Access to development draws close examination
Applicant proposes to build 8 homes on landlocked property
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Members of the public gathered at Town Hall on Oct. 3 for a Planning Board meeting on an application that proposes the construction of eight homes and a detention basin on a landlocked piece of property behind Holly Hill Estates, off Dutch Lane Road.

Morello Properties, represented by attorney Kenneth Pape, has owned the property for 35 years.

The parcel of land is 20.15 acres in an irregular shape that does not have physical frontage on any street. The property is about 400 feet behind Yellowbrook Road in Marlboro near the township's border with Colts Neck, according to testimony provided.

Plans for the proposed development of homes include building a street that would connect to Yellowbrook Road by cutting through an easement.

The majority of the lots in the proposed development are planned at 80,000 square feet (2 acres).

There is a variance requested for one lot concerning depth. A depth of 300 feet is required by township ordinances, but due to the border dividing Marlboro and Colts Neck one lot has a depth of 273 feet. In all other aspects that particular lot conforms to municipal regulations, according to the applicant.

Little vegetation on the site will be removed as it had been a piece of farmland. Most of the trees that would be removed would be at the easement where the entrance to the development is proposed, according to the applicant's planner and engineer.

Trees and shrubs would be planted around the detention basin. Proposed plantings include Norway spruces, dogwoods and honeysuckle. The applicant's representatives said they would make any changes the board might request concerning the vegetation plans.

All of the utilities in the proposed development would be underground.

Board Chairman Peter Bellone asked how the land had been a functioning farm if it was landlocked. The residents in the audience indicated their agreement with Bellone's question.

It was stated that the applicant had informed Pape there was an agreement among nearby farmers to move through each other's farms.

Members of the Planning Board posed questions concerning options other than creating a new street through Holly Hill Estates to the proposed homes. It was noted there is a small gravel road off School Road East. Board members asked if that could be used as a road into the proposed development.

The applicant's planner said the gravel road, if extended, would connect at a corner of the development property. There was also discussion over land that borders the gravel road.

Board Vice Chairman Gerald Bergh asked if an entrance to the proposed development could be created at School Road East if certain property on that road was purchased by the applicant.

The planner said that could be done.

Pape noted that the applicant had spent 18 months working on plans for the eight-home development and said all issues and options, including the possibility of acquiring property on School Road East, had been discussed.

Pape said his client has records, notes and minutes from Planning Board meetings in the 1970s concerning the landlocked property when the Morellos obtained ownership of the easement. The attorney said he would submit those documents prior to the next hearing on the matter.

Homeowners in Holly Hill Estates are objecting to the eight-home development on the Morello property, according to comments they made before and after the meeting.

One resident said their 30-year-old community would be disrupted if the eight new houses are built. The homeowners are concerned about construction vehicles that would use their street, Yellowbrook Road, as a thoroughfare to the development site.

Due to time restrictions, the board's professionals and the members of the public did not have a chance to speak on the application. The next hearing on the Morello Properties application will be held on Dec. 19.