State to hear plan for 1,800 homes in Lakewood

A proposal to build more than 1,800 homes on top of a Lakewood golf course will be heard Tuesday by state environmental officials, in a rare step brought on by heavy backlash from neighbors.

The Department of Environmental Protection will hold the hearing at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Jackson Memorial High School, said DEP spokesman Bob Considine.

READ: Plans for 1,800 homes in Lakewood in doubt

In February, a company called GDMS Holdings LLC proposed 1,872 homes — 390 duplexes, 52 triplexes and 936 basement apartments — to be built on top of Eagle Ridge Golf Club, along with five community centers and more than 200,000 square feet of retail space. Since the proposed community would be built on wetlands and other protected areas, the developer had to submit Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) plans with the DEP.

Neighbors in communities around Eagle Ridge — some of whom paid thousands of dollars extra for fairway views — immediately came out in opposition to the plan. In March, they sent more than 1,100 letters to the DEP asking for a public hearing. Such hearings are not typically held for CAFRA applications unless there is significant public opposition.

"The message is going to be 'no way,'" said Bill Hobday, who has helped organize the resistance, about what neighbors will say at the hearing. "It was a golf course when we bought our properties and it should remain a golf course as long as it can."

READ: Lakewood residents demand hearing over 1,800-home plan

Last month, the DEP indicated it wouldn't approve the plan in its current form.

A letter from DEP to the developer said, "the project is not designed in accordance" with state environmental regulations. GDSM Holdings failed to show that it could provide adequate water and sewer service to the development, and submitted a traffic study that didn't account for all proposed units.

The letter was signed by Colleen Keller, DEP's assistant director of land use.

GDMS Holdings was under contract to buy Eagle Ridge Golf Club as of Dec. 30. The contract of sale did not include a purchase price, but the 27-hole golf course, at 2 August Blvd., has an assessed value of $7.1 million, according to tax records. As of Monday, records still show Augusta Boulevard Associates LLC, the seller, as the owner of the property.

Eagle Ridge was opened in 1999, and the original 18-hole course was built on the sand and gravel quarry that helped pave the Garden State Parkway in the mid-20th century, according to the course's website. Nine holes were added later on top of a landfill.

LAKEWOOD: Eagle Ridge Golf Club to be sold

The 1,800-home proposal come as Lakewood continues its rapid development. Thousands more homes across the town are in various stages of planning or construction.

Data from the state Department of Community Affairs show that Lakewood is building more houses than any place in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Across the entire state, only Jersey City and Fort Lee issued more residential building permits in 2016 than Lakewood, according to DCA data, which are current up to November.

More than $216 million in new construction was added to Lakewood's tax rolls last year, the most in the town's history, according to Edward Seeger, the town's tax assessor.

That development has squeezed the town, clogging roads and leading many residents to question whether Lakewood can handle the growth. The DEP will have the first say on whether nearly 2,000 homes will be added to the rolls.

After the public hearing is held, the DEP will make a decision on whether to grant environmental permits for the development. If permits are issued, Lakewood would still have to approve the project before construction could begin.

MORE: Lakewood's rapid growth is third-highest in NJ

READ: How Lakewood allowed a 'shopping mall' at Cedarbridge

Payton Guion: pguion@app.com; 732-643-4245