Fort Monmouth: Tinton Falls' last best hope
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS - Picture this: It is the year 2030 and the redevelopment of the Fort Monmouth site is completed. It is a vibrant mixed-use development with commercial, residential, entertainment and public uses in a traditional Main Street setting.

This is part of a vision statement on future land use described in the borough's master plan January 2007.

Joel Davies, chairman of the Planning Board, said Fort Monmouth is not really dealt with in the master plan because "we don't have it yet. But we want to let everybody know what we would like to see there."

According to the master plan, the Open Space Government Use (OSGU) designation represents a new land use category for the borough. The category includes the large publicly held parcels like Fort Monmouth, Naval Weapons Station Earle and the county reclamation center.

The intent of the OSGU designation is to allow the existing activities on the properties as a matter of right while not committing to a specific zone, assuming the properties become available for development.

The only property that may become available in the near future is the fort property, but given the statutory circumstances surrounding the property, the borough has limited ability to regulate the land use of the parcel, the plan states.

"However, given the fact that this piece of property represents the last best opportunity to do something special for the borough, it is appropriate that Tinton Falls advance its vision for the ultimate development of the site."

The plan acknowledges that the portion of the fort that is in Tinton Falls will most likely be put to a variety of uses, some public, some private. For instance, the county may have an interest in acquiring the state-of-the-art fire academy on the property.

"The central core of the Fort Monmouth site has great potential to serve as Tinton Falls' town center. It is possible to create a new 'Main Street' development running westerly from Hope Road and terminating at the municipal complex adjacent to the parkway. Linkages to the neighborhoods of Tinton Falls should be carefully considered."

There are two other areas that the OSGU designation takes into consideration in case they become available. One is the portion of Earle located in the borough.

According to the master plan, that is valuable property from an open space perspective because it includes an extensive habitat suitable for rare and endangered species and would make an excellent open space tract. The other is the reclamation center site.

According to the plan, the landfill will ultimately close and possibly be reused. That property could serve as an industrial park or a portion might be used for intensive active outdoor recreation.

Altogether, the three sites represent a very large portion of borough land. Earle is approximately 1,200 acres, Fort Monmouth is approximately 170 acres, and the reclamation center is 900 acres.