Save Rural Andover Borough - Rural days over for Andover?

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Rural days over for Andover?
Developer envisions 590 housing units
By Matt Manochio, Daily Record - January 8, 2006

ANDOVER -- An Atlanta-based developer is ready to move on a project that would more than double the number of homes in this rural borough, triple its population and boost the number of children in local schools.

Gatherings at Andover Borough would be built on 235 acres of farmland along Brighton Road and would include 590 housing units, along with 243,000 square feet of commercial and industrial space, according to a site plan application filed on Dec. 30 on behalf of Beazer Homes USA.

The borough approved the general development plan in 1989 after negotiating to whittle down the 1,500 homes that the tract's residential zoning designation would have allowed, borough officials said.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to happen," said resident Christine Whitworth.

"It's going to affect our taxes. The schools aren't going to be able to handle it. This is basically going to affect every aspect of our lives."

Whitworth, 39, a 10-year Brighton Avenue resident who lives next to the property, said she moved to the area because of its relative isolation and rural beauty.

The borough, approximately 1.8 square miles, now has roughly 660 people and 273 housing units, according to the 2000 Census. It is predominated by mostly older houses with a tiny downtown that is little more than a cluster of antique shops and is surrounded by rolling farmland. It has looked pretty much the same for decades.

The Beazer project would be built in phases over an undetermined number of years, and when completed would add 1,326 residents to the borough, according the application.

Beazer, which is under contract to buy the site, now is seeking approval of specific site plans for the project. The borough planning and zoning board is scheduled to meet next month to determine whether the site plan application is complete, and public hearings then will be scheduled.

The plan calls for:

• 30,000 square feet of retail space;

• 38,000 square feet of office space;

• 175,000 square feet of warehouse/industrial space;

• 10,000 square feet of public space;

• 80 single-family detached homes;

• 197 adult, age-restricted homes;

• 121 townhouses;

• 192 for-sale apartments.

Kevin Kelly, the Newton-based attorney representing Beazer, said the general development plan provides a 20-year approval time to allow for projects of this size to be built.

"First of all, Andover preferred this type of planned development to ... a routine major subdivision application because they thought there was a great deal more benefit to the borough," Kelly said.

Senior housing impact

He noted that the senior housing would reduce the impact of schoolchildren on the district.

Kelly also said Beazer would build a new sewage treatment system that also would serve a substantial number of existing houses in the borough.

There also would be a new municipal building on the site, and in essence the project would provide a new town center, Kelly said.

"It does have endorsement as a town center, in addition to the tax revenues, sewage treatment plant, municipal building, a water system, all of which will have borough tie-ins."

The development would be built in five phases, he said. The building schedule depends on the length of the approval process.

Borough clerk Doris Lewis said Andover's engineer has 45 days to review the application. If it's deemed incomplete at a scheduled Feb. 6 meeting of the planning and zoning boards, Beazer will be given an opportunity to correct whatever is missing. If it's complete, the borough likely would plan public hearing dates.

"It will impact everybody," Lewis said. "But it's a straightforward site plan application and the board will have to do its job. So we'll see."

Some residents are known to be gearing up to rally for saving the tiny borough's rural atmosphere, but they declined to be interviewed.

"I understand some of the people who object to this -- a lot of people who object to this -- simply weren't here when this was discussed back in those years," Kelly said.

"This isn't new ... Actually all of these issues were debated at great length when initial approval was obtained."

Site plan

Kelly said he expects much of 2006 to be dedicated to hearings for the site plan. But said many of the accessories to the project, such as the treatment plant, already have been approved.

"This is in many ways one of the final steps," Kelly said.

Some of the Main Street shop owners say they oppose the idea of the land being turned into homes and businesses.

"It's ridiculous. Farmland in New Jersey should be farms, not homes," said 12-year resident Chris Bannon, 20, who works at Andover Hardware.

The application does not include traffic estimates but an updated traffic study will be provided to the borough before the February meeting, Kelly said.

The borough stretch of Route 206 saw a daily average of 13,106 vehicles in 2003, according to traffic counts conducted by the state.

The developer would help pay for off-site improvements, including whatever road improvements are needed to accommodate traffic increases, Kelly said.

The Main Street strip, consisting of several quaint antique stores, restaurants and a convenience store, likely would be affected by traffic flow and competing businesses in the development.

Bill Longcor, a Green resident who owns Country and Stuff LLC on Main Street, said he worries about runoff from the project affecting where he lives.

"Being that I'm virtually down river, that type of building makes me concerned as far as runoff," he said.

In addition to the population increase, the development would bring in an estimated 377 private-sector jobs, according to the application.

If the development had operated in 2005, it would have generated additional municipal costs of $907,910 but brought in more than $1.4 million in taxes and other revenue, resulting in a borough revenue surplus of $518,980, according to the application.

The entire project is valued at just under $200 million.

Beazer already has built more than a dozen projects in the state, including The Woods at Indian Field townhouse development in Hardyston, the Fieldstone Ridge single-family home development in Wantage, and an estate home development called The Enclave in Riverdale, according to its Web site.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Beazer is one of the country's 10 largest single-family homebuilders. It has operations in 22 states and is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new development also would bring an estimated 112 students to the Andover Regional School District, a possibility that worries schools superintendent Jerry Clymer.

"We've come to find that the math is usually way off the mark," Clymer said of new developments in general.

'Absurdly low'

"I just think it's absurdly low. I think it's going to add quite a number of people."

The borough is part of a K-8 regional school district with Andover Township, and older students attend Newton High School. Such an influx of children to the K-8 district's two schools could mean expanding the buildings -- something that already has been done over the years, Clymer said.

"You can't just keep going to the taxpayer," he said. "That's the problem. Where do you get the money? ... I just think something like that at this point would be crippling."

The application estimates that taxes from the project would provide the school district with an annual surplus of close to $1.4 million to pay for the new students.

"Or, alternatively, to pay bond debt service costs for $21.5 million of new school facilities," according to the application.

Newton school Superintendent Mark B. Miller said the impact of the project on Newton High School would depend on whether there's a "bubble" of children of similar age.

"If it's spread out relatively evenly (over the elementary, middle and high school levels), then the impact won't be as great and we can get things done at the high school without a problem," Miller said.

"If it's at a young age, we can definitely prepare for that," he said. "If it's an older age, where we have only a year or two or three (to prepare), that definitely will have an impact on us."

Miller added that, with a student population of around 880, Newton High School already is at or above state-recommended capacity.

"Beazer Homes has created a proposed development plan that respects Andover Borough's heritage, ambience and rich history ... Our own team of professionals continues to work tirelessly to ensure our plan is sensitive to the existing Andover Borough community," a spokesperson for Beazer said in a statement.

"Our development will serve to strengthen the Andover Borough economy, bringing jobs and investment to the area.

"Our plan will also include the following components: construct recreation fields for the community that will be available for use by the entire borough, alleviate traffic by extending Limecrest Road, build a sewage treatment plant, and at the same time connect 200 existing homes that currently operate under failing septic systems, build a new water system," the statement said.

"Beazer looks forward to the opportunity to work together with the town and create a community everyone can take pride in for many years to come," the statement said.

Matt Manochio can be reached at (973) 989-0652 or mmanochi@gannett.com.

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The impact

Population: Number of Andover Borough residents would increase from 660 to 1,986

School enrollment: Number of Andover Regional District students would increase from 750 to 862

Housing units: Would increase from 273 to 863 in the borough

Land use: Would change 235 acres of farm pasture to mix of residential, retail, office and warehouse buildings