HIGHTSTOWN John Wolfington newly armed with the title to the former rug mill property on Bank Street behind the municipal building is anxious to once again be designated redeveloper of the site.
By: Vic Monaco
HIGHTSTOWN John Wolfington newly armed with the title to the former rug mill property on Bank Street behind the municipal building is anxious to once again be designated redeveloper of the site.
Heck, who wouldn’t be? He’s spent about two years and more than $3 million in his quest to build on the site. And he says his latest plan, which features 127 residential units, will generate a profit of $2.7 million.
"The time is now," in the words of Wolfington Cos. Vice President Richard Almquist.
Nonetheless, it’s going to be a while probably at least until the fall before Borough Council possibly takes such action. And that’s for procedural reasons along with concerns over green space, traffic and parking.
First, council will wait until after this Monday’s special meeting of the Planning Board, at which time a consensus is expected on increasing the allowable number of units at the site from 80 to a range of 115 to 130. After that, the planners might be able to vote on an amended redevelopment ordinance next month, and that ordinance would then need to go through two meetings of Borough Council review before adoption. And council may only meet twice over the summer.
"It’s unlikely we’d act (to name a redeveloper) before finishing the ordinance and debating the planners’ recommendations," said council President Dave Schneider. "It could be done before September but into September is reasonable."
Once council does act, Mr. Schneider added that the borough’s dilapidated police headquarters, which is not part of Mr. Wolfington’s redevelopment plan, will not be left behind. The money generated by the project through a planned payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program would be used for that purpose, he said.
"We expect we can rebuild the police station," said Mr. Schneider. "The Police Department getting done is part of this project."
Mr. Schneider’s comments came after representatives of Wolfington Co. presented their latest conceptual plan to Borough Council and members of several other local boards Monday night.
Highlights of the latest plan include:
105 market-rate, two-bedroom condominiums, priced at $291,900;
14 affordable-housing rate condominiums, priced at $79,784;
eight, three-bedroom townhouses, priced at $410,000;
6,300 square feet of retail space on the first floor of a new building on North Main Street;
6,300 square feet of municipal space on the second floor of that building;
[vmo: could be cut for space: ] 13,900 square feet of office space at the site of the mill;
[vmo: ditto: ] and 3,225 square feet of retail space, possibly for a restaurant, at the mill site.
After the presentation, Borough Engineer Carmela Roberts called the latest conceptual plan a "good start," but said she has concerns.
"I do think more green area is needed," she said. "We have lots of parking here (on the plan)."
Ms. Roberts also said she has traffic concerns. For one thing, she said, she has reservations about allowing parking on Bank Street. In addition, she criticized the developer for using county information to conduct its traffic analysis rather than looking more closely at what is going on in the borough, including the progress of the Enchantment development.
[vmo: could be cut if need be: ]"You have to remember that traffic is an indicator of prosperity," responded Jeremy Lang, the Wolfington Co.’s traffic consultant on the project.
[vmo: ditto: ]Both Councilman Larry Quattrone and borough government critic Eugene Sarafin asked if Wolfington had considered building a parking garage. Company officials said no.
Borough Attorney Fred Raffetto said Monday night that acting to name a redeveloper at this point would be "putting the cart in front of the horse a bit." And council members apparently agreed, as none made a mention of such action after the presentation.
Prior to Mr. Wolfington’s $3 million purchase of the land in early May, his Greystone Mill firm, based in Paoli, Pa., was previously named the conditional developer of the property. However, after initially saying it would build only 80 units on the 7-acre tract, the firm turned around quickly and raised that figure to about 130, angering some local officials. The borough let the redeveloper designation expire in late September.
Since then, one other developer, Dranoff Properties, of Philadelphia, has express interest in the project, saying it would want to build 143 units. The borough asked Dranoff to post money to cover a borough review of that plan but Dranoff had not done so as of early this week.
Nonetheless, their interest could be one more reason for a delay in the designation of a redeveloper. Mr. Raffetto said Monday the borough may still want to talk to that firm before making a decision.