Jackson Township’s Zoning Board is scheduled to revisit two significant land-use applications Oct. 7, including an 18,600-square-foot professional office building at East Veterans Highway and Butterfly Road and a proposed 14-lot residential development along Toms River Road.
JACKSON, NJ — Two development applications that could change very different sections of Jackson Township will return to the Zoning Board of Adjustment when the board meets Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The Jackson Township Zoning Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 95 West Veterans Highway.
Both applications have been before the board previously and were carried from earlier hearings. One would replace two homes at a busy East Veterans Highway intersection with a two-story professional office building. The other seeks substantially greater residential density on a 25.6-acre property in Jackson’s FA-6 Forest Zone.
Butterfly Corner office project returns after September testimony
Butterfly Corner LLC is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval along with a use variance for an 18,600-square-foot, two-story professional office building on Lots 31 and 32 of Block 15401 at East Veterans Highway and Butterfly Road.
The property is in Jackson’s R-1 residential zone.
The application was previously carried from the July 15 meeting before testimony was heard Sept. 16. According to the Oct. 7 agenda, testimony has already been given and the hearing may continue without additional public notice.
The project would involve removing two existing homes and redeveloping the corner property for professional office use.
As Shore News Network previously reported, plans call for access through a right-in, right-out driveway along East Veterans Highway and a full-access driveway on Butterfly Road. Road widening, curbing, sidewalks and right-of-way improvements are also included in the plans.
The project drew opposition from some nearby residents during the Sept. 16 hearing, with several questioning the size and intensity of the proposed office development within a residential neighborhood. One resident told the board, “We came to live a suburb life … in a residential neighborhood, and the zoning is here to protect us, to protect that quality of life that we came to look for.”
Critics say the distance from the corner to the East Veterans Highway entrance is an unsafe distance. Others wonder with such an overstuffed application, where will snow be piled up on snow days as the current layout does not include enough area for large snowfall accumulations.
The applicant is represented by attorney Salvatore Alfieri, with Graham MacFarlane of Professional Design Services listed as project engineer.
Jackson has posted the project plans, architectural renderings, environmental impact materials, traffic study and professional review letters on its Zoning Board applicant document page.
Toms River Road developer seeks greater housing density
The second application involves GM Land Holdings LLC and a 25.6-acre tract along Toms River Road identified as Block 17201, Lot 2.
The land is located in Jackson’s FA-6 Forest Zone, where the zoning permits a maximum residential density of one single-family dwelling per six acres.
GM Land Holdings is seeking a D-5 density variance that would allow significantly more homes on the property.
Public notice documents for the application describe a proposal to create 14 single-family lots on the 25.6-acre site, where the existing zoning would permit approximately four homes.
That works out to a proposed density of about one dwelling per 1.83 acres, compared with the permitted one dwelling per six acres.
The application also seeks relief involving minimum lot width, frontage and depth requirements for several of the proposed lots.
Importantly, the matter before the Zoning Board is the density variance. The applicant would still have to submit a formal application for preliminary and final major subdivision approval if the zoning relief is granted.
Forest-zone development would require multiple variances
Jackson’s FA-6 designation is among the township’s lower-density residential zones.
According to the applicant’s public notice, mandatory clustering provisions apply when two or more lots are proposed in the zone.
The current concept calls for 14 lots, with additional variances sought for several parcels where proposed dimensions would fall below zoning standards.
Among the requested deviations are lot widths and frontage below the required 150 feet on several proposed lots, along with lot-depth relief.
Attorney Adam Pfeffer represents GM Land Holdings. Bill Stevens of Professional Design Services is listed as the engineer.
The application has also been carried several times, including from the July 15 and Sept. 16 Zoning Board meetings.
Public can review plans before Oct. 7 hearing
Documents for both applications are available through Jackson Township’s online zoning application repository.
Residents may also inspect application materials at the Planning and Zoning Office at 65 Don Connor Boulevard during township business hours.
The board generally stops taking additional testimony after 10:30 p.m. and reserves the right to carry applications if hearings cannot be completed that evening.
Formal action could be taken on either application during the Oct. 7 meeting, depending on the testimony presented and whether the board closes the respective hearings.