Woolwich Plan Petitioning Committee
Holds Regional Meeting
by Beth S. Biermann
WOOLWICH – The Woolwich Plan Petitioning Committee
held a regional meeting on July 18 in order to provide information to
neighboring communities regarding the process Woolwich has been going
through for more than two years to get their master plan of development
approved by the state.
Woolwich is in the midst of getting a draft Transfer
of Development Rights (TDR) ordinance and a plan endorsement petition
approved by New Jersey State Planning Commission. The plan establishes two
areas of concentrated commercial and high density residential development
while at the same time allowing for farmland to remain undeveloped by
providing a means of transferring landowners’ development rights.
Presenters and guests included representatives from
the New Jersey State Office of Smart Growth (OSG), New Jersey State
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Melvin Kernan
Development Group. After the presentations, the floor was opened for
public comments and questions.
Swedesboro Mayor Tom Fromm expressed his gratitude to
the Woolwich and state representatives for holding a regional meeting. He
also requested that once he and the other Swedesboro officials had a
chance to “digest” the information presented, there be a focused meeting
between Woolwich and Swedesboro to further discuss the impact of these
proposed developments on the residents of Swedesboro.
Another Swedesboro resident expressed concerns about
the amount of traffic that will be coming down Locke Avenue and through
the town. Bob Melvin of Melvin Kernan Development, Woolwich Township
planner, responded that the goal of having a concentrated residential and
commercial center is to encourage the residents to conduct their everyday
activities and errands in the center itself, and not have to travel great
distances.
Melvin asserted that they weren’t claiming it
wouldn’t impact the surrounding roads, but by trying to concentrate the
development around Route 322, it would decrease traffic from what would
likely occur in the future without a TDR plan.
In addition, left turn lanes will be installed on
Route 322 to make the traffic move more easily on the surrounding roads.
There is even the possibility farther in the future of widening 322 into a
four lane road, but Melvin stated that the installation of left turn lanes
will “extend the life of the road” and provide extra time before widening
is deemed necessary.
Elaine Edwards, historian for the Historical and
Educational Lodge-Hall Preservatory, expressed concern about a cemetery
site that dates back to before the Civil War, located to the west of
Kingsway High School. There is currently a small residential development
surrounding the cemetery and it has caused flooding of the cemetery
grounds due to the higher elevations of the surrounding homes. Edwards
wanted reassurance that the additional development that is planned to
occur surrounding the property will not adversely effect the cemetery, as
is the case with the current development.
Rick Brown, a representative from the DEP stated that
he had been to the site and was aware of its historical significance In
fact, there had been early discussions about placing possible roads
through the area but once the issue was brought to their attention, those
discussions stopped.
He also said that he would make the State Office of
Historic Preservation aware of the situation and ask them to work with
Woolwich to ensure that there would be no adverse impact to the cemetery.
Woolwich Township was chosen as a TDR Demonstration
Project by the state in 2005. As a demonstration project, Woolwich
received grant money from both the state Department of Community Affairs
and the Agriculture Department in order to develop their master plan for
development along with a draft TDR ordinance.
According to Woolwich Mayor Joe Chila, as a result of
its rapid growth of population, Woolwich was in danger of sprawling into a
bedroom community with a loss of open space and farmland, accompanied by
little opportunity for the construction of commercial ratables. In
response to this, Woolwich formed the Plan Petitioning Committee over two
years ago in order to explore a way to transfer the potential for many
scattered communities of “single family large McMansions” into two
concentrated centers of commercial high density residential development.
Courtenay Mercer, Director of Planning for the OSG
gave an overview of the plan endorsement process. She explained that the
state prefers growth in rural areas to be in compact areas, but is also
concerned about what happens in the remainder of the community. Therefore,
the State Planning Commission must evaluate a community’s development plan
to be sure it is consistent with the State Development and Redevelopment
Plan.
Melvin detailed the process that the Plan Petitioning
Committee has been through over the past two years and the resulting
master plan for development that was submitted to the state on March 15.
The OSG has made comments on the plan and Woolwich must respond to the
comments by October.
Melvin explained that there are two components to the
plan. One is the plan endorsement petition and the other is a draft TDR
ordinance which will be adopted once the plan is approved by the state.
The draft TDR ordinance establishes a process by
which landowners can sell the development rights for their land to
developers wishing to build commercial and housing sites in a concentrated
area designated by the township’s master plan. The landowners, designated
as sending areas, can continue to farm their land, while the developers
can use the TDR credits to build with more density in the designated
receiving area.
Melvin explained that the TDR process is “currently
one of the best mechanisms in order to move development where you need it,
where it is most appropriate…and at the same time it’s a methodology to
preserve equity for property owners”. The TDR plan maintains the existing
zoning value when assigning credits to landowners. It also provides for an
appeals process if landowners feel they have not been assigned the proper
number of credits.
Woolwich’s plan for development includes two
receiving areas for commercial and high density residential development,
one on the Route 322 corridor between Locke Avenue and Kings Highway and
another smaller one at the corner of Auburn and Center Square Roads behind
the existing CVS.
The Route 322 receiving area will contain 100 single
family units, 1,000 twin units, 1,617 townhouses and flats, 500 mixed-use
units and 85 acres of parkland. In addition, 110 acres of bald eagle
habitat adjacent to the Raccoon Creek will be preserved.
This site will be approximately one square mile in
area and have a total of three million square feet of commercial space in
a central location to the residential units. (Without the TDR plan, the
322 site is currently zoned for 10 million square feet of commercial
space).
Traffic circulation plans are also being proposed
that will construct interior roads in a manner to avoid having Route 322
be the only road in and out of the commercial center from the surrounding
residential units.
Adjacent to this commercial and high density
residential center will be the development known as Woolwich Adult
Community, with 1,029 senior units, a golf course and 2.7 million
additional square feet of large format retail space.
At the Auburn Road receiving area, plans include 130
single family homes, 162 twin units, 210 townhouses, 31 acres of parkland
and up to 500,000 square feet of commercial space.
Melvin detailed a study done to project growth in
Woolwich Township through the year 2050. Without the TDR plan, it is
projected that Woolwich Township will see an increase of more than 5,700
students and a ratio of commercial to agricultural properties of 80
percent to 20 percent. With the implementation of the TDR plan, the number
of additional school children is estimated slightly less at 5,675, with 55
percent commercial land vs. 45 percent agricultural.
