CILU opposes residential development at Lucent

Preferred Real Estate of Conshohocken, Pa., is in the process of acquiring the Lucent property in Holmdel. They are currently preparing for the redevelopment of the 475 acres.

Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU), a not-for-profit nonpartisan membership organization based in Holmdel, has requested that Preferred Real Estate Investments reconsider its most recent proposal to include residential housing on the Lucent Technologies property. CILU opposes any change to the zoning of the Lucent property that would permit a residential development, for the following reasons:

+ Holmdel citizens appreciate open space. We believe that the value of our homes is enhanced by the beauty of our parks, preserved farmland, and landscaped corporate office parks, of which the Lucent property is the premier example.

+ New housing - even age-restricted housing - increases expenditures for municipal services, and in Holmdel it has been associated historically with increased, not decreased, property taxes for homeowners.

+ The Lucent property's farmland, trees and lawns contribute to the recharge of the watershed feeding into the Swimming River Reservoir that supplies Holmdel and much of Monmouth County. We believe that additional impervious coverage in the form of any kind of housing will be deleterious to the health of this important watershed.

+ Finally, some of the land Preferred Real Estate proposes to develop with age-restricted housing is now being rented by Lucent Technologies to a Holmdel farm family. Their farm stand is located just down the road from the entrance to the Lucent property. It is one of the few remaining farm stands selling Holmdel-grown produce, and we are concerned that the proposed housing development might jeopardize their livelihood.

We have written to Preferred asking them to consider our concerns, which we believe will be widely shared by the Holmdel Township Committee and residents in our community.

Jenni Blumenthal

Bill Little

co-presidents

Citizens for Informed Land Use Inc.

Holmdel