Committee Narrowly OKs Sale of Lots to Lacey Town Village Developer

The Lacey Township Committee authorized the sale of land adjacent to the railroad right of way to Lacey Township Building Associates, LLC, the applicant for Lacey Town Village, a non-age-restricted housing development.

“It’s a bad deal for the township,” said Committeeman Sean Sharkey who opposed the sale with Committeewoman Helen DelaCruz. The measure passed by a 3-2 margin.

Two lots at the intersection of Laurel Boulevard and Route 9 were sold to Lacey Township Building Associates, LLC for a total of $37,500.

“It’s not exactly something that we wanted to enter into,” Mayor Mark Dykoff said. “We had no choice. We tried to fight it.”

The  due to various unanswered questions and the  made to improve the plans, resulting in a court order.

Lacey Town Village was originally approved as age-restricted housing in 2005. The applicant re-approached the Planning Board with modified plans because legislation (S2577 1R) passed by Gov. Jon Corzine in July 2009 allowed developers to challenge towns over the age-restricted status of pending developments.

After months of litigation, the township Planning Board approved the application for the housing development.

DelaCruz believes the development will pave the way for more non-age-restricted housing in the township. She also said the development will ultimately increase students at the schools along with a need for police presence and more services.

“In the long run, it will raise our taxes,” she said.

But the situation is out of the township’s hands as it was essentially a state mandate, Dykoff said.

“It was a court settlement that ended up in the situation we’re in,” said Committeeman Gary Quinn, who is also a member of the Planning Board. “During the settlement there were some major changes made to at least make the site more workable for the town.”

included adjustments to the size of the units, the elimination of a clubhouse and inclusion of a tot lot, an increase in parking, wider streets and an infiltration retention basin.

Now, with 84 units (67 market rate units and 17 affordable units), some with potential for three bedrooms, the development has 81 parking spaces planned. The development will include walkways and 30-foot wide streets.

The applicant also purchased “Road D,” a portion of Railroad Avenue, which was not originally included in the CAFRA approval, for $37,000.

“We really had no choice in the matter,” said Committeeman Dave Most, also a member of the Planning Board. “We did everything we could do as far as advice from our planners and attorneys.”