Adjoining Projects Could Add 1,338 Residential Units

Both proposals were spelled out in detail in a recent board meeting. In the larger of the two proposals, K. Hovnanian Enterprises of Red Bank, NJ offered its proposal for just under 800 rental units, 100 of them reserved for low-income families, on 390 acres. The gated community would be called Four Seasons at Manalapan, the next in a series of "Four Seasons" communities being developed by Hovnanian. In New Jersey, the others are in Cranbury, Jackson Twp. and Woolwich Twp.

The other proposal came from East Village Associates, which is affiliated with Westminster Communities, whose 145-acre community would be made up of 300 town houses (26 of them low-income units) and 220 single-family houses. The projects would straddle Route 33 on what is currently farmland.

The two proposals actually trace back to the 1980s when Hovnanian and Westminster teamed up to offer a proposal for as many as 2,700 residences on more than 500 acres. That earlier proposal went through a long series of court cases and finally emerged about a year ago in the form of a general site plan calling for a maximum of just over 1,400 units.

With the now-separate proposals, a number of issues remain, including traffic counts and a proposal by Hovnanian and East Village to build a connector road. The next public hearing is slated for late June, with traffic-related issues expected to take center stage. Other issues include wetlands and a forest tract, both of which are expected to be retained as open space.

As far as the communities themselves, "we will try to create a lifestyle," Hovnanian exec Bruce Grosse told recent planning board meeting attendees. He pointed out that his company's Four Seasons project would include a 28,000-sf clubhouse with swimming pool, tennis courts and other recreational amenities. East Village's proposal likewise calls for a clubhouse facility.