A map of the land use plan that the city voted in favor of at their Monday meeting. — The city planning board voted Monday evening in favor of the plan by the city’s planning consultant on the change in deveolpment policy for land adjacent to Union Lake.
The plan calls for 210 acres preserved as public open space and recreation areas, 180 acres of residential use, additional athletic fields for Lakeside Middle School, an office park and historic preservations.
A public hearing last month lasted for hours when the Wawa corportation, who owns the 395 acre tract, expressed opposition to the city’s own plan, proposing they wanted to only leave 120 acres near Union Lake as open space, but did not specify whether it was for public useage.
The board voted unanimously with one abstention from the mayor.
“The plan still stays with the planning board,” said Richard Daniels, attornery for planning board. “Next, the board will adopt a resolution to incorporate the consultant’s plan into the master plan.”
The zoning ordinance will be reviewed by the planning board at its next meeting on May 12.
After further review, the ordinance will pass to the city commission. Daniels said he hopes it will go to the commission sometime this year.
The planning of this area has been going back and forth from developer to the city and its residents since 2004.
Planning began when developer Matzel and Mumford owned the land and wanted to place 1,200 housing units on the 395 acres.
The developer’s plan did not meet favorably from the board or the residents of the city, nor did plans for 700 housing unit when Matzel and Mumford tried a second time.
Their third plan called for 532 houses on the area between Union Lake and routes 49/55 interchange.
The plan was again rejected, leading to Matzel and Mumford exiting the project.
Next, Wawa stepped in and planned for more development, but conservationists, city residents, and the planning board were not satisfied with the plan, leading the city to develop its own plan for the land.
Their Monday vote comes as a victory for the South Jersey Bayshore Coalition, including the American Littoral Society which has been advocating for the land to be preserved.
Though the city plan only allotted 210 of the 395 acres to be preserved, the Littoral Society felt that the plan was working in tandem with protecting the environment.
“In my opionin, there couldn’t be a better spot in Cumberland County for a state park,” said Matt Blake of the American Littoral Society on the area that could be preserved along Union Lake.
“In the next step, we’ll see ordinances that will update and ammend the master plan that the city has given its blessing to.”
For Wawa, Blake says he hope they will be encouraged to apply for the state Green Acres program, after seeing that the city has endorsed to preserve over 200 acres of shore land on Union Lake.
“The state is about to make money available for preservation of open space,” Blake said. “This is good timing for Wawa to submit an application. Groups like the Littoral Society would be more than willing to bring money and leverage to the table.”
The Green Acres program money Blake is referring to comes from a ballot question in 2009 that authorized a $242 million bond to be allocated for Green Acres recommended projects approved by the NJ Garden State Preservation Trust.
The ballot question was passed statewide and passed in Cumberland County and the first half of that bond was signed off last week, according to a release from the State Treasury.