Compromise sought for Crystal Springs project

A plan to build two golf villas on Country Lane in Crystal Springs seems to be on the back burner in favor of a new modified plan, said Marv Wainschel, president of the Greens Homeowners Association at Crystal Springs.

“We had two meetings with the Hardyston Joint Land Use Board and representatives for Andy Mulvihill, one of the principal owners of the project, and his partners because we would like to see the villas and residences in different locations, so it doesn’t change the character of Country Lane,” he said last week.

The original plan, strongly opposed by Wainschel, called for the building of two golf villas, each containing four bedrooms, on the cul-de-sac of Country Lane.

“Because the land is small, each proposed golf villa would come within 12 feet of adjacent residences, substantially reducing property values,” he said before the Land Use Board meeting Nov. 13.

Approval of the project would hurt the character of the neighborhood, “increasing the population of Country Lane by about 40 percent as the villas, basically off-site hotel suites, could be rented all year round, and the renters would probably be party-goers, likely to be in and out within a week,” he added.

Multiple attempts to contact Mulvilhill’s attorney were unsuccessful.

Anne-Marie Wilhelm, the township’s land use administrator, would not comment on the matter other than to say it will go before the Land Use Board on Jan. 23.