Board OKs most waivers for Ridge Oak senior-apartment plan but requires updated water and sewer letters

The Bernards Township Planning Board on March 3 advanced a completeness hearing for Ridge Oak Management’s proposed two-story, 29-unit senior apartment building at Block 1611 Lot 40 and Block 1609 Lot 22.01 (Manchester Drive), granting most submission waivers but requiring updated water and sewer "will serve" letters before the application is deemed complete.

Luke Pontier, counsel for the applicant, told the board the team was seeking five submission waivers to allow preliminary and final site-plan review to proceed simultaneously. "There are 5 submission waivers that we are seeking this evening," Pontier said. The waivers related to utility documentation, stormwater and sanitary as-built profiles, and organizational documents tied to any homeowners association.

Board members focused on utility capacity. Engineer Matt Dreheim confirmed the site is currently served by utilities and was sworn to testify. Ridge Oak’s director of housing development, Bonnie Kelly, said the applicant already holds will-serve letters used for a prior federal funding application: "I do actually have a will serve letter from the Bernards Township Sewerage Authority dated 01/04/2023," she said, and added a New Jersey American Water letter dated 01/02/2023. Kelly told the board the team would provide updated letters.

Board planner and engineers discussed precedent and timing. Board engineer Aaron Schrager agreed there was no objection to some waivers being handled as "as-built" submissions after construction, but the board’s legal counsel underscored that water and sewer will-serve letters are essential to deeming an application complete. The board agreed to grant the requested waivers except for the water and sewer will-serve letters and set a hearing date for April 7, 2026; if the matter does not conclude that night, May 5 was noted as an available continuance date.

A roll-call vote recorded affirmative responses from members present and the motion passed. The board’s secretary will include the requirement for updated water and sewer will-serve letters in the completeness instructions and the application will not be considered complete until those updated letters are submitted.

Next steps: Ridge Oak is scheduled to appear for the public hearing on April 7, 2026. The applicant must submit current will-serve letters for both water and sewer prior to the board being able to vote on the application.