Manalapan OKs concept for Village development

MANALAPAN — The Village at Manalapan commercial center has received its initial go-ahead from the Manalapan Planning Board.

At its Dec. 10 meeting the board voted 9-1 to approve the General Development Plan (GDP) submitted by Village at Manalapan Properties LLC.

Voting yes on the motion were board members Anthony Musich, Richard Cohen, Jack McNaboe, Herb Barrack, Richard Hogan, Richard Aaronson, Stephen Pine, Gerard Coscia and Mayor Richard Klauber, who sits on the board. the motion to approve the GDP.

Township Committeewoman Michelle Roth, who sits on the board, was absent from the meeting.

The GDP is an overview of the way in which the applicant is planning to develop a 135-acre parcel at Route 33 and Millhurst Road, Manalapan.

Each phase of development at The Village will be required to come before the Planning Board for approval.

Representatives of the developer have indicated that it may take as long as 20 years to fully develop the site.

The Village at Manalapan is approved for 500,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and a 10,000-square-foot child care center.

There will not be any residential units in The Village at Manalapan.

Attorney Kenneth Pape, who represents the applicant, said plans call for a 7,500- square-foot bank, 13,000 square feet of office use, 30,000 square feet of restaurant use, 10,000 square feet for the child care center and 400,000 square feet of retail space. He said 11 percent of the space will be for non-retail uses.

The project is also planned to include a solar field which would provide much of the electricity for the uses on the site, he said. Pape has said the solar field will be the first item for which the applicant will seek site plan approval.

The owner of the property will deed 20 acres of environmentally constrained land and 30 acres of developable land

to Manalapan without any request

for compensation or consideration, Pape previously told the board.

Road improvements are planned for Millhurst Road. Two traffic lights will be added on Millhurst Road — one at Whitlock Court and one at Canonero Drive, according to Pape.

The traffic impact of The Village on the surrounding area will be discussed as each site plan is presented to the Planning Board, according to previous testimony.

The developer will seek state approval to create an entrance to The Village on Route 33, midway between Millhurst Road and Pegasus Drive (the entrance to the Four Seasons adult community).

The township and Monmouth County are supporting the applicant's attempt to secure the Route 33 access, which will lead from the state highway to a loop road called Main Street, which will run around The Village site and connect to Millhurst Road at the point where Canonero Drive now meets Millhurst Road, according to previous testimony.