Study approved by Plainsboro Planning Board
By: Greg Forester
PLAINSBORO The Plainsboro Planning Board on Monday approved a resolution asking township planning consultants to investigate if the tract slated for the relocated University Medical Center at Princeton falls under state redevelopment criteria.
Should the property chosen for the new 636,000-square-foot hospital building and related facilities meet state redevelopment criteria, the township could have greater powers in dealing with the development of the site, according to testimony given to the Planning Board on Monday.
The subject of the investigation is the FMC property off of Route 1 and Plainsboro Road, chosen by the hospital for its new facility, which is scheduled to open in 2010. At completion, it would be nearly twice the size of the current hospital on Witherspoon Street in Princeton.
Edward McManimon, a Newark-based attorney familiar with the redevelopment process, reviewed the concept with the Planning Board, explaining the steps and the criteria needed for an area to receive the designation.
"The redevelopment designation would give the township the broadest, most comprehensive power as a business partner in the project," said Mr. McManimon. "As a business partner, the designation allows you to tell the developer, ‘We’ll do this, if you do that,’ which a township normally couldn’t do."
Sites meeting the 10 redevelopment criteria include any site with obsolete layout, stagnant, not fully-productive land, the discontinuance of the use of buildings, or significant fire or storm damage.
The presentation to the Planning Board and the vote ordering the investigation followed the first step in the process, the Township Council’s passing of a resolution June 13 asking the Planning Board to go forward with an investigation of the property.
Following the township consultants’ investigation, the Planning Board will issue a report on the qualifications of the site for designation as a redevelopment area under state law.
The council could then vote to designate the property as an area in need of redevelopment, giving the township increased powers as a business partner during the project.
"The normal Municipal Land Use Law is less effective in dealing with overspill issues, like traffic, in a project like this," said Planning Board member Tom Hall following the township’s presentation. "Several of the criteria could apply here.
"For this site, redevelopment designation looks very appropriate," Mr. Hall said.
Planning Board Chairman Arthur Lehrhaupt responded to Mr. Hall’s comments by saying, "Our investigation will determine this one way or the other."

