MILLVILLE–A residential developer proposing a large private community off Cedar Street and oppositethe airport is free to draw up detailed plans after getting city officials to agree that thegeneral design concept could work there.
After a four-hour hearing Thursday night, the Zoning Board voted 6-1 to approve variances for builder Frank Carpino. The action, though significant, is not clearance to actually start work on Liberty Village III.
Carpino must return to the board with a complete site plan, inclusive of studies on traffic and environmental impacts that the proposed 332 homes could have. The builder expects to do that in four to six months.
“I’m willing to give … them a chance to create a site plan that we can look at,” board Chairman John Worthington said before voting. “I’m certainly not in favor of 332 houses there. But I might be in favor of something smaller than that or something different there that works into the site plan.”
The dissenting vote came from Timothy Carty, who argued that the proposed houses properly should be identified as mobile homes or trailer homes. He also questioned whether the community would be as self-reliant as depicted and that the lack of age restrictions on ownership was problematic.
The community is intended to replicate operations at the first Liberty Village, established about 17 years ago on South Second Street. A monthly homeowner fee pays for water and sewer services, trash removal, landscaping, and snow removal for residents. That system essentially limits municipal interaction, and expenses, to emergency services.
“These are not affordable homes,” Carty said. “I don’t care how you want to spin it. … They’re paying for a lot rent and then whatever their mortgage is. As far as other things, I can’t vote in favor of this due to the fact that there’s no site plans.”
What would the housing community include?
Liberty Village III would consist of manufactured, single-family houses in various configurations. A 10-year to 12-year buildout period is expected. It would be a “land lease” community,” meaning the developer retains ownership of the land and residents own just their homes.
Zoning for that area of southwestern Millville stresses agricultural and industrial uses. The site itself, about 94 acres, straddles two zones: Agricultural Conservation and airport industry.
Liberty Village III would be the second major residential community in that area. The first, Four Seasons, is close by off Buckshutem Road.
Four Seasons was approved for hundreds more homes than Liberty Village III but construction is incomplete. Four Seasons also is an age-restricted community, while the new project would not be.
Carpino, who lives in Millville,had met with residents prior to Thursday’s hearing to quell concerns about impacts on traffic and the nature of the neighborhood. But many residents turned out in opposition Thursday night.
What concerns do residents have?
Cedar Street resident Kirk Hewitt told the board it should maintain the agricultural and industrial zoning preferences. He also said the project would worsen the area already serious flooding problems.
“It removes 93 acres of forest,” Hewitt said. “It covers it with 93 acres of asphalt, concrete.”
However, an expert testifying for Carpino said the Land Use Element of the city’s Master Plan actually allows “medium density” housing in the Agriculture Conservation zone. That city made that policy decision in 2017 but the zoning code was not updated, professional planner J. Creigh Rahenkamp said.
“As you’ve heard from others, the farmland here isn’t great,” Rahenkamp said. ”It’s mostly wooded. There are developments that have occurred in this area. So, there’s a foundation for the Planning Board having made those determinations in the Land Use Element.”
James Reeves, a Packard Drive resident and former board member, said traffic impacts need careful study given how bad travel is now. “You can’t go in that stretch from Dunkin Donuts down to the Wawa and not have the traffic jam most of the day,” he said.
Reeves said the board at one time approved building houses in the area, with a 1-acre per home density rule. The houses were never built, he said.
“If this is built, they want to make sure that the retention pond is deep enough for the water to drain out into the sandy soil,” Reeves said.
Kimberly Berry, a Cedar Road resident, said vehicle traffic already is a problem and does not want it to worsen.
“My mailbox has been taken out I don’t know how many times because of people flying by cars that are trying to make turns into roads or driveways,” Berry said. “You know? And it’s just going to increase the risk to public safety out there.”
Other residents react positively
Longtime residents of Liberty Village on South Second Street testified about their community and Carpino, who sold that development in 2016.
Carol Dickson, a 13-year owner in Liberty Village, said Carpino accurately described for the board the process to become an owner and what the quality of life was like.
“The one thing I really saw with Frank was Frank was very professional and straightforward,” Dickson said. “And I really liked him because, when you talk to him, there’s no bs. OK? So, he was always there for us.”
Dickson recalled the developer once arranging transportation for two residents with urgent doctor appointments. A snowstorm had made travel difficult, she said.
“He went and got his guys to get them both in the car, took them to the doctors,” she said. “Went back, picked them up and brought them home. Now, how many developers do that?”
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Another resident, Regina Casey, was an original buyer at Liberty Village I. She took issue with descriptions of the homes as “trailers.”
“Liberty Village after 17 years is a beautiful place,” Casey said. “You drive through and it’s kept meticulously. And it’s lovely. And it’s turned into, like, a family. Most of the people there have not left. They’re the original people.”
What would the price range be?
A real estate agent testifying for Carpino said Millville lacks an inventory of new homes in this project’s proposed price range, $114,000 to $160,000.
“As far as I could see right now, there isn’t any new construction in Millville other than maybe a spot builder here and there,” Don Sullivan said.
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Sullivan said he knows of only nine homes in Millville in the $114,000 to $160,000 price range.
“All of them are in Center City and none of them are newer than 1967,” he said. “So, you’ve got people going into, you know, an older home, (and) have to put a lot of money into it. And you know, they may not have that.”
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer forThe Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
Have a tip? Reach out at (856) 563-5252 or jsmith@thedailyjournal.com or follow me on Twitter, @jpsmith-dj. Help support local journalism with a subscription.
