Testimony heats up on senior housing plan
Builder seeks board approval for 90 units on Ryders Lane site
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - Arguments and questions centered on traffic and other impact issues during a three-hour-plus hearing last week on a plan to build 90 age-restricted housing units on Ryders Lane.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment held the first of what could be several hearings on the application known as Quail Cove during the May 17 meeting. The applicant, Arbor Ventures, is seeking a use variance and several bulk variances to build the community on a 7.5-acre tract zoned only for single-family homes.

The site is at the corner of Ryders and Guernsey lanes.

A large number of residents have organized in opposition to the plan, and they packed last week's meeting to voice concerns about the density of the project and its potential affects on the surrounding area.

During the hearing, Arbor Ventures representatives said that, since the occupants would be 55 years of age or older, they would do less driving and place fewer cars on the roads than a regular development. The developer's engineer, Ernie Feist, said the age-restricted developments tend to have an average of 1.5 cars per home.

The claim that the 90 units would bring so little traffic brought comments and laughter from some members of the audience. It wasn't the only moment of animus during the hearing.

The 90 units would mostly be included in four, three-story buildings, according to Feist. The three buildings would each have 27 units, while a fourth would comprise a clubhouse and another nine units.

Residents and board members questioned the impact the development would have on local traffic, as well as other quality-of-life issues. David Seiden asked if there is a way to ensure that parking from the development would not spill onto nearby streets, as residents fear.

Kenneth Pape, Arbor Ventures' attorney, said his client's obligation is to convince the board that there will be enough on-site parking. A total of 186 parking spots are proposed on surface lots and in a garage underneath the buildings. Pape said he realizes that if his applicant cannot demonstrate there is sufficient parking, the board will not grant approval. As for restricting parking on public roads, only the Township Council can do that, Pape said.

Seiden also asked how many bedrooms each unit would have, and Pape said 70 of the units would have two bedrooms, while the rest would have one each.

Seiden responded that Arbor Ventures was saying that its residents would not need two cars, but that they need two bedrooms.

The car issue is also a concern to Zoning Board member Richard Klein, who doubted that the number of vehicles would be as few as Arbor Ventures claimed.

Feist said that while 55 is the minimum age to live in the development, the average would be closer to 65 years old.

Klein noted that a lot of people at 65 years of age still work. Feist said the residents would also have the option of boarding a public bus that will run through the development.

After a question from board member Joel Henkin, Feist said that only 15 single-family homes could be built under the current zoning.

The land has been owned by the same family for more than a decade, and has been used at various times for agriculture and an excavation business.

Resident Joseph Weinberger said he wonders how the estimated 190 people slated to live in the 90 units would fit on this property.

Pape said that, in addition to the housing units, the development would have a gazebo, walking path, community building, tennis courts, open recreation area and other places for residents to spend time.

Another resident, Michael Jacobs, said the board ought to consider the large amount of impervious coverage being proposed, and the potential difficulties that could have on stormwater running onto other properties.

A wet pond and stormwater infiltration system basin are proposed to accommodate drainage on the site.

The next hearing on the application is scheduled for June 21.