Parks and Rec Commission votes against motion for tot lot
Page 4 • Wednesday, November 23, 2016 • The Hammonton Gazette
PARKS, from Page 1
process the apartment complex project has
endured over the past 10 years.
“I was asked at council if I would attend
just to provide some insight with regard to
this application … They’re looking to construct an apartment complex consisting of
five apartment buildings, containing 42
units. Four buildings will contain eight units
and one building will contain 10 units. Out
of those 42 units, there will be eight units
which will be affordable units,” Malinsky
said.
According to Malinsky, the project received preliminary site plan approval from
the planning board on June 15, 2015, and a
final major site plan approval on February
15, 2006. A corresponding resolution was
observed at the February meeting and
adopted a month later on March 1, 2006.
During the February 2006 meeting, the
applicant agreed to the requirement to either
construct recreational facilities at the site,
which consist of a tot lot, multi-purpose
field or hard court, or appear before the
Parks and Recreation Commission to determine what an appropriate contribution in
lieu of those recreational amenities would
be.
According to Chang, Tuesday’s meeting
was the first time representatives formally
appeared before the Commission. During
last month’s meeting, only Coursen was
present due to miscommunication with
Colucci about the meeting date.
Coursen, who has been working
on the project since 2004, said only
one of the amenities (tot lot) required by the ordinance was
planned due to space constraints.
The 2,500 square-foot tot lot contains teeters, frog riders, rubberized mushrooms and is catered to
young children.
However, the complex is mainly
tailored for young singles and couples who likely don’t have children
yet, according to Colucci.
“That’s really not our market:
young children to be there. It’s one
of the things that helps fill out the
need that the ordinance calls for
and it’s just a matter of dollars and
cents … I think it’s going to be
young professionals or kids who
left home, came back, want to stay
in Hammonton, want somewhere
nice to live, don’t have children yet
or they have a young baby,”
Colucci said
Colucci admitted that ideally, he
would like to avoi