preliminary and final major site plan approval and involves construction of a 9,800-square-foot medical office building with parking and site appurtenances.

Also on the agenda was the preliminary and final site plan application for 2486 Ridgeway Boulevard by applicant 2486 Ridgeway LLC.

The project concerns redevelopment of the site and includes an office building, a warehouse, construction and storage.

The Board unanimously approved the application with some provisions. Board member Felicia Finn expressed her view on the aesthetic look of the office building exterior. “It doesn’t look like it belongs in Manchester. It looks like it belongs in a city.”

Resident Tabitha Johnson had stronger feelings about the appearance of the building and the project itself. She held up an enlarged rendering of what the proposed end result would look like. “This is horrendous. There is already traffic round Holly Oaks and people aren’t abiding by the law. Manchester is always building but for what reason?”

Board Attorney Joseph Coronato stated during the meeting that the use as proposed is a permitted use and that “this Board has to focus on what is a permitted use.”

The exterior of the office building will be revised to give it “a woman’s touch” as Board Chairman William Barron put it to which Finn corrected him saying, “a Manchester touch” given the rural character of the community.

Resident Cindy Bern of the River Pointe section of the township said the site “is an eyesore already. This is an upgrade. It doesn’t fit now but it will look a lot better.”

Also on the agenda was a major subdivision application for Grinnell Avenue (west of Manchester Street) by developer Jeffrey R. Jerman. The subject properties are located along Grinnell Avenue, on a paper street west of the intersection of Grinnell Avenue and Manchester Street. The total areas include six lots 100’ wide and 100’ deep, one lot 136.10’ wide and 100’ deep and one lot: 100’ wide and 25’ deep for a total area of 74,695 square feet.

Jerman is seeking approval to subdivide Grinnell Avenue to create six fully conforming residential lots and a stormwater basin constructed on several lots to handle the Grinnell Avenue Road improvement. Two lots will be used to construct a cul-de-sac on Grinnell Avenue.

This application was previously carried to June 3, then carried to July 1, then carried to August 5 and will now be carried to the Board’s September 3 meeting.