MIDDLETOWN – Calico the Clown could soon have company, now that development of the Shoppes at Middletown commercial tract has finally cleared the planning board.
Despite public pushback about traffic congestion along Kings Highway East and West and other nearby roadways, as well as environmental concerns, the 342,000-square-foot shopping complex project won unanimous approval by the board. It will include a Wegmans grocery store and a CMX dine-in movie theater. Current tenants Circus Liquors and Pet Supplies Plus have signed leases.
Still to be approved by the planning board is a residential tract proposed by Toll Brothers called Middletown Walk. The plan includes 280 luxury townhomes and 70 affordable housing units of various sizes in three separate apartment buildings.
The residential work will sit on acreage behind the shopping center on a plot of land bordered by Kings Highway East and Kanes Lane to the north and south, and a Carriage Lane development and Route 35 to the east and west.
According to William O. George, superintendent of Middletown Township public schools, Village 35 is one of 10 significant development proposals the district began planning for in 2016. In June of that year, the district published a strategic planning document projecting enrollment totals through the 2020-21 school year.
“All new construction that goes on could potentially result in new students. It’s something we need to plan for and a demographic study like this should always be incorporated into that plan,” George said.
Included in the list are large-scale developments at Four Ponds at Lincroft, a project on 31 acres at Taylor Lane, another Toll Brothers proposal for Bamm Hollow Country Club, and the Village 35 residential tract, among other smaller ventures.
The report projects that once all 10 developments are complete there will be 1,130 total additional units with the potential for about 230 kindergarten through sixth-grade students, 70 students in grades seven to nine and another 70 in grades 10-12.
George said additional students won’t impact the school system’s overall capacity, due to indications of declining enrollment. Student totals fell from 10,387 students in 2009-10 to 9,719 students in 2015-16.
Districting will require careful planning by the administration, he said.
“It’s really about the impact these new students can have on any one school. We have to see what kind of room is available at the schools these developments are districted for. Class sizes are very important and we’ve already started that planning process,” George said.
Mary Ellen Walker, assistant superintendent for student activities, said residents of the proposed Village 35 development would currently be districted for Middletown Village Elementary School on Kings Highway West, but should large class sizes become a concern, redistricting could occur to nearby schools with more space.
George declined comment on potential traffic congestion along nearby school routes.
But Phyllis Ronek, speaking on behalf of the resident opposition group Stop Village 35, said the shopping center and housing development could possibly “double or triple traffic counts” on roadways near the site, including in the township’s historic district along Kings Highway West.
“The Middletown Village Historic District on Kings Highway will become a giant parking lot and our township doesn’t care if we cannot get out of our side streets, need sidewalks, have major truck traffic, are concerned for our safety or need to walk to the train station. If they do care, there is not much they can or plan to do about it,” she said in a statement.
A traffic study commissioned by the planning board and presented at its June 5 meeting confirmed that developing the Shoppes at Middletown and Middletown Walk, in conjunction with other development in the area – including the new Town Hall project with two commercial pad sites – would further intensify traffic backups on Route 35 between Kings Highway East and West.
The opposition group also balked at potential backups at the Twin Brooks Road jug handle, which is the only way to enter the shopping center from Route 35 South. No proposed left-hand turning lanes on Route 35 or additional southbound jug handles have been presented yet.
The Aug. 7 meeting of the planning board is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and is expected to include testimony about Middletown Walk.
