Major development plans return to board Approvals sought for Carriage House Crossing, Metropark So. BY JESSICA SMMITH Staff Writer Two developers that received approvals from the township in the past are back before the Old Bridge Planning Board seeking approval once again. In one case, a developer who was willing to sell the historic Cottrell Farm to the township sought too high a price for officials to swallow, and is bringing a change in building plans to the board. In the other, a Superior Court judge has given the board 120 days to rule on a builder's large-scale project, called Metropark South, which was first approved in the 1980s. The Jerald Development Group, which owns the Cottrell Farm at the corner of Route 516 and Cottrell Road, has made changes to the general development plan (GDP) that was approved by the township in 2003. The Wall Township-based builder's original plan called for a "town center" development dubbed Carriage House Crossing, which was to include 141,000 square feet of office and retail space, 131 loft apartments, 98 age-restricted townhouse units and 895 parking spaces. "Here we are, way past when they said they wanted to build," Planning Board Chairman Larry Redmond said last week. "They've got a long way to go." The first thing the Planning Board will decide is whether the current application is in compliance with the approved GDP from 2003. From there, it will make a decision on whether to allow the construction. According to Planning Board member Owen Henry, who was on the board when Jerald received GDP approval, there are a few changes to the application. The biggest differences from the original application are a three-story parking deck, and underground drainage basins. The developer also slightly reduced the number of residences planned, Henry said. The current application calls for 84 agerestricted residential units and 112 secondfloor apartments, alongwith 119,850 square feet of office space. Henry said the parking garage became necessary when additional wetlands areas were found on the 28-acre site. The change in drainage engineering came as a result of new state-mandated storm water management requirements. Jerald representatives testified in 2003 that the application would not require any variances or design waivers from the township, Henry said. According to Redmond, a bulk variance will be required for the current plans, as some of the developer's setbacks do not meet with township requirements. In 2005, Mayor Jim Phillips began efforts to save the farm from development, with the Township Council approving a resolution in support of preserving it with possible help from state Green Acres funding. Middlesex County officials also expressed interest in preserving the site, Phillips said. Last June, the developer surprised officials by seeking inclusion for the land in the state Farmland Preservation Program. The program allows for development rights of a given parcel to be purchased in order for it to be preserved as farmland for posterity. However, Jerald was denied by the program, according to the Middlesex County Planning Department, which reported that Jerald had asked to be paid $900,000 per acre, too high a price in light of a recent reduction in state funding for farmland preservation. Since then, the builder offered the property for purchase to the township and county. The asking price of $17.5 million was stated by Jerald's attorney, Jonathan Heilbrunn, to be well below the tract's fair market value. He said appraisals obtained by Jerald placed the farm's value at over $21 million. The appraisals take into account the proposed development of the approved GDP. Jerry Cernero, owner of Jerald Development, requested that the township respond to his offer before the firm brought its altered plan before the Planning Board for preliminary site plan approval. Township officials, who had hoped to seek help fromthe county and state in purchasing the land, refused the offer. "We don't think it's worth $17.5 million," Phillips said. "We don't have the money to pay $17.5 million. What state agency, what town, what government, is going to approve spending $17.5 million on a piece of land that you know he only paid $5 million for, and he hasn't even turned a shovel in the ground?" The township has $3 million in its open space fund,while the stateGreenAcres program has $200 million, Phillips said, describing the potential purchase as unjustified. According to Phillips, the state Green Acres programis looking to find out the true worth of the property. That cannot be determined until the Planning Board renders a decision on what is permitted to be built there, Phillips said. "We're going to review the application based on itsmerits,"Henry said. "On paper, it looks good." The farm, long owned by Herbert Cottrell Jr. and dating back to the 1770s, consists of an apple orchard, outbuildings and a farmhouse that dates to 1831, when it was built to replace an earlier structure destroyed by a fire. The land, which was once part of a larger property whose parts were sold for development over time, is included on both the township and county lists of historical sites. Metropark South being heard Metropark South, a mixed-use development proposed by M. Alfieri Co., of Edison, received GDP approval from the township in 1985. The development was to include housing, retail, a seven-story hotel, a train station and offices. The plans now before the board include 83 single-family homes, 10,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 76,323 square feet of office space. Also proposed is a 101,311-square-foot hotel consisting of 168 rooms and accompanied by 171 parking spaces. All would be located off Strachan Street, to the east of Laurence Parkway and Garden State Parkway Exit 120. Though Alfieri's applications were denied by the township Zoning Board of Adjustment last year, a Superior Court Appellate Division ruled in October that the township Planning Board hear the developer's plans. "We've always maintained that it belonged in front of [the] Planning [Board]," Redmond said. The developer began testimony before the board in February, and continued it on March 4. No decision has been made. Since the time of the GDP approval, the only portion of the plans to be built was Bridgepointe, a community of several hundred townhouses. Phillips and Zoning Board Chairman Kiran Desai have said they are concerned that the builder may want to get out of constructing the commercial portions of the project. The developer has been seeking an extension on the 20-year vesting period granted with the original GDP. Alfieri has cited market conditions as a reason for failing to build commercial portions of the project within the time allotted. The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled forApril 1, but its agenda had yet to be posted at press time this week.