Residents, merchants decry redevelopment talk

By: Cara Latham
   WASHINGTON — Tensions were high last week during a public meeting to gather ideas and concerns from business owners and residents regarding the redevelopment of the Gateway South area along Route 130.
   Most business owners in the affected area told the Township Council and Planning Board at a special joint meeting Aug. 15 that they were skeptical about the process and unwilling to give up their properties.
   The council voted July 12 to declare the area known as Gateway South Phase I — about 40 acres and 15 parcels along Robbinsville-Allentown Road and Route 130 near the border of Hamilton — as an area in need of redevelopment. This followed a recommendation from the Planning Board and a report by the township planner on those parcels.
   Residents, most of whom lived on Trellis Way, located directly behind the designated area, also voiced concerns about the impact commercial development could have on their property values and quality of life.
   Township officials, meanwhile, maintained that the meeting was just the beginning of the process to gain input as they look at the best uses for the property. They reiterated their stance that they do not want to use eminent domain and had no intentions of doing so, but that it still remained as a last resort.
   Nonetheless, business owners said they planned to appeal the designation to state Superior Court in Trenton to protect their rights before their 45-day window to do so expires at the end of this week.

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   Dan Gallic, the township’s economic development coordinator, said the township is currently analyzing what the best uses for the property are. Once that is determined, a request for bids will be sent out to all interested redevelopers. Those RFBs can include all or some of the properties, realignment of the properties, and a variety of other possibilities, he added.
   After that process is complete, a redeveloper will be named by the Township Council. The redeveloper has the right to try to acquire the properties (through purchase or land lease) if necessary and/or work out the necessary agreements with the property owners involved to put together a redevelopment plan approved by the council, he said.
   He said township officials hope to send out the request for bids by the beginning of October, leaving about three months for those bids to come in. Township officials hope to name a redeveloper in about six months, he said. But going through presentations from those redevelopers — before naming the redeveloper — could take longer if the number of bids, for example, reaches as high as eight, he added.
   Actually getting shovels in the ground could take years. He said that even though the 45-day appeal period is given to keep the township from proceeding with eminent domain until that period is over, township officials are "not going to take any immediate condemnation proceedings," he added.
   

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   A majority of the business owners said they do not trust township officials and doubt their ability to stay in business without having to conform to general plans for the area.
   They also said there was a lack of communication on township officials’ part with regard to informing them of when the 45-day appeal period began and ended. The 45-day period (to the Appellate Division of the state Superior Court) began July 12 and ends Aug. 26.
   Jim Basso Jr., who owns Colonial Motors on Route 130, said his family, which has operated the business since 1968, has no plans to sell the property in the immediate future.
   "My problem is, I’ve got to worry about somebody coming in, and I have to agree with somebody else on what they want me to do with my property, whether they want me to change it or not," he said.
   "The bottom line is I will speak with you at any time, but come to me and talk to me," he added. "I don’t want to sell. I’m not coming to you to try to do this. You want something there, approach the owners."
   Gus Skopas, owner of Shrimp King on Route 130, criticized his property’s designation as blighted and told the council he didn’t trust any of them. He said he felt the reason they were holding "this sympathy meeting" was to cover themselves.
   "I can’t help it you guys didn’t form any committees to get Wegmans or Dunkin’ Donuts or anybody else before Hamilton Marketplace came in," he said. "I’m here for the long run, whether you guys like it or not. You guys are going to have a big fight with me. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not moving."
   He told the council he would be filing an appeal to the designation.
   Mr. Basso’s lawyer, Richard Dickson — who represented Gallenthin Realty Development in a case against Paulsboro that went all the way to the Supreme Court — also said he would most likely be filing an appeal. He criticized the reasons the Planning Board and council used to make the declaration as an area in need of redevelopment, and said the designation wouldn’t survive.
   The council originally held off on voting on the formal declaration while it made sure its records were as complete as possible, in the wake of that state Supreme Court decision. In that case, court concluded that Paulsboro did not have enough evidence to prove that a particular parcel of land wasn’t fully productive and reversed the designation of the borough’s redevelopment declaration for the Gallenthin parcel.
   Mr. Dickson said the blight concept encompasses decline and decay over a significant period of time, and cannot be used simply to increase tax ratables. Therefore, he said, he didn’t feel the designation would stand.
   Mr. Gallic emphasized that there are other characteristics besides increasing ratables that led to the designation of the properties in the Gateway South area. He also said that township officials still want to hear from the property owners and that he believes the process can be a win-win situation for everyone.
   "The idea isn’t necessarily that everyone has to sell their property," Mr. Gallic reiterated. "There’s possibilities and solutions that include the property owners staying where they are."
   

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   Residents of Trellis Way told township officials they were worried about the aesthetic changes that would take place and heavy traffic as a result of new commercial property.
   Anthony Canzanella said he was worried about the tree line and concerned that he would have to wake up every day to something like a Wendy’s sign facing his property. He also said he was concerned about the safety of the street if he were to raise children there with his wife.
   "I bought into this nice, quiet neighborhood with nice people with sidewalks and tree-lined streets, and a nice tree buffer that I don’t even hear Route 130," he said. "It’s going to be developed to a place where I’m going to hear truck access coming into a commercial area at night, unloading boxes for the retail department stores to operate their business."
   "Is our street and the business owners on Route 130 the casualty of progress?" he asked. "Isn’t there another place along Route 130 — when I drive up and down, it is pretty vacant — where you can look?"
   Officials emphasized they were looking to keep the process transparent and would keep residents’ concerns in mind.
   "You’re not going to change the fact that we’re going down this particular path, but your comments and criticism can help shape what does go in there," Council President Dave Boyne said. "Those concerns do matter to us."