By charles w. kim
Staff Writer
Some 200 acres of the Princeton Nurseries tract in South Brunswick may soon belong to the township.
A major land deal continues on track, but is not yet complete. South Brunswick Township Council members voted 4-0 to approve two out of three ordinances that move the open space acquisition of the Princeton Nurseries land forward.
The third ordinance, which actually changes a zone in the township, had to be tabled until April 15 because a planning report hadn’t been turned into the township until that day.
"The report was more comprehensive than we thought," David Knights of Princeton Forrestal Associates told the council.
The deal between Princeton Forrestal and South Brunswick will give the township, Middlesex County, and the state 214 acres of land known as Princeton Nurseries as open space in return for rezoning about 75 acres along Route 1.
Old outbuildings dot the landscape of the Princeton Nurseries parcel.
The land is currently owned by Princeton Forrestal Associates, which is a real estate development corporation connected to Princeton University.
Mayor Frank Gambatese announced during his inauguration Jan. 4 that an agreement between the township and the developer on the land deal was close.
The town entered into a developer’s agreement with Forrestal in February and introduced the required ordinances for the agreement in March.
The three ordinances create a new corporate/office district zone, rezone the 75 acres, and establish a developer’s plan agreement with the township.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHARLIE DIETERICH An old sign points to a yard in the Princeton Nurseries.
Residents living near the property in the Kingston section of the township said they approve of the deal to preserve the greenbelt around that historic village.
Ann Zeman, of the Joint Mayor’s Advisory Task Force for the Village of Kingston, stated that group’s support for the deal Tuesday night in front of the council.
"The task force has been in favor of the ordinances," Zeman said.
Under the developer’s agreement, the 75 acres on Route 1 will be rezoned to corporate/office district to allow Princeton Forrestal to build a corporate complex and hotel on the site. The land is currently zoned for office research and residential development.
There are still several contingencies that must be met for the deal to close, according to township officials.
Princeton Forrestal must still present its plan to the township’s Planning Board to gain approval for the development. If the plan fails at any point, the deal is null and void, according to the agreement between the parties.
Resident Lew Schwartz told the council that while he approved of the deal itself, he felt that the process taken by the council was wrong.
"It is bad public policy," Schwartz said, explaining that the council should have consulted with the Planning Board before creating the new zone.
"Some of the Planning Board members were upset. This is a real slap in the face to the Planning Board," Schwartz said.
Schwartz said that the new zone would allow buildings higher than the 54 feet limit put in place by the township. He said that while buildings such as the Dow Jones complex on Route 1 are higher than that, a zoning variance had to be obtained for those properties instead of a mandate by ordinance.
"The Planning Board should be involved in some way," Schwartz said.
The final vote on the rezoning, and a second public hearing on the ordinance are scheduled for the April 15 council meeting.
The council also voted 4-0 to purchase some 127 acres of open space with the help of Middlesex County. The township will only spend about $400,000 of the total price for the land, known as the Boyko property, according to Township Manager Barbara Sacks.
Sacks said that the county will fund the rest of the purchase.
Both of the land deals will bring the total of open space purchased by the township to around 900 acres since the open space tax was first approved in 1997. Voters approved an increase to that tax in November to allow the township to buy more land. The vote approved an additional 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to be earmarked for the purchase of land, and another 0.5 cents to go toward development of the open space already purchased.