Mayor to begin negotiations with firms seeking to oversee 350-acre train station area project
By: Molly Petrilla
WEST WINDSOR Township officials have decided that Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh will negotiate with all three planning firms that are in the running to oversee the redevelopment of the 350-acre area surrounding the Princeton Junction train station before recommending one to the Township Council, the mayor said Thursday.
While the council agenda meeting Tuesday night included nearly two hours of redevelopment-related public comment as well as a heated discussion among township officials members of the public were not allowed to attend Wednesday night’s executive session, which focused on negotiation strategies.
At the closed-door meeting, members of the Planning Board and seven-member search committee shared their views with the council, which is ultimately responsible for selecting a planning firm to oversee redevelopment of the train station area.
After about three hours of discussion, the council, mayor and Township Attorney met privately for another hour to continue the talks, Mayor Hsueh said.
"I think the meeting was a very well-run meeting," the mayor said. "We had a lot of professional input from Planning Board members and search committee members, and I think myself and the council members all benefited a lot. We now have a very clear strategy in terms of what we need to do next."
The mayor said he will soon begin negotiating with the three finalist firms Hillier Architecture of West Windsor, Street-Works LLC of White Plains, N.Y., and the team of Michael Graves & Associates of Princeton and planning firm Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) of Miami regarding budget estimates, timelines and other key issues township officials identified. After those negotiations, Mayor Hsueh said he will meet with the council publicly to make a final recommendation.
Councilman Charles Morgan, who had previously expressed concern that some of his colleagues already had a final firm in mind, said Thursday that Wednesday’s meeting was "what I wanted, which was to talk about the process for finishing our homework.
"No decision was made (on a firm), and I’m very happy with that," he added. "I was also very happy to see that there was no evidence of prejudgment. It was a freewheeling conversation that had everybody surprised about what they were hearing from everybody else."
Councilman Franc Gambatese, who clashed with Mr. Morgan at Tuesday’s public meeting, called the input from the Planning Board and search committee "invaluable," adding that "a lot of people made very valid points."
Mr. Gambatese defended the decision to hold Wednesday’s meeting behind closed doors, noting that township officials "admitted that if (the meeting) wasn’t closed, they wouldn’t have said some of the things they said." But residents did have a chance to offer their opinions of the three finalist firms to members of the council Tuesday night. And many took advantage of the opportunity.
David Siegel of Berrien Avenue said he found "cause for concern" in all three presentations, but named Graves-DPZ team as his first choice and Hillier as his second. Street-Works, he said, "seemed contemptuous of green (space)" and was "overly concerned with creating a design favored by developers," while the Graves-DPZ team proposed an incremental approach to development he thought was wise.
Windsor Drive resident Bob Aikens said he preferred Street-Works, since its co-founder was "pulling together quite an impressive team" and "was not pie in the sky" about the redevelopment process.
Farrell Delman, a Bear Brook Road resident and member of the Princeton Junction Neighborhoods’ Coalition, encouraged the council to adopt a set of guiding principles for redevelopment, specifically to prevent higher taxes or traffic increases from occurring.
Scott Avenue resident Julia Rhodes presented her own set of principles, including selecting a planner who understood West Windsor’s unique identity, maintaining the integrity of surrounding communities and encouraging developers to "build green."
Paul Eland of Coneflower Lane said the township should prioritize its visions for redevelopment, and place infrastructure, roadways and parking rather than housing at the top of its to-do list.
Later in the meeting, discussion among the council members grew testy after Township Attorney Michael J. Herbert proposed a resolution that would entrust the Planning Board with the formulation of a plan to address zoning, architectural issues and other concerns in the redevelopment area. According to the proposed resolution, that plan would "engage the public as much as possible by using the charette (public meeting) process, with the assistance of the planning consultant" and would eventually go before the Township Council as an ordinance.
After conducting a thorough study of the area, the Planning Board submitted a suggestion to the council in December 2004 regarding the 350-acre area should be slated for redevelopment. According to Mr. Herbert, the resolution he drafted for Tuesday was a logical next step.
"This is the perfect time to consider where we go," he added.
But Mr. Morgan voiced concern about the resolution, noting that Planning Board members are not elected by the public and "are not fiscal experts."
He added, "We should really ponder this decision," adding that the resolution "needs more work."
Mr. Gambatese disagreed, and moved to approve the resolution that night. He also became visibly frustrated with Mr. Morgan and accused him of politicizing the redevelopment process.
"I don’t think we’re qualified" to create the redevelopment plan, Mr. Gambatese said. "We are not the body to take this on."
Though CouncilwomanBarbara Pfeifer seconded Mr. Gambatese’s motion, Heidi Kleinman, said she needed more time to review the resolution before voting on it. Mr. Morgan agreed.
Council members agreed to address the resolution again at a special meeting Oct. 24.

