Rt. 33 review on tap

Master Plan panel may take over

By: Leon Tovey
   MONROE — A report on proposals for the future development of Route 33 could go to the Master Plan Committee in the next few weeks, Township Engineer Ernie Feist said Tuesday.
   Mr. Feist, who was appointed to head the mayor’s Route 33 Task Force following the death last month of its original chairman, Joe Montanti, said the Master Plan Committee would look at the task force’s recommendation and — pending approval from the mayor and Township Council — move ahead with an update of the Master Plan.
   The task force was appointed by Mayor Richard Pucci last spring to study future development along the township’s two-mile stretch of Route 33. It released an interim report on Sept. 8 that looked at three possible developments in the area: a warehouse complex and two mixed-use residential/retail centers, one of which would be anchored by a minor-league ballpark.
   The report cited a potential tax windfall and a possible reduction of traffic through the center of town as compelling reasons to allow the developments — none of which has been officially proposed — but made no official recommendation other than further study of the plan. The Township Council approved traffic and economic-impact studies of the proposals in November.
   Mr. Feist said Tuesday that drafts of those studies have been completed and that he and the task force’s other members — Councilman Henry Miller, Planning Board Chairman David DeMarco and Public Advocate Helga Stoessler — would review them before making a final report and recommendation to the Master Plan Committee.
   The economic impact study indicates that a comprehensive build-out such as that mentioned in the interim report would yield far stronger ratable growth than piecemeal development in the area, Mr. Feist said, as township officials have contended it would.
   Most of the land along Route 33 is currently zoned as highway development. The highway development zone allows for commercial and recreational uses such as warehouses, retail, a park and ride lot and the proposed ballpark, township officials have said.
   Any zoning changes in the area would have to be reviewed by the Planning Board and would be subject to public hearings.
   The last Master Plan update was completed in 2003. Mr. Feist said the task force could have made its recommendations to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board, but decided to send it to the Master Plan Committee for an evaluation of how the development would affect the entire township.
   In addition, the recent controversy over Mayor Pucci’s role as a political consultant paid by a political action committee that had received money from the developer who proposed the ballpark complex, called the Monroe Marketplace, had underscored the need to move in a careful and transparent manner, he said.
   The Marketplace, which would include retail, luxury condominiums and a park-and-ride facility in addition to the ballpark, is being proposed by Jack Morris and Steve Kalafer. Articles published in newspapers owned by Gannett New Jersey and in the Star-Ledger reported that Mr. Morris donated $70,000 to New Directions in Responsible Leadership, the political action committee established by former state Sen. John Lynch for which Mayor Pucci has done consulting work.
   Mr. Feist said that in light of this, the mayor wants the process to be as transparent as possible. The Master Plan Committee would hold regular public hearings on the proposal and on the Master Plan update, possibly as early as the summer, Mr. Feist said.