Planning Board delays vote on sweeping changes to the township Master Plan.
By: Erica Lockhart
Angry residents from Rossbrook Estates near the proposed transit village denounced the plan at last week’s Planning Board meeting, causing the board to delay voting on sweeping changes to the township Master Plan.
The board had planned to vote on amendments to the Master Plan establishing the town center zone, gateway approaches to the town center, a research and development zone for the GSA Belle Mead Depot and a transit village near the railroad crossing on Amwell Road but tabled the vote until Oct. 27 when public comment tied the meeting up until nearly 11 p.m.
While deliberating on whether or not to adopt the amendments, Planning Board members Valerie Chaucer-Levine and Lynn Winters-Mineo voiced their concerns about various aspects of the Master Plan.
"The board needs to tone down what’s being proposed," Ms. Winters-Mineo said.
Taking Mount Laurel low-income housing obligations and a transit village into consideration, Ms. Winters-Mineo said a transit village is needed, but not to the degree proposed within the Master Plan.
The transit village plan includes an office building complex in the area south of Amwell Road near where an interchange with Route 206 will be built, along with a commuter railroad station and parking area, and affordable housing north of Amwell Road.
Agreeing with her fellow board member, Ms. Chaucer-Levine echoed her sentiments for toning down some aspects of the Master Plan and added that the environmental impact of the plan has not been addressed to her satisfaction.
Ms. Chaucer-Levine further said that residential density is a concern of hers and suggested that Rossbrook Estates the subdivision north of Amwell Road behind the Hillsborough Racquetball Club be taken out of the transit village component of the Master Plan.
During the public hearing, while barraged by disapproving comments and questions and frequent heckling from 50-plus members of the public, board member Steven Sireci spoke in favor of the Master Plan changes.
"Plans will encourage ratables and the new train station, part of the transit village component of the Master Plan, will encourage commercial development and new residents who can commute via train, thus helping to ease taxes," he said.
Dr. Sireci further said the township must follow the guidelines and prerequisites imposed by the state’s Smart Growth regulations designed to reduce urban sprawl conditions.
He added funding for highway projects such as the bypass, which is slated to get under way in 2007, is linked to such planning.
"The township has to be committed to Smart Growth in order for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to build highways," Dr. Sireci said.
Throughout the evening many township residents urged the Planning Board to rethink the Master Plan and questioned the economic motives behind the plan.
"If the real challenge of this board is to develop commercial ratables, there surely has to be a better way than this," said 15-year Rossbrook Estates resident Laurie Arbogast. "We need a plan that first and foremost serves our community as a whole, preserves the integrity of our township and increases our property values."
Lynn Pfister, also a resident of Rossbrook, urged board members to wait until the bypass is built before setting a Master Plan in place, stating that he wants proof that the bypass will take care of the east/west traffic along Route 514.
"Children on bikes and joggers are not safe under this plan; there is no way to get downtown," said Mr. Pfister.
As 11 p.m. approached, Chairwoman Marian Fenwick-Freeman moved to adjourn the session until 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27.
Chairwoman Fenwick-Freeman said public comment will not be taken at the meeting, since four previous public hearings on the matter already have been held.
She added the board’s Master Plan Subcommittee would meet before the Oct. 27 meeting to consider possible changes to the plans.