Rutgers students present plans
By: Lea Kahn
"It is the year 2010 and Eggerts Crossing’s renaissance is readily apparent to anyone traveling on Eggert Crossing Road.
"The Johnson Avenue crossroads has become the focal point for this vital neighborhood.
"The regional Greenway has become a center for neighborhood interaction, linking housing, parks and the neighborhood commercial center.
"The north side of Eggert Crossing Road has been redeveloped as a retail and entertainment center, with restaurants and outdoor cafes oriented to the Greenway.
"New and renovated housing have added new families and a new feeling of vitality."
That is just one version of what the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood could look like, according to a vision statement prepared by a group of Rutgers University graduate students who have been studying the neighborhood for a class project.
The Eggerts Crossing neighborhood is bordered by Eggert Crossing Road on the north, and Newberry Avenue and the Eggerts Crossing Village townhouse development on the south. It is bordered by Drift Avenue on the east and the Ewing Township line on the west.
The students, who are studying for master’s degrees in city and regional planning, met with Eggerts Crossing neighborhood residents last month to present their final report on the neighborhood. That report will be turned over to township planning consultant Philip Caton and architect Robin Murray for review.
"There are three main points to our study expanded housing opportunities, the Greenway and the Gateway," graduate student Elyse Cogliano told the two dozen residents who had gathered in the community room at the Eggerts Crossing Village townhouse development.
Very little housing has been built in the Eggerts Crossing neighborhood since 1990, Ms. Cogliano said. Meanwhile, tremendous residential growth has occurred in the rest of the township between 1990 and the present, she said.
One reason for the lack of new single-family housing in the neighborhood is the current zoning ordinance, Ms. Cogliano said. But that could be changed, she added.
On Drift Avenue, for example, the lots are deep, she said. They extend between Drift Avenue and the Greenway path on Johnson Avenue. The zoning could be changed to allow subdivision of those lots so that as many as 19 affordable single-family houses could be built on them, she said.
Ms. Cogliano offered three scenarios for subdividing the 19 Drift Avenue lots. One plan calls for constructing an alley down the middle of the lots, allowing driveways to be built to the new houses off the alley.
A second scenario showed the construction of a parallel Johnson Avenue, between the Greenway path and the rear lot lines, she said. There would be two Johnson Avenues, in effect one on each side of the Greenway path.
Ms. Cogliano outlined a third scenario, which called for shared driveways so that the existing house, which has frontage on Drift Avenue, would share its driveway with a new house in the rear.
New housing also could be built on a 3.5-acre lot on Johnson Avenue that belongs to Lawrence Township, Ms. Cogliano said. Two new streets could be extended into the parcel from Hillcrest Avenue, which also borders the township-owned land.
If the township-owned lot could be subdivided, as many as 21 new houses could be built there, Ms. Cogliano said. They would likely sell for $145,000 to $180,000.
Directing the residents’ attention to the Gateway, Ms. Cogliano said that developing four properties on Eggert Crossing Road could make the neighborhood a destination point for residents in Eggerts Crossing and townshipwide.
The four properties are the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center, the A.C. Brown Paving property, vacant land owned by J. Vinch and Sons, and the Mrs. G’s Warehouse property.
The Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center already is a focal point for community activity in the neighborhood, Ms. Cogliano said. But the poor and disorganized parking in front of the building detracts from it, she said. Landscaping could be installed on Eggert Crossing Road and Johnson Avenue to disguise it, she said.
Ms. Cogliano suggested switching the zoning designations on the Brown and Vinch properties.
The Brown property, on Eggert Crossing Road between Drift and Johnson avenues, is zoned for residential use. It should be zoned Neighborhood Commercial-1, which allows for a mix of residential and commercial uses in a building, Ms. Cogliano said.
The Vinch property, meanwhile, is zoned Neighborhood Commercial-1, but it would be better to zone it for residential use, she said. The Vinch property is located on Eggert Crossing Road at Drift Avenue.
The Mrs. G’s Warehouse property could be redeveloped into an entertainment center, Ms. Cogliano said. A possible mix of uses could include stores, a restaurant and a café with a patio. The commercial uses could be located on the ground floor, and housing could be built on the second floor, she said.
The final link in the redevelopment plan the Greenway path could be redesigned to be more pedestrian friendly, said graduate student Jessica Napping. New benches and trash cans could be installed. The asphalt path could be replaced with another type of material, she said.
While the students’ proposals overall were well-received, some residents were skeptical about the details. For instance, several Johnson Avenue residents said they oppose building new houses at the rear of the Drift Avenue lots because they do not want to lose the view of the woods that they see from their own homes.
Anne Demarais, who lives on Lawn Park Avenue in the nearby Eldridge Park neighborhood, said that if she lived on Drift Avenue, she would "love every inch of my yard." The alley proposal likely would not be feasible, because it would require gaining every affected property owner’s permission, she said.
Another resident told the students that they do not live in the neighborhood, yet they are "putting out a plan." He told the students he does not want to look at a "village" of 10 or 15 houses across the street from his home on Johnson Avenue.
Attempting to allay residents’ concerns, graduate student Paul Gleitz said the three Drift Avenue proposals are options for redevelopment. There would be a landscaped buffer of grass and bushes between the new houses and the Greenway path so that the Johnson Avenue residents would not see the new houses, he said.
Developing houses close to the Greenway path also would make the path more attractive to residents, Mr. Gleitz said. Some residents had expressed concern about walking on the Greenway path because it was so desolate, he said.
Edward Caldwell, a 26-year resident of Johnson Avenue, said he favors some development "but not too much." It would be nice to build some new houses and revitalize the neighborhood, but it may not be necessary to build a house on every available lot in the community, he said.
Graduate student Anne Marie Vassallo reassured residents that it was unlikely that a new house would be built on every lot in the neighborhood. She said that what she and her classmates have proposed in their project is a way to provide housing for the children who are growing up in the neighborhood. It also offers a chance for others to move into the neighborhood, she said.
Ms. Vassallo also said that redevelopment of the Vinch and Mrs. G’s Warehouse properties that would make up part of the Gateway is not a sure bet.
"You never know when the owners will sell," she said. "These are options for the community, if they sell. They are not key players, but these are ideas if the opportunity arises."
When a resident asked Planning Board Vice Chairman James Kownacki for his reaction to the students’ proposal, then-Mayor Doris Weisberg stood up and told the group that "we have to look at this as a whole."
The Rutgers University students are presenting visions for the neighborhood none of which must be acted upon, Ms. Weisberg said. The students’ report contains suggestions, she said.
"It’s sort of like buying furniture," she said. "You pick and choose and create your living room. This is all down the road. There are a lot of people who can’t live here but who grew up here. We have to keep it affordable and not over-gentrify. It is a very complex thing.
"I don’t think you will ever see piece of land developed," she said. "Nothing will happen today. We are plodding along, step by step. This is a template. We can move things around. It’s your vision we are here to help you implement your vision."
Cheverly Road resident Fred Vereen, who is the property manager for Eggerts Crossing Village, told the residents that the purpose of the study and the series of neighborhood meetings was to create a forum on redevelopment of the area.
"Don’t take everything in this meeting as gospel it’s just a platform," Mr. Vereen said. "There might only be 10 units built in our lifetimes. We want our community to look as good any other area in Lawrence. When you come down Eggert Crossing Road, you know it it’s different. It shouldn’t be that way.
"We want to improve our community," Mr. Vereen said. "We won’t agree on everything, but that’s OK. We need to continue to meet (as a community) to iron out our differences.
"When I was growing up (in the neighborhood), every house had a pigpen, a chicken coop and an outhouse. We have come a long way," he said, as several audience members applauded.
Harold Vereen, the president of the Eggerts Crossing Civic League, also urged the residents to continue to meet. The study grew out of a request to township officials from the civic league, which wants to redevelop the neighborhood.
"The students see the potential," Mr. Vereen told the audience. "We have to keep moving on this. The students brought out the potential that is here. Now that we have it in writing, the potential jumps out at you.
"You have to come out and contribute," he said. "I want the people here to enjoy the same quality of life that everybody else in the township enjoys. But you won’t, if you don’t come out and help."

