The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The developer of a proposed 14-unit luxury home community on Cedar Grove Lane was sent back to the drawing board by the Planning Board on January 7.
Board members objected to a number of the plan’s elements, especially its layout and the the fact that it is a planned gated community.
The targeted property is an approximately 16.5-acre parcel on Cedar Grove Lane, near Como Drive.
Board members felt that the 14 units, which are proposed to be aligned single-file along both sides of a road leading to a cul-de-sac, could be “clustered,” which would take up less space on the lot and result in fewer trees being cleared from the property.
But Tim Arch, the lawyer for developer Odin Dhun LLC, argued that his client would rather propose a development that was permitted in the zone than one that would need special approval.
“But in terms of going with a cluster option versus a non-cluster option, again, that is something that was, again, suggested to us very early on,” he said. “We did look into it. It is not an option that we are willing to take.”
“The vision for this development is not to have a high-density, close-together building,” he said. “We’re not going for high density. We’re not going for floor-area ratio consolidation. It is going for a luxurious, high-impact community, and that is what the vision was.”
“We do have the provision in our zoning ordinance that talks about, again, encouraging clustering, but we also have the tree ordinance that talks specifically about all applications for site plans and subdivisions,” said Mark Healey, the Township’s principal planner. “Number one priority is to design them in a way to maximize tree preservation.”
“We presented it within the confines of what the ordinance and what the township allows us to do,” Arch said. “I understand your positions, and I have to just say respectfully, that is not the proposal that we have brought before the board today.”
Board chairman Michael Orsini led the charge against the proposed security gate, saying that it really wasn’t necessary for such a small development.
The plan is to erect a decorative fence that will connect to a 6-foot-tall decorative brick wall along Cedar Grove Lane. Another 6-foot-high fence will run around the perimeter of the property.
“Being a private community, there’s a sense of security that the applicant is seeking, especially for lots this size and homes this size,” Chris Szalay, the project’s engineer, told the Board. “There’s a market that the applicant is seeking to address, and it comes with a level of security that they’re looking for.”
Orsini was not sold on the idea of the gate.
“I don’t understand why in a 14-home subdivision that you feel the need for all this type of bells and whistles,” he said. “I mean, I know other communities do it for fire and the people get through, but those are also manned gatehouses.”
“It’s your money, not mine,” he said. “If you can divide the cost of 14 people maintaining everything you’re saying, then I want their job, not the one I got. I think you need a way to have Amazon, FedEx, trash … I mean, if I go to Amazon and I order a widget, where the hell am I going to put it into them and tell them, you know, you got to press this gate? I’m lucky if I get them to actually bring it to my porch.”
“So, I mean, I just don’t see this practically working,” he said.
“A couple things that I will note about the gate and discussing with the client is, one, I can say Amazon actually does have the ability to put in codes in different directions to the drivers,” Szalay said.
“But, again, I know not everybody is going to necessarily do that,” he said. “This is a commercially available product that’s used in many different communities all throughout the United States. So it’s not something novel or new that we’re proposing here.”
“I understand what you’re saying, and, you know, if it were manned like it is in Somerset Run and other communities with thousands of homes … this looks like, you know, kind of an edifice complex thing that you’re going for,” Orsini said. “Like, just make it big and showy and not practical. I don’t support it.”
“This may be the only, other than the age-restricted developments, this might be the only gated community in Franklin Township,” said Board member Robert Thomas. “It’s something historically in the past when it’s come up that this board has frowned upon and kind of discouraged people from doing. And I remember specifically a couple of different places.”
“I’m not sure why you need that secure of a gate and a wall along the street in the area where you’re proposing this development,” he said. “It’s almost like you’re building a fancy prison.”
“I just don’t think this makes for a community,” Orsini said. “It’s like you want a little fort to yourself. I can only do so much with planning law, but I don’t have to do the bells and whistles for you guys, and I’m not going to.”
The developer will meet with Township planning officials to come up with a plan that would be more amenable to the Board. Plans are for them to appear next at the January 21 meeting.
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