Montgomery looks for right approach to plan for Skillman Village
By: Greg Forester
MONTGOMERY As the buildings at the former North Princeton Developmental Center come down, the discussion is turning to what will go up: Skillman Village.
Attorney Ed McManimon, an expert on the redevelopment process, met with the Township Committee and other township officials Wednesday night, reviewing where they were in the redevelopment process and outlining a process for getting what they want on the 250-acre site.
A firm hired by the township is currently demolishing 92 dilapidated buildings, clearing the way for the redevelopment of the former state institution.
"It was pretty clear, because of the complexity of the project, that it would be beneficial if we had someone who knows what they’re doing to come in and show a blueprint for the project," said Mayor Cecilia Birge said of McManimon. "He’ll come in and do a walkthrough of the process with us."
Mr. McManimon described some of the future steps of the process, including the development of a request for proposal from redevelopers, and the creation of a redevelopment agreement.
The two documents are very much related in articulating what the township wants for the site, according to Mr. McManimon.
Mr. McManimon said the township should fine-tune the documents, leaving them specific enough to create a vision for Skillman Village, but general enough to allow for potential deviations from that vision down the road.
"What I heard last night was try to give yourselves some flexibility in the redevelopment planning, and don’t tie our hands here," said Committeeman Mark Caliguire. "Let’s now do the appropriate work on the redevelopment plan, and not be too specific to give ourselves room in the future."
Some committee members Wednesday said the township, which has already done significant work on examining what will be built on the site, should use what it already has to develop the request for proposal and the redevelopment agreement.
"Let’s keep it simple and move forward with what we have," said Mr. Caliguire. "We don’t need to totally reinvent a redevelopment plan for the site."
Committeeman John Warms echoed Mr. Caliguire’s sentiments about using what the township already had, in asking township planner Rich Coppola to take on the planning work of the project, instead of hiring more professionals and spending more township money.
"I keep pushing for Rich Coppola, because the major question is what can we do to control the density and get what we want without losing lots of money, and Mr. Coppola is very familiar with the township," said Mr. Warms. "He can answer the question of what we can put there without getting density there we don’t want."
Deputy Mayor Louise Wilson said it would require still more work to get to an appropriate request for proposal and a redevelopment agreement.
"It may not be a huge leap from what we have already, but it is still very different from what we have done so far," said Ms. Wilson. "We need more details about the portions of the project we have struggled with and now need to hone in on."
Ms. Wilson and Mayor Birge said the request for proposals for planners should go out to other firms, in addition to that of Coppola & Coppola.
Mr. Caliguire also mentioned that preliminary plans provided by some developers had included a high number of residential units.
Mr. McManimon said this was because of the fact that developers make the most profit off of residential development.
"We have a lot of money invested in the cleanup of the site, and we want to recoup most of that," said Mr. Caliguire. "So we will have to decide on what we’re willing to accept to do that."
While most of Wednesday’s discussion revolved around redevelopment agreements and proposals from developers, township officials said they’re going to begin the search for a planning firm to help the township get a thorough plan of what it wants on the site.
"You want someone who knows your vision and accommodates that vision in the plan," said Mr. McManimon.
Township officials said they plan to speak to their own planners from the West Windsor firm Coppola & Coppola about their interest in assuming the planning role for Skillman Village, but they will also look for other firms with interest in the project.
A steering committee for the project is also in the works, township officials said Wednesday.
Township Planning Director Lori Savron said the committee would be made up of some members of a community group that had worked on conceptual plans for the site, along with other community members.
Township Committee members could also have seats on the steering committee, Ms. Savron said.

