New Plans for McConnell Tract

876
By Chris Rotolo |
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – New development plans have emerged for the McConnell Tract, a 7-acre parcel along the Sandy Hook Bay that is eyed for a batch of single-family luxury housing units by Denholtz Custom Homes.
Initial concept plans were unveiled during a Sept. 27 meeting of the Planning Board in which the applicant sought 11 variances for 11 of 21 proposed homes on the site. The applicant also proposed setting aside approximately 1.5 acres for open public green space with a rebuilt bulkhead and 100-foot long boardwalk.
Subsequent meetings have been cancelled while the applicant reworks its initial concept and, though no future hearing date has been set, new development plans have emerged with 16 homes, a new orientation of the roadway from a horseshoe shape to cul-de-sac and significantly less open public green space.
Benson Chiles of the citizen opposition group, Neighbors for Waterfront Preservation, feels this redesign is grounds for an entirely new application process.
“The plans are fundamentally different, and any time an application is fundamentally changed it makes sense to re-notice everyone within 200 feet of the project,” Chiles said.

This article was first published in the Nov. 15-21, 2018 print edition of The Two River Times.