Dementia Care Project at Holmdel's Potter's Farm OK'd By Zoners

HOLMDEL, NJ — The township Zoning Board this week approved a plan for a dementia care facility at the former Potter's Farm site, but opponents say the matter is "far from over."

Preserve Potter's Farm yesterday said they are calling on the Township Committee to join them in a legal action to challenge the Zoning Board decision.

The facility would be located on an 18-acre property off Red Hill Road near the Garden State Parkway at Exit 114.

The facility was approved by a 5 to 2 vote on Oct. 19. This week, the developer and opponents summarized their positions for and against - and all members spoke in often eloquent detail about what went into their decision making.

The application by United Methodist Communities has been before the board for a year and includes many conditions that must be met as part of the approval.

But the preservation group's attorney, Kevin Asadi, said the matter is not over.

Preserve Potter's Farm is "exploring options and expects to file an action contesting the Zoning Board's decision," he said.

He said he is "calling on the Township Committee" to join in the action. He noted that the Township of Middletown also testified against the project and he hopes it will join the legal action.

He said the approval essentially rezones the entire site, a power that rests with the Township Committee alone - not with the board.

One of the nearby residents and a spokesperson for the Preserve Potters Farm group explained:

"In doing so, this board rezoned an entire zone as shown on the Holmdel Township Zone Map which was just revised and approved in 2020, usurping the authority of the Township Committee," Susan R. Fiorino said in a news release.

Asadi said the site is zoned for low-density housing. The proposal calls for a 105-unit innovative "village" concept to care for patients with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia or memory loss.

Asadi said he is not questioning the value of the proposal - just the location.

He said that "by approving this variance, the Holmdel Township Zoning Board of Adjustment ostensibly took legislation into its own hands by rezoning an entire zone district as shown on the Zone Map."

Asadi said that "Zoning board's powers are not unlimited and they are without the authority to eliminate an entire zone by variance under the Municipal Land Use Law.”

The preservation group is calling on the Township Committee to oppose "this flagrant abuse of power and oppose the Holmdel Zoning Board’s decision."

Asadi said he would like the committee members - and candidates running for committee - to express their positions on the proposed facility.

The Zoning Board vote was: Chairman Ralph Blumenthal, Jason Buerkle, Francine Campis, Gene Luciani and Jill Perez in favor. Valerie Avrin Marchiano and Irfan Lateef opposed the application. The approval required five positive votes, Blumenthal said.

Asadi explained that the variance was categorized as a "D variance," a higher level to be met, requiring the supermajority. The Zoning Board attorney will draft a formal resolution setting forth conditions for the board to adopt.

Based on the comments from the board members at the meeting, they all gave a lot of thought to an application they have examined for a year now.

The full meeting is viewable online.

Here is a sampling of the thoughts presented:

Chairman Ralph Blumenthal said he liked the concept of care that was being presented by United Methodist Communities, and that the building were "low rise." He said the site's 18 acres was not large enough to be viable for a future farming operation.

Member Jason Buerkle, who voted in favor of the project, said the developer met many conditions and that there would be oversight by the board to see that the conditions continued to be met. Among areas he discussed were landscaping, which would have to installed and maintained, for example.

A plan to collect displaced runoff would take it away from Palmer Avenue and was approved by county and state agencies, he said.

And he said he heard testimony from residents whose backyards abutted the site that they were not opposed to the variance - positions that he said carried the a lot of weight with him.

He also said that the project would put no added tax burden on the school system.

Those opposed to the project also described the decision as a difficult one.

Valerie Avrin Marchiano said she has served on the board for eight years this was perhaps the "hardest application" she has considered.

"We can't make everybody happy," she noted.

But she said she had concerns about the appearance of the facility and how it would impact the community, referring to stockade fencing.

She said the Route 34 area was also rural and could support a plan similar to this but be less intrusive into a residential area. She also said the township already has incorporated seven care facilities in its "overlay" area near Routes 35 and 34.

She also noted that she did not appreciate suggestions that, if the town didn't agree to the plan before it, that it might be faced with another developer with a less acceptable plan - and she said no one should make decisions based on fear.

She asked why the site was never considered for protection as open space by the township or Monmouth County.

According to the developers, the project draws inspiration from the model of care found at Hogewey Dementia Village in Amsterdam, according to a previous Patch article written when the project was first brought before the board.

The facility would have apartment-style houses, front porches, gardens to walk around and a grocery store.

For the preservation group, the Potter's Farm area is known as the bucolic "Gateway to Holmdel."

And their attorney Asadi reiterated to the board the group's concerns: strain on emergency services; water run-off, the changed appearance of the site, as well as the key to the legal action - questioning the basis of the decision.

The Preserve Potter's Farm group has a website with background about the project and information about support for the legal challenge.