Four Ponds development opponents were well-represented at Wednesday’s planning board meeting. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Even in a worst-case scenario, traffic in and out of the proposed Four Ponds development in Lincroft won’t have as big an impact on the area as neighbors fear, according to a traffic study presented to the Middletown Planning Board Wednesday night.
The 342-unit development, if approved, would be better— traffic-wise — for the town than a return to professional use of the 68-acre property on Middletown-Lincroft Road, said traffic consultant John Rea, of McDonough & Rea Associates in Manasquan. The site is the former home of business technology giant Avaya, where a vacant 352,000-square-foot building once housed a bustling tech industry until it was closed a few years ago.
“It has been used in the past, and it has generated higher traffic volumes than what is proposed today,” he said.
Members of the board, though, pushed back against a number of statistics Rea offered, saying traffic in that section of town can slow to a crawl and prompts travelers to seek shortcuts.
Rea’s 90-minute testimony, given in front of a packed meeting room with at least a dozen residents wearing the now-familiar white t-shirt with ’342 Units’ struck through with a red slash, highlighted the area’s traffic history and what’s projected if the housing plan is approved.
Plans call for two entrances and exits: one on Middletown-Lincroft Road and another on West Front Street. Having those two access points efficiently distributes traffic, Rea said.
Rea said the firm conducted two types of studies on those streets over a week in March of last year. During peak morning and afternoon hours, he said, there would be an additional 158 cars in the morning and 197 in the afternoon moving in and out of the property on the two roads. If the property were still active with professional use, there would be about 565 “driving movements” in the morning peak hours and about 540 in the afternoon peak hours.
Additional delays to the already busy roadways would be “small, incremental delays,” Rea said.
But board chairman John Deus, who’s lived in Lincroft 36 years, said at the end of the day, the numbers from a traffic study don’t matter to those traveling.
“What we all do is look for the path of least resistance,” he said. “I know every shortcut and I know everybody else does, and they know how to use them. That’s what traffic studies don’t address.”
Rea’s firm did, though, and found that back road routes won’t see that much more activity than they do now.
Rick Brodsky, attorney for the developer, Four Ponds Associates, said his client would pay its fair share to implement whatever traffic-calming measures are necessary, such as speed bumps, humps or raised tables.
“Whatever Middletown Township decides is appropriate, and that would likely come from the township committee, we’ll consider it,” Brodsky said.
In wrapping up his testimony, Rea said if the town was looking for a location to put a development of this kind and have as little an impact on traffic as possible, “this appears to be a very good plan for it.”
“Spoken like a traffic engineer and not a resident,” Deus said.
The hearing on the proposal was continued to the board’s August 3 meeting, and if it doesn’t finish by that time, a special meeting may be called for late August so the board can soon come to a decision.
Honestly, the plan for the former Avaya property to create new housing is not only a good idea, but it is now proven to be the better option then allowing the property to be used by a new company. I wish more of the units were going to affordable housing, but that’s not the issue at hand right now.
I don’t want to pick on Middletown or its residents, but has anyone else been reading Red Bank Green over the past few weeks? Between this, the new health clinic in Middletown that residents are rallying against, and Middletown trying to gain a bit of money from Kaboom Fest fundraising, something is seriously wrong here. It’s almost like Middletown is rallying against anything that doesn’t benefit them and only them.
Logic says that the housing development on the former Avaya property is the right move. I hope very much the logic wins out in this case.
http://www.VoteNoble.com
I know we’re all about traffic and parking around here, but has the impact on Middletown public schools been discussed by the planning board or members of the community?
With a 342-unit development and the average number of children per household hovering around 1.83 (per 2004 data), I think this is a huge concern for the district. What of it?
If memory serves right all the primary schools in that area are tiny except for Thompson middle school which expanded some 8-10 years ago. So i would think there would need to be additional facilities added unless the township has shrunk ( doubtful )
An office park has a huge influx of people coming in between 8 & 9,leaving between noon-1:30 for lunch and leaving for the day between 5-6:30.
I don’t see how a housing development could generate worse traffic at these peak times since residents comings and goings are more staggered.
Please allow me to explain what this actually is. Bare with me and do your home work.
If you look and Read Pat Nobles comments, you can see that he seems to think the people of Lincroft are against everything that is goo. Take note that he is a registered Socialist and ran on that ticket. If he thinks this is a good idea than you must ask yourself why.
Sit back folks because I’m going to tell you a story you’ll find hard to believe. This issue other rezoning issues through out Middletown, solar panels starting out for some of the township buildings? Does anyone know who’s actually initiating this? No, it’s not your local elected officials. These plans come from a None Governmental Organization called ICLEI. I suggest you go to the Middletown municipal website and find the link for this organization. Once there, do some reading. Pay attention to the words a phrases used to describe projects. “Sustainable Living” “Sustainable town” Green Initiative”, it goes on and on. What they have done is actually change the vocabulary for the 21st century. Ok, so we go from the municipal site from there find the link to the ICLEI site, read a bit and then I want you to look across the top tabs for PARTNERS. Click it! Ah yes, a long list of partners. Every last one of them a department at the United Nations. You don’t think so? I dare you to try it. I dare you to read some of this stuff. Ever hear of the infamous Agenda 21? Crazy isn’t it? Do you know what it is? Trust me, it’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a conspiracy fact. Do this for you, your neighbors, town, state and country. Do it to maintain your way of life, your freedoms and liberties. To hold on to your private property because what the “Master Plan” once underway to full implementation will be followed by a series of rulse, regulations and laws that will slowly take your private property away. Either through a slow methodical degeneration or through unconstitutional imminent domain abuse. Do you remember back a few years all the trouble people were having in Long Branch? Yep same thing. Once you have followed the steps “website links” to confirm what I’m saying so far, to a web search (Agenda 21 for dummies). There are plenty of websites and documentation on the contents and what it all means. There are also plenty of video’s on the subject. You could also read the actual document at the United Nations website. But its about 40 chapters/430 pages and just to boring for a sane person to read.
I suggest you don’t take my word for it, do your own research. I don’t think your going to like what you find.
One more thing, there are a good number of towns in our county signed up at ICLEI as members. They pay a fee every year to do so. Our town hasn’t signed up as of yet because we haven’t earned enough “credits” YET. But the county has us drawn into it. They have a list of every town and county in the country thats a member. Oh, also keep asking yourself… Why Is The UN in our towns creating laws and regulating us? We are the United States and our Supreme Laws come from our US constitution, not some non governmental Org run by foreign diplomats. Diplomats that assign leaders such as Libya and Iran’s Presidents in charge of Human Rights. Is that just plain stupid or is the view and stance of the UN? Someone knows how to reach me if you want to learn more. But people, you better beat this project and theirs a half a dozen more you need to beat. Actually you need to demand that 1. ICLEI partnership is disbanded, 2. The County dibands it, 3. Tell Trenton and the unconstitutional mandates that make the citizens of the town be forced into bring down the caliber of the neighbor hoods to take a hike. And as for that study…. I’ll tell you whats going to happen to the Village of Lincroft with its stupid 5 lane road running through it. It will be horrible. The people that worked there didn’t live here. They came and they went. This town doesn’t have enough parking space to do business never mind handle resident traffic if this development takes place. Someone mentioned the elementary school. Whats that going to cost to build new. Oh yea there go your taxes. I’ll be checking in to see if anyone wants to really kill this thing.
Robert I guess you really didn’t understand me. I am totally against ICLEI. I am very much aware of who they are and what their intentions are. So why would you say that I wear a Tin Foil hat? Unless of course I have just mis-understood you and you are in favor of such a devious group. I Also think I know who is against this. It’s thhe very group that was deviously lead by the nose, Lincroft Village Green. They unknowingly have helped ICLEI carry out their plan but they never knew that in the end ICLEI would turn against them. I have tried to notify them of what’s really taking place, but I never hear back from anyone.
Now if you still think I wear a Tin Foil Hat, explain and we’ll see if we can get it sorted out. But let me say this, with your remark of insults such as the one yoou threw at me, you better have your facts and proof to back them up or I’ll be handing you your hat. This is not a game and I ain’t in the mood. Keep in mind that I do not believe in, nor practice political correctness. That is a tool to keep one from expressing themselves with full honesty.
Hello? Yea that’s what I thought. It’s been 23 hours and 10 minutes since my last post and not a word back from anyone.
I would suggest to everyone that really wants to know the truth, go to the municipal website and read the ” Mater Plan”. The find the link that takes you to ICLEI and read a bit about them. Then find on the tab at top of site “Programs” then scroll down, you’ll find the link labeled “Agenda 21″. If you want to learn more about the UN AG-21 there is plenty to find on the Internet.
The Lincroft Village Green is upset and they have every right to be. But then, they and our elected officials should have done their homework before entering into any agreement with any organization. I would suggest that the people of Middletown start asking questions not only at the Mayor and the committee but, let it be known that our Freeholders have signed on this this craziness.
Sometimes the truth is scarier than fiction. Here’s the link to the ICLEI page where you can find the UN ties.
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=global-themes
If it isn’t click-able just copy and paste into your browser.
Oh just one last thing, do you realize that this website was founded from all of this? Don’t get me wrong, Green is good. But it must be left in the hands of the Local citizens of our towns. Not some foreign unelected body of people.