By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
An artist’s rendering of the proposed Crossings at Old Bridge.
OLD BRIDGE — With some fearing strangers will be able to peer inside their bedroom windows, opponents of a proposed retail-residential town center on Route 516 packed an Aug. 28 meeting of the Old Bridge Economic Development Corp. (EDC).
The meeting, originally slated to be held in a conference room inside the administration building, had to moved to the much larger George J. Bush Senior Center to accommodate the EDC membership and approximately 100 other people in attendance.
Jerald Development of Wall Township has proposed the construction of a 219,000-square-foot retail and residential center, to be known as Crossings at Old Bridge, on a 22-acre parcel of land at the northeast corner of Route 516 and Cottrell Road. The tract is the last remaining undeveloped piece of the Cottrell farm.
Architectural plans show that the center would be located in the heart of the township’s "town center" zone and to the east of the municipal complex.
The center would also be situated across from the Society Hill development and on the south side of the Old Bridge Mews subdivision, a prospect that concerns many residents of those areas.
No action was taken on the proposal, which has yet to be presented before the township’s Planning Board.
Attorney Jonathan Heilbrunn, representing Jerald Development, emphasized that architectural plans prepared by Red Bank-based architect Leonard V. Martelli, and shared with EDC members and the public, were not the preliminary or final site plans. "These are conceptual sketches," Heilbrunn said. "They will be honed down when the application goes to the Planning Board."
"Keep in mind that this is conceptual," said Martelli, who is also a certified planner. "We had to start somewhere, so we started with this," he added.
Heilbrunn stressed that his client has reviewed the township’s master plan, which calls for the creation of a town center district at Route 516 and Cottrell Road. This project meets master plan requirements, he said.
"We are not coming to ask for approval for something that is not permitted within the zone," Heilbrunn said. Jerald was presenting its plans to the EDC, an organization whose mission is to bring business into the township, in order to assess the project’s economic feasibility, Heilbrunn said.
"An economic impact analysis is required when the application goes to the Planning Board," Heilbrunn explained.
Because Route 516 is a county road, the construction plans would also require approval from the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders, Heilbrunn said.
Designed to be similar to Palmer Square in Princeton and Peddler’s Village in Bucks County, Pa., the plans for Crossings at Old Bridge include a mix of retail and office space placed along a pedestrian mall. Apartments would be located over the stores and offices, Heilbrunn said.
"The apartments would be for upscale empty-nesters or yuppie tenants," Heilbrunn said, adding that they would not be age-restricted.
Patron parking for the stores would be available on the street or in parking lots inside the complex.
A five-level parking deck for 280 vehicles is also proposed to be built next to an adjacent residential section, across an access road from the commercial areas, Heilbrunn said.
An age-restricted townhouse subdivision could be added behind the parking deck, Heilbrunn said. Those 72 units would be located off Bradford Drive in the existing Old Bridge Mews development, plans indicate.
Showing his designs, Martelli indicated that a memorial park, restaurants, kiosks, gazebos, a reflecting pond and a band shell would be constructed as well.
"It would look similar to a downtown Red Bank, Princeton or Cranford," Martelli said. The architecture would include a mixture of brownstone and brick in a traditional, village-type design, he added.
Meandering access roads would cut through the center, Martelli said. Bicycle paths, sidewalks and landscaped islands would also be added to portions of Cottrell Road and Route 516 nearest the center, he added.
In response to a question from a Society Hill resident, EDC Executive Director Russ Azzarello said that patron parking on Cottrell Road would be allowed north of Route 516, not south of it. "There’s no reason to park on the Society Hill side," Azzarello said.
Residents of Minstrel Court, a Society Hill street that runs parallel to Route 516, expressed fears that third-floor occupants of the new buildings would be able to see into their bedroom windows.
George Lerner, president of the Society Hill Townhouse Association, said that because the development’s two-story homes are in a depression, it is likely that the three-story buildings could overwhelm the town homes. Power outages are also common in the highly populated area, Lerner noted.
"We lose power on an average of twice a month," Lerner said. "I cannot figure out why we lose power so much."
Other concerns voiced included increased traffic and the possibility that the stores could eventually go out of business. The latter prospect would leave the center with eyesores in the form of vacant storefronts, residents said. Most residents, however, were simply outraged at the idea that their neighborhoods could become congested and city-like.
"Not everyone in Society Hill holds that vision of beautiful, downtown Old Bridge," Lerner said.
EDC President Patrick Gillespie tried to assure the public that its input would prove helpful to Martelli.
"With what you give us here tonight, (Martelli) can present us with something different," Gillespie said.
Lerner conceded that, given that the proposed site is part of the town center zone, area residents should understand that it will someday be developed.
"Something is going to be built there," he said.
During the meeting, Mayor Barbara Cannon, an EDC member, recused herself from participating in the meeting itself.
Planning Board President Roman Sohor, Ward 4 Councilman G. Kevin Calogera and Township Engineer John Vincente, also recused themselves. Like Sohor, Cannon and Calogera sit on the Planning Board. The proposed site is also located within Calogera’s ward.
Martelli anticipated that he and Heilbrunn would meet with Vincente, Township Planner Sam Rizzo and the EDC members to review the residents’ concerns and revise the plans, if needed.
Depending on how long it takes to make any revisions, a general development plan could be presented to the Planning Board within 90 to 120 days, Heilbrunn said.

