New Housing Development Discussed by Lacey Twp Planning Board

The topic of the township's land holdings, the need to update its master plan and the future of proposed developments has taken over township committee meetings.

An 84 unit townhouse development, Lacey Town Village, was approved as an age-restricted community in 2005 but has yet to be constructed. Now the project applicant, Lacey Township Builders Associates, is seeking to build the project without the age restriction. The proposed project would be located in the vicinity of Railroad Avenue and Laurel Boulevard

Lacey Township Mayor Gary Quinn is quoted as saying, "The town has always tried to stay away from non-age-restricted. We would prefer to have age-restricted because they are good ‘ratables', most of those developments take care of their own services, like Sea Breeze. It's a gated community so there is less of a burden on the township itself when it comes to the services and they generate very good tax dollars, senior citizens certainly spend a lot of money in town,"

The reason the builders are coming back to the Planning Board goes back to when Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill in July 2009 to allow developers to challenge towns over the age-restricted status of pending developments. This law applied to developments that were approved but had yet to begin construction or sales. Corzine issued this legislation with hopes of stimulating the building market and economic growth.

Under this legislation, if a builder came back to the municipality seeking to change to non-age-restrictive condominiums, construction plans would have to remain the same. The problems arise due to different infrastructure requirements (parking, schools, etc) for a non-age restrictive development which are more expensive for the city, than age restrictive homes.

The Lacey Township Planning Board will continue to hear arguments on the proposal, but some fear that the issue may have to be settled in court.

Click here for a complete list of all homes for sale in Lacey Township with photos and maps and search-able data base with the most up-to-date information.

Karl Hess, Lacey Township and Ocean County Real Estate