Hazlet sets public forum on zoning for March 19 Committee will air issues involved in rezoning tract BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer HAZLET - Residents looking for answers regarding the controversial rezoning of a property on Poole Avenue can expect to get them on March 19. At the Township Committee's March 4 meeting, Mayor James DiNardo announced that a special meeting would be held at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Raritan High School to discuss the proposed Medium Density Residential Transition Zone ordinance that would affect a tract located behind theWalgreens on PooleAvenue. "We will be holding our meeting for all of the public on the 19th," DiNardo said. "The meeting hopefully will answer our and everyone else's questions regarding the zoning." The idea for a public forum was proposed by Committeeman Joseph Belasco on Feb 19 as a way to "clear the air" for residents who have been coming in droves to meetings in past weeks to oppose the rezoning. He said at that meeting that he wants residents to understand all of the facts involved in the new ordinance, which would rezone the property to allow for town home development. Belasco told residents at the meeting that if after the public forum, the consensus is that the residents still do not want the zoning changed, he will vote against the amendment to the zoning ordinance. At the committee's first hearing on the zoning amendment, the amendment passed with a 4-1 vote, with Committeeman Scott Aagre casting the lone no vote. The committee then sent the ordinance to the Planning Board for discussion and asked for a recommendation on whether the amendment would be consistent with the township's master plan. After a four-hour meeting with comment from the public, the Planning Board voted that the ordinance did not meet the master plan's objectives. Town hall was filled at the committee's Feb. 19 meeting when a final vote on the zoning change was to take place, but Belasco and the rest of the committee agreed that a public forum was needed to get all of the answers about zoning and any possible litigation. The controversy surrounding the zoning amendment arose from a proposal by developer Elegant Properties to build 26 town homes on the 4-acre site. Elegant Properties had previously received permission to build 11 houses on the property after failing to gain approval for 26 town homes on the site. The new ordinance would make it possible for Elegant Properties to build the town homes. Residents' objections to the zoning change have included concern over the higher density, which the amendment would allow and about locating the development on property that contains wetlands. The committee will still be holding their regular meeting on March 18.