By DON STINE
A proposal to build 312 residential rental units in Neptune near Jumping Brook Road and Route 66 in Neptune is expected to receive opposition at an upcoming Board of Adjustment meeting.
Hovsons Inc., based in Tinton Falls, is seeking a use variance and site plan approval to build Victoria Gardens, which consists of 312 residential units ranging from one to three bedrooms. The project also includes 10,000 square-feet of commercial space.
The project, to be built on just over 40 acres, is located west of the current AIG building. The development fronts on Hovchild Boulevard, formerly Victoria Boulevard.
The zoning board meeting is Wed., Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
“We do not want them to build this complex,” said Chris Schuetz, who along with other township residents, established the Friends of Neptune. The group has been placing signs along roadsides, particularly near the site of the proposed project, urging people to come out and voice their concerns at the upcoming meeting.
Schuetz, who lives on Oakcrest Drive directly across from the development, said the three-story buildings will “loom over the entire neighborhood.”
“This thing is so big, so dense. I could stand on my porch and possibly hit the buildings across the street from me with a ball or stone. It’s just a massive development with many parking lots. It will be just horrible for the neighborhood,” she said.
She said the developer is requesting a large number of variances for the project and to have the zooming changed from commercial to residential and retail.
Schuetz said increased traffic and an increase in school enrollments are also concerns.
Residents have been circulating a petition opposing the project and many have been turning out, sometimes in large numbers, to attend the prior zoning board meetings.
“There is tremendous community opposition to this,” she said.
Another 272-unit residential development, called Signature Place, has already been approved by the board and the land has been cleared in advance of construction.
The project is being built on about 25 acres off Jumping Brook Road, behind the vacant AIG building at the intersection with Route 66. The development will also have 8,000 square feet of commercial space.
A use variance for the project was granted in Dec., 2012 and site plan approval was granted in March, 2013 to the developer, Neptune Partners, based in Livingston.
All of the units in each project are rental and none are affordable housing units.
