Fort plan calls for town center for Tinton Falls
BY JENNA O'DONNELL Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS

Panel holds first of four presentations

on fort reuse plan

TINTON FALLS - The final reuse draft plan for Fort Monmouth was presented to borough residents and officials in the first of four public hearings to take place before the plan's submission.

Representatives from the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority and their master planner, the San Francisco-based EDAW Inc., were on hand to go over the plan and answer questions during the July 21 hearing." There's a tremendous amount of material," said EDAW Vice President Tim Delorm prior to going over the final draft plan.

The key themes, according to Delorm, were to focus on sustainability and renewable energy such as wind, solar, methane and geothermal research and development.

"It's all part of one sustainable focus," he said.

Delorm described the overall plan for the 1,127-acre fort and its host towns, which also include Oceanport and Eatontown, before he more specifically detailed the plan as it relates to Tinton Falls.

The borough would see an addition of 288 residential units on former fort property, the reuse and enhancement of the Myer Center with additional office and research space, and the inclusion of a mixed-use town center with a public green and library on property across from the current municipal complex.

During the public portion that followed, local and area residents and officials weighed in on the plan.

Mayor Peter Maclearie explained that he had been involved in starting the first reuse committee three years ago, altering the borough's master plan.

"We looked at what was there and said we don't want to take any of those jobs away," Maclearie said, explaining that borough officials were in favor of keeping the existing office space for reuse. "We also wanted to create a destination. There is no town center in Tinton Falls. We said that we can use this as the heart of the community."

Michael Laffey, a member of the Tinton Falls Board of Education, was primarily concerned with the impact of housing on school-age children.

"Our schools are at near-capacity," he said.

Laffey added that the plan, which calculates 78 students, would impact the school system.

"We believe that this will result in increased class sizes and increased costs," he said. "The additional children and class sizes will have negative impacts on students."

Jonathan Cohen, a member of the Monmouth Regional High School Board of Education, said that he thought his school would be able to accommodate the additional numbers.

County and borough residents addressed concerns ranging from fiscal impacts to affordable housing to the improvements of surrounding roadways and infrastructure, which Delorm explained will be part of a necessary phasing of the plan.

Delorm said several roads, including Hope Road and Tinton Avenue, would have to be widened, while intersections would have to be improved, all of which was subject to a far more detailed traffic study that would be required at the implementation phase of the plan.

He said that discussions had taken place between transit and local authorities and officials.

"We discussed on a large scale what are the major improvements that would be required to support the level of development that is proposed," Delorm said. "Who would pay for those is a conversation that is ongoing and needs to continue to be discussed, but in all likelihood, an improvement that is warranted by a development of the fort would largely be borne by fair-share costs associated or attributed to the developer himself."

Some regional improvements that need to be made regardless of the fort plan are at Hope Road and Route 36, according to Delorm.

"All these things would not happen at once," he said. "They would happen as the project is phased in."

Joan Lorwey, a member of the board of directors for the Monmouth County Association of Realtors, was concerned with the implementation of the plan in the present state of the economy.

"I have this terrible fear that we may not be in a position in the economic environment to attract the kind of industry that we need to support all of these monumental plans," she said.

Lorwey asked if the planners had thought of a backup plan in the event that the current plan fails to attract interested developers.

Delorm responded that the projected levels of development are based on a market assessment that was done by Economic Research Analysts (ERA) which shows that over 20 years, these numbers for development are achievable.

"Likely, they may start slowly, but we're anticipating something like 150 to 200 units per year that could be absorbed into this marketplace," Delorm said.H

e added that EDAW was working closely with the state to attract a strong business development program to the area after the fort's planned closure in September 2011.

"As it relates to jobs, we think that providing for affordable workforce housing is one of the key selection criteria that corporations look for when they're trying to relocate their business," he said.

Aaron Smith, an analyst with ERA, said that they had taken current conditions under consideration in their market analysis.

"We try to account for the ups and downs of the business cycle," he said. "The plan has been built in such a way that will accommodate that."

J.J. Mistretta, Freehold, was concerned about environmental constraints and affordable housing on the fort.

"I urge you to bear in favor of affordable housing," Mistretta said. "We need to get our children out of our houses and out of our basements. They need to be able to rent and move where they work. We really need to work on this. If we make this happen, we can be an example to the country; if we fail, it will be a disaster."

Borough Attorney Jim Berube listed some of the concerns for Tinton Falls as infrastructure, capacity and Council on Affordable Housing obligation, but praised members of FMERPA and EDAW on their plan.

"You've done a tremendous job with a monumental task," he said. "The plan that you've produced in a short amount of time is commendable. We appreciate the diligence and the willingness to consider our regional plan."

FMERPA Deputy Director Rick Harrison assured Berube that the authority continued to work with COAH, having recently met with the state council.

"We're on it," Harrison said. "State advisers from the governor's office are going to help us proffer another meeting to include the mayors."

Borough Council President Brendan Tobin was concerned with losing many of the borough's volunteers who could no longer afford to live in town.

"We need someone to come in and build housing that is responsible and reasonable and reasonably priced," Tobin said. "We have to be able to afford to keep the people who protect this town."

The final plan makes the rounds in public hearings in Oceanport this week and Eatontown on July 29 before a fourth public hearing on the reuse plan as well as the homeless assistance submission that will take place Aug. 15 at Tinton Falls.

The plan is due to be submitted to the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Sept. 8.

For more information about FMERPA or to view the final draft plan, visit www.state.nj.us/fmerpa.