Woodhaven denied
Residential homes, retail plan were first proposed 20 years ago
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

OLD BRIDGE - After years of testimony and contention, the township this week denied plans for Woodhaven components that called for 3,000-plus residential homes and over a million square feet of retail space.

The township Planning Board Tuesday denied without prejudice Atlantic Realty's plan for both Woodhaven Village and Woodhaven Plaza.

The project has become a test of wills between the developer, the township and the county due in part to the evolving rules of land use law over 20 years. The contention and discord of numerous hearings came to a screeching climax Tuesday night as board members voted unanimously for the denial.

"The fact that it was done without prejudice simply means if we should ever have to hear Woodhaven again on a new application, all the prior testimony on this case will be admissible. It means they won't be starting from scratch," Planning Board Chairman Larry Redmond said.

"What the decision means is that the applicant will have to make a decision," said Mayor Jim Phillips. "They could go to court and say we denied their application without just cause, or they could go to the DEP [state Department of Environmental Protection] or the EPA [federal Environmental Protection Agency] and try to work this out."

The latter course would mean the Woodhaven developer would have to submit a Letter of Interpretation (LOI) that would spell out in no uncertain terms exactly what portion of its 76-acre parcel of land near Texas Road is wetlands.

Phillips believes that, unlike earlier estimates, an LOI could mean more than half the parcel would no longer be buildable land by modern EPA standards.

But according to the mayor, the DEP is at least partly responsible for the 20-year debacle.

"There's plenty of blame to go around," Phillips said. "Even 20 years ago this was the DEP's jurisdiction. They OK'd the application initially."

Phillips said that at the time the DEP made its determination, it was based on mapping information provided by the Army Corps of Engineers.

To make matters worse, even with the somewhat lax requirements of the time, Woodhaven's developer, which already built an initial, separate phase of the project, violated the guidelines of its agreement by developing parts of the parcel that were restricted.

"The result is the wetlands portions of this property have increased," Phillips said. "There are whole parts of that land where trees are now under water. Their development and mismanagement has just extended the wetlands out, and that has resulted in increases in local flooding and problems for residents and for the town."

Redmond said "there is such a thing as smart growth ... developments well planned to benefit the community, the environment, the tax base and the developer. Woodhaven is not one of those projects. What Woodhaven was, was unchecked residential development."

Redmond said it had become the mission of the Planning Board and Phillips to bring those necessary checks and balances to bear in this application.

Redmond likened the situation to another application made years ago by Olympia & York.

"The developer bought a parcel and later discovered it was more wetlands than buildable space. The problem lingered on so long that the developer finally went out of business," Redmond said of the O&Y property.

"The parcel got sold off at $3,000 per acre and was turned into what is now known as Phillips Park," Redmond said.

If developers haven't learned from the past, Phillips said, the township has.

"Woodhaven was a project too big for the state to monitor and too big for the developer. The lesson here is that no developer should ever be given 20 years' approval on an application. In 20 years, too many variables can change. Under my watch, no such application would ever have been approved," the mayor said, noting the application was begun during the Arthur Haney administration.

Phillips said that if Atlantic Realty wanted to throw in the towel and sell the property, the township would love to turn it into an open air space such as a state-funded park.

That would mean that Atlantic Realty had succumbed to the same fate as Olympia & York.

"They own the land and I don't think they'll go under quietly or without a fight," Redmond said. "My guess is they'll be kicking and screaming all the way to the courthouse, but I think it's important that people understand what this decision to deny means - that we are doing what everybody said could not be done. We're starting to control development in Old Bridge."

Atlantic Realty's attorney has not responded to phone calls from the Suburban regarding the Woodhaven application.