By ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Can a cul-de-sac cut off a sense of community?
That is one of a few questions the Tinton Falls Planning Board is bringing back to the table within the next month before any decision is rendered on a subdivision application that is still lingering from last year.
The application for 23 homes off Wayside and Pinebrook roads, dubbed The Meadows, was submitted by Kara Homes in February of 2004 and reviewed by a completely different planning board.
That board bent under pressure by area residents to scale back the density of the development, reducing the number of single family homes from 23 to 18 and closed off a planned connecting road to another development with a cul-de-sac.
But now theres a nearly entirely new board which would like to review the original plans without the cul-de-sac.
The previous plan had 23 homes with a connecting road from this one development to another (Imperial Court), said Planning Board Secretary Erin Swartz. Residents from Imperial Court objected to the connection where their cul-de-sac is now, so the other board had the developer change the plans. However, this board has some questions about the cul-de-sac. They tend to feel that having too many cul-de-sacs isolates the town into separate communities when there should be more of a connection. There are accessibility questions, too.
There are other questions surrounding the cul-de-sac issue, density and design, said Mayor Peter Maclearie, who sits on the board.
The fact is that the developer designed the existing (Imperial) development with the intent of having a through street to the new development, Maclearie said. With the altered design, which has the cul-de-sac and a detention basin, not only would there be problems with accessibility for emergency vehicles and public works vehicles, but that plan would create the need for a lot of variances as it is being developed.
The question, Maclearie said, is why not just conform to the master plan and keep the community feeling and accessibility?
Density was the primary concern of the former board, Swartz said.
But Maclearie said he doesnt see why the developer cant come up with a plan that is less dense than the original and still conforms with the master plan and intent of the first design.
Less homes is still a primary concern, the mayor added.
I think, and I get this feeling from the board, that the homes would be better set on single lots rather than the cluster option, Maclearie said. The cluster option allows more homes on smaller lots with a chunk of open space set apart from the homes. But this sort of open space wouldnt really be functional anyway, so the cluster makes less sense. The board will have to decide what is most viable and makes most sense for the neighborhood.
The last board thought it was doing what was right for the neighborhood, he added. Some people in the adjacent neighborhood thought they were going to buy a home on a quiet cul-de-sac.
There was a lack of communication with respect to plans for that neighborhood, Maclearie said.
According to those plans, when the Imperial development went up, a sign was supposed to be erected indicating that there would be a through road where their cul-de-sac now exists.
The board is torn over the possible trade-offs and design, Maclearie said. Theres going to be a lot more debate and review before any decision is made.
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