Redevelopment status sought for new hospital site

Officials touting ‘advantages to Plainsboro’

By: Greg Forester
   PLAINSBORO — Plainsboro Township is exploring whether the future site of the University Medical Center at Princeton can be designated a redevelopment area, a move that township officials say could improve their ability to deal with portions of the project.
   A resolution asking the Planning Board to investigate possible redevelopment area status for the 158-acre property off of Route 1 and Plainsboro Road was approved by the Township Committee on Wednesday.
   The redevelopment designation generally gives local governments more power to coordinate development in a defined area. In West Windsor Township, for example, the area around the Princeton Junction train station was designated an area in need of redevelopment in an effort to avoid unplanned future development.
   "The redevelopment process may hold some advantages to Plainsboro," said Mayor Peter Cantu. "It could provide us greater flexibility in protecting the Plainsboro taxpayers from a fiscal impact point of view and could represent an opportunity for dealing with the tax-exempt portion of the property."
   The Township Committee action followed preliminary staff research into the feasibility of the designation.
   "We are kind of in the exploratory phase," said Township Administrator Robert Sheehan. "We have done some work at the professional level and decided this is the way to go."
   Princeton Healthcare System plans to construct a new 636,000-square-foot hospital, 120,000 square feet of medical offices, and a 120,000-square-foot long-term care facility at the new site in Plainsboro.
   At completion — projected for 2010 — the hospital would be nearly twice the size of the current building, located on Witherspoon Street in Princeton.
   The plans also call for the possibility of future development on the site, and a retirement community of 400 age-restricted housing units.
   Representatives from a subcommittee of the Planning Board have been reviewing features of the plan with hospital officials, including the layout and the affordable housing, fiscal, and traffic aspects of the $350 million project.
   "Whatever is best for the township is fine for us," said Pam Hersh, vice president of government and community affairs for Princeton Healthcare System. "It’s not really up to us. It’s just a form of planning."
   Mr. Sheehan said that he and the legal counsel for the township will make a detailed presentation on the designation to the Planning Board on Monday.
   Should the Planning Board determine the site is appropriate for redevelopment, the matter would come back to the Township Committee, which would have to render the final vote on the designation, according to township officials.
   The Planning Board would then have to come up with a plan for the redevelopment that would involve public participation in the process, according to township officials.
   Plainsboro Township has already discussed the possibility of designating the area for redevelopment with the landowners and representatives of the hospital.
   "They understand our reasons for doing this," said Mr. Sheehan.
   Township officials stressed the fact that the public will still have opportunities to take part in the process.
   "There is the need for some efficiency in this process, but we won’t let that reduce public participation," Mr. Sheehan said. "The redevelopment process can cause apprehension, especially involving condemnation. We don’t plan on using eminent domain."