Determination of Need Report Timber Ridgeblock
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DETERMINATION OF NEED REPORT TIMBER RIDGE BLOCK 1223, LOTS 5, 6 & 8 BLOCK 1305, LOT 7 REDEVELOPMENT AREA TOWNSHIP OF EGG HARBOR ATLANTIC COUNTY Prepared for: Township of Egg Harbor 3515 Bargaintown Road Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey 08234 As recommended by the Planning Board on _______ by Resolution #_______; Adopted by the Governing Body on ___________ by Resolution #_______. February 2021 PA No. 2103.81 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 2 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................... 4 STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................... 4 FINDINGS .......................................................................................................................... 7 Land Use/Property Conditions ................................................................................ 7 Vacant Land ............................................................................................................ 9 Property Ownership/Liens .................................................................................... 10 Redevelopment Findings ...................................................................................... 10 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 12 APPENDIX I - Governing Body Resolution APPENDIX II - Table of Properties EXHIBIT A - Parcel Map EXHIBIT B - Aerial Map (2017) EXHIBIT C - Zoning Map EXHIBIT D - Site Photographs ______________________________________________________________________________________ Township of Egg Harbor Determination of Need Report – Timber Ridge Redevelopment Area Page 1 February 2021 INTRODUCTION Egg Harbor Township is located on the Great Egg Harbor Bay at the southern tip of Atlantic County, New Jersey. The Township has a total area of 75.47 square miles with 67.05 square miles of land area and 8.43 square miles of water. Per the 2010 United States Census, the Township’s population was 43,323, and as of 2019, the population is estimated to have decreased slightly to 42,249. The Township is bordered by the Great Egg Harbor Bay to the south, Hamilton Township to the west, Galloway Township and the City of Absecon to the north and Absecon Island to the east. Portions of the Township, notably the West Atlantic City, Anchorage Poynte and Seaview Harbor neighborhoods, are not contiguous to the main body of the municipality, having been separated from the mainland portion of the Township as municipalities were formed, largely since the boroughitis phenomenon in the 1890s. The Township is one of 56 South Jersey municipalities that are included within the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, a protected natural area of unique ecology covering 1,100,000 acres, which has been classified as a United States Biosphere Reserve and established by Congress in 1978 as the nation’s first National Reserve. The Township is designated a Pinelands Regional Growth Area with the Pinelands Area located weste of the Garden State Parkway and north of Ocean Heights Avenue. The Township of Egg Harbor recognizes the importance of improving its commercial areas and has taken steps to effectuate the rehabilitation and development of the community. On February 3, 2021, the Egg Harbor Township Committee by Resolution No. 116 of 2021 directed the Planning Board to investigate Lots 5, 6 & 8 in Block 1223 and Lot 7 in Block 1305 (the “Study Area”) to determine if they meet the statutory criteria to be declared an Area in Need of Redevelopment (non-Condemnation) in accordance with the New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 et seq. (LRHL). The primary purpose for this effort is to help strengthen the Township’s economic base by improving the conditions and redevelopment opportunities in the Study Area. More specifically, the Township recognizes the importance of preserving its natural resources within the community and the surrounding area. Designating the Study Area as an Area in Need of Redevelopment would also facilitate the use of additional powers permitted under the LRHL to aid redevelopment. As provided for in the LRHL, the Planning Board must gather and evaluate existing conditions within the Study Area in order to conclude if such conditions warrant a finding that the Study Area is in need of redevelopment. Such a designation permits the municipality to undertake a number of activities to help revitalize and redevelop the Study Area, activities that would not be possible otherwise. These include, but are not ______________________________________________________________________________________ Township of Egg Harbor Determination of Need Report – Timber Ridge Redevelopment Area Page 2 February 2021 limited to, the preparation of a redevelopment plan; the issuance of bonds for redevelopment projects; acquisition of buildings and land (through condemnation within condemnation redevelopment areas); leasing or selling property without public bidding: entering contracts with private entities; the use of various tax abatement programs and other actions in conjunction with an adopted redevelopment plan. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Township of Egg Harbor Determination of Need Report – Timber Ridge Redevelopment Area Page 3 February 2021 STUDY AREA The Study Area includes three tax parcels, Lots 5, 6 and 8 in Block 1223, located in the Township’s HB Highway Business zoning district and one parcel, Lot 7 in Block 1305, located in the RG-4 Residential zoning district. The parcels in Block 1223 are bounded by the Black Horse Pike, Spruce Avenue and Fork Road. A total of 4 tax lots, with a total area of 48.45 acres, comprise the Study Area. To the east of the Study Area, there are existing commercial businesses, including Bob’s Garden Center. The lots to the west of the Study Area along the Black Horse Pike are a mix of commercial businesses and vacant lots. To the north of the Study Area, there are residentially developed lots and the Davenport School and the Atlantic City Expressway. The lots to the south of the Study Area are commercially developed lots along the Black Horse Pike. The complete Study Area is depicted on the Map in Exhibit A and each lot is identified in Table 1 below. Table 1 - Study Area Lot Area Zoning Block Lot Street Address Owner Description (acres) District 1223 5 6606 Black Horse Pike Leigh at EHT, LLC 18.71 HB Vacant 1223 6 6602 Black Horse Pike Leigh at EHT, LLC 17.33 HB Vacant 1223 8 2508 Spruce Avenue Leigh at EHT, LLC 5.74 HB Vacant 1305 7 2512 Spruce Avenue Leigh at EHT, LLC 6.67 RG-4 Vacant STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS The first part of this document consists of the "Determination of Need" report, a gathering and evaluation of existing conditions in the Study Area in order to determine whether such conditions warrant a finding by the Planning Board that the Study Area meets the statutory criteria to be designated as an area in need of redevelopment under the statutory requirements set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5.a-h. These standards have been clarified by the courts and changed in part through legislative action over the years. In 2013, the Legislature amended the LRHL to allow for either a “condemnation” or a “non-condemnation” Redevelopment Area Designation. These amendments also changed the statutory criteria under N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5.e further clarifying the intent and findings necessary to meet this specific criterion. In 2019, the LRHL was again amended to expand the criteria under N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5.b., as set forth below. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Township of Egg Harbor Determination of Need Report – Timber Ridge Redevelopment Area Page 4 February 2021 In order to satisfy the criteria to declare an area in need of redevelopment, one or more of the following conditions listed in the Statute must be found to exist: a. The generality of buildings are substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated, or obsolescent, or possess any of such characteristics, or are so lacking in light, air, or space, as to be conducive to unwholesome living or working conditions. b. The discontinuance of the use of a building or buildings previously used for commercial, retail, shopping malls or plazas, office parks, manufacturing, or industrial purposes; the abandonment of such building or buildings; significant vacancies of such building or buildings for at least two consecutive years; or the same being allowed to fall into so great a state of disrepair as to be untenantable. c. Land that is owned by the municipality, the county, a local housing authority, redevelopment agency or redevelopment entity, or unimproved vacant land that has remained so for a period of ten years prior to adoption of the resolution, and that by reason of its location, remoteness, lack of means of access to developed sections or portions of the municipality, or topography, or nature of the soil, is not likely to be developed through the instrumentality of private capital. d. Areas with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other