December 18, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Franklin Lakes Planners offer changes to golf course ordinance by Frank J. McMahon The Franklin Lakes Planning Board spent two nights reviewing the borough council’s proposed golf course rezoning ordinance, and has offered several recommenda- tions. The ordinance would establish a new zone to allow for the development of the High Mountain Golf Club on High Mountain Road. The council introduced the ordinance on Nov. 12 and an adoption vote was scheduled for the governing body’s Dec. 17 public meeting. The recommendations made by the planning board and the fact that the amendments to the bor- ough’s master plan have not yet been discussed may delay the adoption of the ordinance into 2014, at which time it would have to be reintroduced. At the Nov. 25 planning board meeting, the board’s major concern was the impact the 275 unit housing development would have on traffic. During the board’s second meeting, it was noted that the developer, Toll Bros Inc, of Horsham, Pennsylvania, has not yet done a traffic impact study, an environmental impact study, or a fiscal impact study. The board proceeded to make 10 recommendations that would change the proposed ordinance. One recommenda- tion is that the road and traffic would agree with the pro- posed revised verbiage in the ordinance; another is to talk to Toll Brothers about preparing traffic, environmental, and fiscal studies and a conceptual landscaping plan; the third is that generators would have to comply with borough standards; fourth is that only one sign be provided, unless the new proposed road connects to a county road; and fifth is that “Road B” be made slightly larger for off street park- ing for the affordable housing units that will be part of the overall development. The sixth recommendation is that the board prefers inte- grating the affordable housing units, relocating them to a fringe area, or leaving them as is with heavier landscaping; seventh is to reduce the height of the affordable housing units from 45 to 40 feet; eighth is to provide two paths for public access from the development to the borough’s nature preserve; ninth is to adopt the homeowners’ association covenants that are in the borough code; and tenth is that any request for waivers or variances should be approved by the homeowners’ association and incorporated into the borough’s ordinance. The discussion of these recommendations and other con- cerns of the board did not allow time for the board’s review of the master plan and a discussion was held about when that review could be done and whether it could be done before the ordinance is adopted by the borough council. Mayor Frank Bivona felt the changes recommended by the planning board would take time to incorporate into the ordinance, and the adoption may have to be put off until 2014. However, the board decided to try to hold another special meeting to review the changes that must be made to the master plan before the ordinance is adopted and to report to the council if the ordinance is consistent with the amended master plan. According to the tentative agreement with the devel- oper, a residential mix of 60 single-family detached homes on half-acre lots, 160 carriage homes with garages, and 55 affordable housing units without garages are planned for the 131-acre High Mountain Golf Course site. The plan to develop the site has been the subject of discussion between borough officials and the contract purchaser of the prop- erty since March of 2012, when the sale of the golf course was made public by the current owners. The council prepared a draft ordinance to rezone the property to conform to the tentative plan and that ordinance was referred to the planning board for its review and rec- ommendations before coming back to the governing body for a public hearing and consideration for adoption. If the ordinance is adopted, then the developer must return to the planning board for site plan approval and a public hearing that could extend over several meetings.