Hillsborough approves 188 homes behind Promenade shopping center
HILLSBOROUGH – The township Planning Board has unanimously approved a proposal to build up to 188 single-family homes on the former Glen-Gery brickworks and quarry property between Hamilton and Falcon roads behind the Hillsborough Promenade shopping center.
However, construction cannot begin until the township approves a site plan by the developers, M&M Realty Partners, a joint venture of JSM at Hillsborough Glen-Gery and JMP at Hillsborough, to build 88 affordable units on the Sherman tract off Camplain Road on the Manville border.
The original proposal called for 198 homes, but the state Department of Environmental Protection has not given permits for the other 10 units that are outside the sewer service area.
The number of units may go up or down depending on the DEP approvals, Board Attorney Eric Bernstein said.
If the DEP grants permits for the 10 homes, then the developer has to return to the Planning Board for approval for those homes, Bernstein said.
The development on the 209-acre tract would be on the west side of the CSX railroad. The north end of the development would be behind the Hillsborough Promenade shopping center. In plans submitted to the township, the proposed development would be divided into three neighborhoods – two off Falcon Road and one off Hamilton Road.
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Mayor Shawn Lipani, who also sits on the Planning Board, said originally the developer wanted to build hundreds of multifamily units on the property as part of the township's affordable housing litigation, but the township was able to negotiate this project.
Deputy Mayor Frank DelCore, who is also a Planning Board member, said the conditions placed on the approval and the lengthy board hearings have made the project "a little better than what it was when it started."
DelCore repeated his belief that "home rule has essentially been removed through the affordable housing process."
"We're baked in with certain projects," DelCore said, adding the M&M proposal is part of the affordable housing plan "that needs to move forward."
M&M had filed as an intervenor in the township's affordable housing litigation which allowed developers to build a certain amount of market-rate housing in exchange for constructing affordable units.
The agreement allowed M&M to build 380 market-rate homes on the Glen-Gery property, but this application is only the first phase of the project. No plans have been submitted for the remaining units on the eastern side of the property that are not in a sewer service area.
According to the developer's community impact statement, when completed the development would have an assessed value of $143.6 million and generate $3.38 million in property taxes. That is based on an anticipated market value of each home to be $750,000.
The development could generate 619 to 736 new residents, with 107 to 167 public-school students, according to the community impact statement.
Of the $3.38 million in new property taxes, according to the community impact statement, the school district would receive approximately $2.8 million while the cost of educating the new students would range from $1.7 million to $2.7 million.
Property taxes for municipal use would total an estimated $500,000 while the cost of providing municipal services, based on $443 per person, would be from $268,000 to $318,000, the community impact statement said.
The Planning Board earlier this year approved Toll Brothers' plan to build 174 homes on half of Royce Brook Golf, less than 2 miles to the east also on Hamilton Road.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Hillsborough OKs 188 homes behind Promenade shopping center
