Long-Dormant Colts Neck Townhouse Development Advances

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Westminster Management’s concept for new townhouses in Colts Neck.
Westminster Management’s concept for new townhouses in
Colts Neck.

COLTS NECK – A proposal to build 48 upscale townhomes on a 39.57-acre vacant tract along County Route 537 here is expected to receive final planning board approval on April 14. The project by Westminster Management, a division of Kushner Companies (also known as Colts Neck Building Associates, LLC), was originally approved in 2004 following a lengthy lawsuit and many contentious public meetings attended by overflow crowds opposing it.
The site is across from, and slightly west of, Colts Neck High School, opposite Five Points Park. The only other development of its kind in the township is The Grande, a single and multifamily development near Route 18 and the Westminster site that satisfied some of Colts Neck’s affordable housing obligation when it was constructed in the mid-1990s.
According to Colts Neck Township Planner Timothy Anfuso, it’s “basically the same development but everything has shrunk” to keep construction outside a 300 foot riparian buffer protecting a sensitive Category One stream designated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which feeds into the Swimming River. The development is expected to maintain its original composition of four courtyards with three buildings per courtyard and four units per building.
Anfuso said it was the imposition of the 300-foot buffer requirements by the DEP that contributed to halting the project, originally slated to break ground in 2004. Two detention basins and a retaining wall were constructed then, as well as a dirt ramp; now overgrown. Westminster’s revised application has come before the planning board twice so far, in January and March of this year. According to Township Administrator Robert Bowden, the township committee adopted two “A-1” consent resolutions on March 25 relating to the development’s proposed water treatment plant, confirming it complies with local ordinances.
At the site of a Colts Neck townhome development that began in 2004, the only visible evidence of early construction is an overgrown dirt ramp and a white trailer that has remained on the property since. The developer recently resurrected the project. Photo: Laura D. Kolnoski
At the site of a Colts Neck townhome development that began in 2004, the only visible evidence of early construction is an overgrown dirt ramp and a white trailer that has remained on the property since. The developer recently resurrected the project. Photo: Laura D. Kolnoski

Gordon Gemma, in-house counsel for Westminster, said the project was resurrected now, “because the marketplace has returned and there seems to be interest in this type of project which did not exist before.” He said the size of the units has been reduced from an average of 3,600 to an average 3,000 square feet. The townhouses remain high end, with estimated pricing in the “high $700,000s.” Pricing in 2004 was projected at $700,000 – $750,000.
Additional premium features and upgrades will be available. There are two different unit designs, with two or three bedrooms upstairs and a master bedroom downstairs. Each will have a two-car garage and some will have walkouts depending on location.
The project’s revised exterior design has also been approved by the Colts Neck Architectural Review Committee. That body’s chairwoman, Lillian Burry, was the deputy mayor originally charged with leading the township’s case against Westminster, which dragged on for four years. In May 2004, following a settlement, the Township Committee passed the final ordinances allowing the project to proceed.
At the time, the proposed development followed Mt. Laurel affordable housing litigation and was intended to provide 263 low and moderate income dwellings. Westminster charged that Colts Neck had not fulfilled its affordable housing quota obligations set by the Coalition on Affordable Housing (COAH). Through the settlement, the township prevailed
in reducing the development to 48 upscale townhomes aimed at empty nesters and retirees, so as not to impact the school system. Officials hoped the development would be attractive to locals looking to downsize but remain in Colts Neck.
“There are always developers searching municipalities looking for vulnerable spots they can cite for builder’s relief cases,” Burry, now a Monmouth County Freeholder and owner of Colts Neck Realty, said in December 2003. “We came out on the upper end; it could have been much worse.” Fast-forward to April 2, 2015 when Burry said, “Colts Neck was considered amongst the most vulnerable after Mt. Laurel. Now, the township needs this. It is alternative housing that we don’t really have available other than The Grande.”
Anfuso said the revised project must still obtain re-approval from the Monmouth County Planning Board for right-of-way on Rt. 537. Gemma said Westminster has already submitted its revised plans to the DEP, which will ensure the modifications are compliant with current DEP regulations that went into effect after the original approvals. Burry is one of three freeholder representatives on the county planning board.
“We anticipate having all we need to get going by the end of June,” Gemma said. Before construction can begin, the site will be cleaned up, a general contractor will be hired and the project will go out to bid. While it could take two years to complete the project, the construction timetable depends on pre-and ongoing sales. Gemma responded to local officials’ questions regarding whether Westminster would sell the development to another firm once all approvals are obtained.
“Right now, we are not in contract with anybody,” he said. “It’s our anticipation to go for ward. Of course, we would consider any reasonable offer. It will be a wonderful project that fits into Colts Neck.
 — By Laura D. Kolnoski