Jones Lang LaSalle


Developer offers plan to construct townhouses
Friday, February 17, 2006
BY PAULA SAHA
Star-Ledger Staff

K. Hovnanian, one of the state's largest developers, has filed plans with Rockaway Township to build 188 age-restricted townhouses along Green Pond Road on a piece of property that was originally approved for a shopping center.

The plan for Four Seasons at Rockaway would replace The Villages at Rockaway, an English-village style retail strip that was to be anchored by a supermarket and restaurant near the intersection of Sanders Road. The planning board approved that development in 2000.
But Richard Oller, the attorney representing the current property owners, said it took so long for the developer to get the appropriate water permits that the supermarket tenant lost interest. "We had to rethink the whole project," he said.

The 51-acre property was not on the market for long, Oller said. Hovnanian became the contract purchaser about a year ago.

"We need this kind of housing in northern New Jersey, for this age group," said Doug Fenichel, a spokesman for Hovnanian. Various regulatory restrictions are making it harder for builders to find land, he said.

"It is hard to put housing in northern New Jersey," Fenichel said. "This is going to give Rockaway Township a ratable that's less intense in many ways than the Villages at Rockaway was going to be, that will not impact the school system and that would help the town take care of some of its affordable housing obligations."

The development would be about a mile away from where the 5,000-member Christ Church wants to build a new facility with a sanctuary for more than 2,500 people and a K-5 school. That project, which is still before the planning board, has encountered considerable opposition, with opponents citing traffic and environmental impact.

Many neighbors of the proposed townhouse development said they had not heard about or seen the plans. Hovnanian would need approvals from the township's zoning board of adjustment because they would need a use variance to build. The property is in a zone where residential use is not permitted.

Phyllis Hantman, the township's planning and zoning secretary, said the plans are still being reviewed to make sure they are complete, and no hearings have been scheduled.

Former Councilman Max Rogers, whose property neighbors the proposed townhouse development, said it appeared that the housing would have less of an impact than the shopping center originally approved.

"We won't have as many cars going in and out as you would a shopping center," Rogers said.
According to Fenichel and the blueprints, the units would be "stacked," with first-floor garages and townhouses starting on the second floor. The blueprints also show spaces in each unit for "optional lifts" or elevators.

The townhouse development would have a 6,589-square-foot clubhouse, swimming pool and bocce and tennis courts, according to plans on file with the planning board. There would be a 105-space common parking lot and access to the site would come from Green Pond Road. A Sanders Road entrance would be used for emergency access, according to the plans.

K. Hovnanian has built Four Seasons communities across New Jersey, including complexes in Bridgewater, West Paterson and Warren Township. Another is under way in Parsippany, Fenichel said.


Paula Saha cover the Rockaways. She may be reached at psaha@star ledger.com or (973) 539-7910.