Anklowitz cautious over West Windsor development

Township Council candidate shares views with The Packet editorial board

By: Molly Petrilla
   WEST WINDSOR — Township Council candidate Will Anklowitz doesn’t hesitate to call the 350-acre redevelopment site around the Princeton Junction train station a "golden opportunity for West Windsor."
   But that’s not to say he doesn’t have serious reservations about it.
   In an appearance Tuesday before The Packet’s editorial board, Mr. Anklowitz said the township should exercise caution in developing the area, regardless of which planning firm it ultimately selects.
   Mr. Anklowitz’s opponent in the Nov. 7 election, council incumbent Barbara Pfeifer, agreed to the meeting at The Packet but did not attend.
   Regarding the train station-area redevelopment, Mr. Anklowitz said the township needs "a little more parking" and "some more commercial development," but suggested that plans shouldn’t go much further than that.
   In fact, Mr. Anklowitz said his "gut says no" to including a housing component in the proposed transit village. Residential units require more money to sustain than commercial ratables, he added, listing police and fire services, traffic and parking among potential costs to the township.
   "There’s a market for housing," he said, "but that doesn’t mean it’s good for West Windsor."
   Mr. Anklowitz also said he is wary of the potential strain such housing could place on the school district, adding that he would prefer to see offices or research facilities — rather than apartments — paired with commercial space in the transit village.
   In addition, Mr. Anklowitz said the process for redevelopment also warrants close examination, and called the closed meeting council members held last week "just wrong."
   Though council members have said the meeting was helpful in fostering a dialogue among the council, Planning Board and a seven-member search committee, Mr. Anklowitz said township officials "don’t have a reason to have these secret meetings, it just creates suspicions."
   He expressed his preference for "New England-style town hall meetings" that would encourage interaction between council members and their constituents.
   But while he voiced concern about officials’ accessibility, Mr. Anklowitz also said the township’s current form of nonpartisan government "seems to suit West Windsor." In fact, he said, more than half of West Windsor voters are not affiliated with any party, and even registered voters don’t always vote along party lines.
   In addition to choosing Mr. Anklowitz or Ms. Pfeifer — who replaced resigning council member Kristin Appelget on the council in June — residents will also vote on a public question that sparked controversy in July. The question on the ballot asks residents if they would like to lower the open-space tax to 3 cents from 5 cents per $100 of assessed value and increase the funding for maintenance and development to a 25 percent cap — up from its current 10 percent limit.
   Though some residents have criticized the fact that the two matters can’t be voted on separately, Mr. Anklowitz said he plans to vote in favor of the change, even though he would have liked to see the cap reduced.
   Mr. Anklowitz has deep roots in the township — his great-grandparents moved to West Windsor in the 1930s — and attended Maurice Hawk and Dutch Neck elementary schools and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School. He holds degrees from The College of New Jersey and Widener University Law School, and works as a public defender.
   Overall, he said it is important for residents to feel connected to the township and its council, adding that he would continue "going out and finding what people have to say" instead of waiting for them to attend a council meeting. So far, he said he has knocked on more than 3,000 doors to determine and address their concerns.