Eatontown Planning Board Says Old Orchard Country Club Should Not Be Rezoned

By Christopher Sheldon

A potential development project for Old Orchard Country Club has stalled after the Eatontown Planning Board decided not to allow the property to be rezoned.

The board voted down the proposal 7-2 during its Aug. 26 meeting.

The developer, Eatontown Ventures LLC, was seeking to convert Old Orchard Country Club into an age-restricted community on one side and a retail center on Route 36.

The property is currently zoned as "park/open space" with an overlay that allows 32,000 square foot lots, but the developer was looking to make it a mix of residential and retail zones.

The change would also have required approval by the Eatontown Council and would have gone before the board again for site plan approval, but those steps are now is now moot.

The developer was looking to build 175 units in a 55 and over community on one side of the golf course. The portion of the property which fronts on Route 36, next to the Motor Vehicle Commission, was slated for a 450,000-square-foot retail center.

Residents from Oceanport, Eatontown and West Long Branch criticized the plan over several planning board meetings, saying that the development would cause a negative increase in traffic for the area. The owners of the Consumer Centre across the street on Route 36 also voiced their displeasure with the plan.