Council motions to preserve
parcel on Washington Street
Proposed senior housing
development may
become open space
MILLTOWN — A simple resolution may mark the beginning of the end for the proposed senior housing development on Washington Street.
During a closed session at last week’s Borough Council meeting, the governing body decided to seek assistance from county officials for acquisition rights to the 14-acre parcel.
The land, nicknamed the "Ice Cream Depot" property, is located directly behind the municipal building and runs adjacent to Lawrence Brook.
Finax Developers has been in negotiations for the property since last year, hoping to build a 250-unit senior housing development there.
Only recently have there been talks of a new application that would allow for assisted living units to be built. In order to accommodate this request, however, the land would have to be rezoned.
And that is something Councilman Kevin Bosworth would not like to see.
According to Bosworth, rezoning the property would result in twice as many units being built and thus create a number of problems throughout the community.
"If this development is approved, there will be a dramatic negative impact on not only the surrounding neighborhood, but also the entire borough," said Bosworth. "For starters, our source of drinking water, the Lawrence Brook Watershed, would be affected.
"Additionally, our roads would not be able to handle the increase in traffic this will bring, and our infrastructure is not adequate to meet the demands of up to 500 additional residents," he added.
Perhaps most significant, though, is the councilman’s argument that this might be the last pristine, significant piece of property in the borough.
"This is a crucial issue. Milltown is almost totally developed, and we have precious little land to preserve," said Bosworth. "We must act now or there will be nothing left for our future generations to enjoy."
Bosworth’s resolution resulted in the drafting of a letter by the borough attorney on Tuesday, which was then sent to the county.
"The purpose of this letter was to inquire about the availability of open space funds [to purchase the property]," he said. "It gets the ball rolling."
Bosworth said the council’s main objective is to have the county pay for the land should it be found suitable for preservation.
"We do not want to burden taxpayers with this," he said.
Once the county receives the letter, it will then be submitted to the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the County Open Space Committee for review.
The council is expected to rule on the developer’s request for rezoning of the property later this fall.
"Timing is of the essence," said Bosworth. "We need the county to make a decision before it’s time to rule on the request for rezoning."

