Medical offices and research space proposed for several buildings over 6 acres on the Princeton Airport property.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY The township Planning Board viewed an informal presentation Monday night proposing the construction of medical office and research space on the Princeton Airport property.
Representatives of Princeton Airport Medical Building LLC presented a preliminary site plan that showed 25,000 square feet of floor space in several buildings over 6 acres of land off Route 206. The space will be divided roughly half-and-half between medical offices and medical research space, according to town planner Cindy Coppola.
The board received the presentation without major objection, questioning mostly the placement of a proposed access road, which as it currently exists would connect with Route 206 north of a signaled intersection at Wall Street. Board members indicated that the road should intersect at the traffic light in order to provide better access.
Because the application was informal, the board took no action other than to make such suggestions.
"We thank you for coming in," Planning Board Chairman Steven Sacks-Wilner said. "And some folks on the board are saying this is an excellent use for the site."
It may be awhile, however, before the plan comes to fruition. The Nierenberg family, which owns the airport, arrived at a settlement with the township in the mid-1990s detailing, among other things, the shape of the airport’s development. Since the medical offices were not a part of that original settlement, Ms. Coppola said, the Township Committee would have to approve an amendment to that settlement that would allow the construction of the medical buildings.
In addition to that, project backers have to apply for a subdivision of the airport’s 100-acre lot, Ms. Coppola said. After that, they can present a formal preliminary site plan to the board.
"It’s really outside their hands at this point," she said. "They can’t proceed with this medical building until a lot is created on which they can build it."
The office buildings will take the place of a helicopter landing pad and storage area that had been planned for the site.