BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer
MATAWAN — About 35 borough residents and business owners attended a recent Borough Council meeting that included a public hearing on the train station redevelopment plan.
Officials faced public questions at the June 15 meeting ranging from when the project will get started to the status of property ownership. Many of the residents voiced confusion over the exact location of the redevelopment area.
The project will affect 44 acres of land surrounding the train station, and will include commercial, retail, hotel, and residential spaces. The residential space will have low- to moderate-income housing, which is included in the ordinance. The current plan has not been approved because of a pending lawsuit, involving two companies that bid for the redevelopment construction, the council said.
"We decided to amend the ordinance to provide for low-income housing. Anyone within 200 feet of the zone was notified. The confusion was people thinking the notification letter they received meant the project was finally under way," Mayor Robert Clifton said.
The council does not expect the plan to go into effect until the lawsuit is settled.
"There is no time limit on the lawsuit. It could last for years," Clifton said. "After the lawsuit is settled we will sit with developers to negotiate. Then, the developers will sit with the residents."
Homeowners have the right to fight the developers and tell them that they are not willing to sell their homes for any price, however, the developer can then try to take the property under eminent domain, Clifton said.
"The developers can request that the borough take it for fair market value," he said.
NJ Transit owns the property in the redevelopment zone. The borough is trying to prevent NJ Transit from taking property planned for development under eminent domain.
"The borough is trying to handle the situation to prevent NJ Transit from having full control. If Matawan decided to pull out of the redevelopment plan, Transit can still come in and do it themselves," said Clifton.
The bulk of the confusion at the meeting was the result of a borough letter dated June 4 that was sent to all the residents in around the redevelopment area.
The letter addressed the ordinance to amend the borough’s redevelopment plans for the train station. The ordinance was introduced and approved on first hearing at the June 1 council meeting.
The letter invited area residents to attend the June 15 public hearing, and sparked belief that the redevelopment might be under way.
The purpose of the letter was to invite the public to take part in the meeting, voice opinion and ask questions before the council adopted the plan.
The ordinance vote was tabled June 15, and will be decided at an undetermined future date.
"There is a hold on the ordinance until further notice, however, it will not be removed from the agenda," Clifton said.
A copy of a map of the redevelopment area is available to the public at the borough clerk’s office at 201 Broad St.