Plan for housing, hotel, retail, offices is back
Judge sends proposal for Metropark South to Planning Board
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer
Developer Michael Alfieri has another chance to seek approval for his Metropark South project in Old Bridge, thanks to a Superior Court Appellate Division ruling.

Alfieri, whose plans were rejected by the town's Zoning Board of Adjustment last year, began testimony before the Planning Board on Feb. 19.

"We're looking at it like it's a brand-new application," Planning Board Chairman Larry Redmond said Monday.

In reality, the application is far from new. The township granted general development plan (GDP) approval to Alfieri in 1985 for a mixed-use development that was to include housing, retail, a hotel, a train station and offices, according to Mayor Jim Phillips.

The Edison-based developer's Metropark South would be located along Laurence Parkway near Garden State Parkway Exit 120. The plans now before the board consist of 83 single-family homes, 15,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and a 168-room hotel with 171 parking spaces, all along Laurence Harbor Road.

Since the time of the GDP approval, Alfieri has only built Bridgepointe, a community of several hundred townhouses.

"We could use things that don't produce school-age children," Phillips said. "GDPs were meant to be plans that were mixed use, and were phased over time. [Developers] get selective amnesia when it comes to the fact that they are supposed to build this commercial development."

Phillips said Bridgepointe homeowners moved in with the belief that they would be in walking distance of a train station, among other unrealized expectations.

Alfieri's representatives cited market conditions as a reason for needing an extension of the GDP in testimony before the Zoning Board during 2006 and 2007. Kiran Desai, board chairman, has said that such arguments confirmed suspicions on the part of the board that the developer only wants to build residences.

Last February, the Zoning Board refused to extendAlfieri's 20-year GDP vesting period. In May, the court sent the developer back to the board, ruling that the application should be heard.

Vesting periods are like pacts between a municipality and a developer, protecting an applicant from changes in zoning as time passes. Their determination depends on the breadth of a given project, and how much time it is estimated to require. The inclusion of tax ratables such as offices and a hotel were likely seen as positive components that prompted the board to grant the 20-year vesting period in the 1980s.

The most recent court ruling stated that the application should not have been before the Zoning Board to begin with, and sent Alfieri to the Planning Board to start from scratch. The Planning Board is the proper channel through which to deal with GDP approvals, Phillips said.

The Planning Board now has two decisions to make - determining whether changes made to the plans are still in compliance with the GDP, and whether to approve the project as a whole.

Redmond said that while it is yet unclear what changesAlfieri has made to the plans, he believes they are related to state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issues.

"From what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem to resemble the original GDP, but I'm going into this with an open mind," Redmond said.

Aside from reviewing the original GDP, board members must go over new information and compare it to what was approved more than 20 years ago, Redmond said. If it is determined that more than 30 percent of the plans have changed, the project will be deemed noncompliant with the GDP.

Alfieri could not be reached for comment for this story.

The developer provided about an hour's worth of testimony at the Feb. 19 Planning Board meeting, and Redmond said there is a long road ahead for both parties.

Alfieri is not the first developer the town has battled in court over past GDP approvals. Litigation is ongoing with John J. Brunetti, as well as with Atlantic Realty, two large-scale builders. Such cases prompted Councilman Pat Gillespie, who now sits on the Planning Board, to begin pushing for a repeal of the town's GDP ordinance last year.

Gillespie said instead of repealing the ordinance, minor changes are being considered that would place additional criteria on applications to be granted extended vesting periods. He has been working with Township Planner Sam Rizzo and other board members to determine what changes would be most beneficial to the town.

Phillips said that while officials have not made any changes to the ordinance yet, through researching they found that 20-year vesting periods are allowed by law, but not required when granting GDP approvals.

"It's permissive," Phillips said. "It's not something they're entitled to."

According to Phillips, a change in the ordinance is not necessary as long as officials continue to exercise their right to say "no" to developers when their projects are not right for the town.

"General development plans that were given by the Township of Old Bridge, by and large, have not benefited the town," Phillips said. "I suspect it will be a cold day in hell before anyone gets another [20- year approval]."

Alfieri is scheduled to go before the Planning Board for a second round of testimony March 4. Despite the controversy over the application, Redmond said the board will remain objective.

"We'll treat this like any other application," Redmond said.