Planner: 4-acre zoning is needed

Recommendation part of U.F. master plan revision

By ruth calia stives

Staff Writer

To prevent suburban sprawl and protect underground water sources from septic effluence, Upper Freehold’s township planner has recommended increasing the lot requirement in the agriculture/residential zone from two to four acres.

The recommendation is part of Township Planner Richard Coppola’s proposed revisions to the township master plan, which he presented at the July 24 Planning Board meeting. This will be the first major revision in six years of the long-range development plan.

Planning Board Chairman Richard Stern did not permit any public comment and said residents could comment on the proposed changes at the Aug. 28 board meeting.

Copies of the master plan, together with Coppola’s recommendations, are available at the municipal building.

Some members of the audience did try to comment, saying they were unclear about portions of the presentation, in particular expanding the required acreage in agriculture/residential zones. Some seemed to support the change while others appeared to oppose it.

Portions of the presentation were very technical, and board members had received the information only a few days prior to the meeting and said they were still examining it.

"An important objective of the township’s," Coppola said, "is to safeguard, maintain and promote its prevailing rural, agricultural character."

Because land in the township is predominantly wet or unable to absorb the impact of multiple septic systems, it will be important to safeguard against contamination of underground, potable water supplies, Coppola said.

The residential densities and minimum lot sizes for housing, he said, should reflect the capacity of the soil to absorb and filter septic effluent before it enters the potable water supply. Drainage basins, stormwater facilities and watershed plans need to be implemented to prevent adverse environmental impacts, he added.

The current ordinance provisions for the construction of major subdivisions need to be modified, Coppola said, to preserve the prevailing, rural, agricultural character of Upper Freehold Township and to prevent a "suburban sprawl" pattern of development from emerging.

A cumulative density of development relying on septic systems beyond the carrying capacity of the land may cause detriment to the environment, he said, particularly to the quality of water supplies. Coppola said that is why he suggested raising the minimum lot size requirement from two acres to four acres.

Also to be considered by the Planning Board is a plan to provide density housing through a "farmland/open space conservation cluster." This option invites participation by landowners of large tracts of land who are willing to deed restrict in perpetuity at least 65 percent of their land’s acreage as farmland or open space.

This option is permitted on overall tracts of at least 150 acres, which can be contiguous or broken into separate parcels, none of which are to be less than 50 acres in size. After allowance is made for wetlands, flood plains, slopes, etc., there would have to be at least one acre of clear land for each minimum four-acre lot, with no variances or waivers required.

Lot frontage would have to be at least 150 feet with a front yard setback of 50 feet. A buffer of at least 25 feet in width would be required in a conservation easement area along the frontage of any existing roadway, and a buffer would also be required between any residential lot and the farmland to be preserved. On that land, one "farmstead" house would be permitted.

Coppola explained that a low density plan throughout most of Upper Freehold Township is essential in order to be in agreement with the recommendations of the state’s master plan, the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan, and to safeguard the environmental characteristics of the township’s land and water areas in accordance with amendments to the water quality management planning rules publicized by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The planning process will need to take into account the existing natural resources available within the township, he said, with special attention given to the constraints of environmentally critical and sensitive areas including wetlands, wetlands transition areas, aquifer recharge areas, stream corridors, 100-year flood plains, and land with a topographic slope of 15 percent or greater. Those types of areas account for the vast majority of the land in the township, Coppola said.